# Barge operations to stop as Mississippi rises increasing costs to farmers

> The Army Corps of Engineers closed locks and dams along the Mississippi in eastern Iowa starting around April 23 due to high water. Barge traffic is expected to halt while water levels remain elevated, after a strong early season.

- Date: 2023-04-19 · published 2023-04-19T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/16636-barge-operations-to-stop-as-mississippi-rises-increasing-costs-to-farmers
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Urea](https://feedsoft.ai/c/UREA.md)

## Why it matters

Halted barge traffic raises freight costs for farmers shipping grain and bringing in fertilizer, pressuring local cash bids and fertilizer delivered prices.

## Read by commodity

- CORN: bearish ▼
- UREA: bullish ▲
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2023-05-01 | [Flood Waters Continue to Stop Barge Traffic on Upper Mississippi](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36107-flood-waters-continue-to-stop-barge-traffic-on-upper-mississippi.md) | +0.3% | -1.8% |
| CORN | 2026-06-01 | [Low Mississippi River Water Levels Raise Shipping Costs for Farmers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16363-low-mississippi-river-water-levels-raise-shipping-costs-for-farmers.md) | -5.0% | -5.7% |
| CORN | 2020-10-02 | [Barge Freight Starting to Ease on Mississippi, Illinois Rivers \| Feed & Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50543-barge-freight-starting-to-ease-on-mississippi-illinois-rivers-feed-and-grain.md) | -1.1% | +5.3% |
| CORN | 2023-09-17 | [Low Mississippi River limits barges just as farmers want to move their crops downriver \| AP News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16602-low-mississippi-river-limits-barges-just-as-farmers-want-to-move-their-crops.md) | -8.5% | -6.6% |
| CORN | 2020-11-30 | [Barge Restrictions Mean Shipping Complications on Mississippi River \| Feed & Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/49545-barge-restrictions-mean-shipping-complications-on-mississippi-river-feed-and.md) | -1.5% | -1.0% |
| UREA | 2023-04-27 | [Flooding on Upper Mississippi River to halt barge traffic for weeks, USDA says](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16633-flooding-on-upper-mississippi-river-to-halt-barge-traffic-for-weeks-usda-says.md) | +3.6% | +3.9% |
| UREA | 2023-04-28 | [Flooding Impacts Upper Mississippi Barge Traffic, as “Corn Hit its Lowest in Nine Months” \| Farm Policy News \| Illinois](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16638-flooding-impacts-upper-mississippi-barge-traffic-as-corn-hit-its-lowest-in-nine.md) | -0.7% | +2.8% |
| UREA | 2022-12-22 | [Mississippi and Ohio Rivers Hit Rock Bottom in Fall 2022](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16668-mississippi-and-ohio-rivers-hit-rock-bottom-in-fall-2022.md) | -1.7% | -11.8% |

## Sources

- cbs2iowa.com: https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/barge-operators-dealing-with-rising-waters-affecting-agricultural-shipping-shutfdown-river-mississippi

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.