# What Do Low Water Levels Mean for Your Bottom Line?

> Experts say low water on the Mississippi River and the Panama Canal over the past year has slowed exports and raised shipping costs. Record low-flow periods hit in 2022 and 2023, and signs suggest another difficult year is possible. The higher costs weaken US farmers' ability to compete with Brazil, which exported more corn than the US in 2023.

- Date: 2024-05-02 · published 2024-05-02T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/30443-what-do-low-water-levels-mean-for-your-bottom-line
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Higher barge and canal costs widen the basis and make US corn less competitive in export markets, which weighs on US corn prices while lifting freight costs.

## Read by commodity

- CORN: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 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 | 2017-11-02 | [Lower River Water Levels Causing Concern for Farmers \| WMIX](https://feedsoft.ai/events/67872-lower-river-water-levels-causing-concern-for-farmers-wmix.md) | -3.6% | -4.7% |
| CORN | 2022-01-27 | [Low Mississippi River water levels impact river users](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16735-low-mississippi-river-water-levels-impact-river-users.md) | +1.7% | +10.2% |
| CORN | 2026-01-27 | [Low water levels slowing grain flow down Mississippi River - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16391-low-water-levels-slowing-grain-flow-down-mississippi-river-brownfield-ag-news.md) | -0.7% | -0.4% |
| CORN | 2024-09-16 | [Low Mississippi River water levels disrupt barge shipping for third consecutive year \| Agriculture Dive](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16507-low-mississippi-river-water-levels-disrupt-barge-shipping-for-third-consecutive.md) | +1.6% | +2.7% |

## Sources

- agriculture.com: https://www.agriculture.com/what-do-low-water-levels-mean-for-your-bottom-line-8637485

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