# Opinion: Upper Mississippi River infrastructure finally gets its due

> An opinion piece argues that Upper Mississippi River locks and dams, many built in the 1930s and past their 50-year design life, need investment. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $2.5 billion to modernize the inland waterway lock and dam system. The author cites Minnesota inland waterway cargo of 12 million tons in 2018, including corn and soybeans.

- Date: 2022-02-10 · published 2022-02-10T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/42890-opinion-upper-mississippi-river-infrastructure-finally-gets-its-due
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

Aging locks cause delays and closures that raise barge freight and can widen basis spreads for farmers shipping corn and soybeans upriver, so the funding supports more reliable barge logistics over the long term.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: neutral
- CORN: neutral
- BARGE: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2016-11-01 | [Report warns of danger of failing river infrastructure](https://feedsoft.ai/events/73763-report-warns-of-danger-of-failing-river-infrastructure.md) | +1.9% | -4.3% |
| CORN | 2019-09-27 | [Upper Mississippi River On The Rise Again - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56949-upper-mississippi-river-on-the-rise-again-the-waterways-journal.md) | -0.5% | +0.9% |
| CORN | 2024-02-28 | [Mississippi River drought is officially over, but situation remains fragile](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16566-mississippi-river-drought-is-officially-over-but-situation-remains-fragile.md) | +3.8% | +5.5% |
| CORN | 2019-06-27 | [Mixed emotions as Upper Mississippi River reopens to barges](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58498-mixed-emotions-as-upper-mississippi-river-reopens-to-barges.md) | -2.5% | -4.4% |
| CORN | 2017-05-03 | [Coast Guard closes portion of Upper Mississippi River to all vessel traffic – Illinois Business Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/71173-coast-guard-closes-portion-of-upper-mississippi-river-to-all-vessel-traffic.md) | +0.5% | +1.2% |
| SOY | 2016-11-01 | [Report warns of danger of failing river infrastructure](https://feedsoft.ai/events/73763-report-warns-of-danger-of-failing-river-infrastructure.md) | -1.3% | +3.0% |
| SOY | 2019-09-27 | [Upper Mississippi River On The Rise Again - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56949-upper-mississippi-river-on-the-rise-again-the-waterways-journal.md) | +2.6% | +5.0% |
| SOY | 2024-02-28 | [Mississippi River drought is officially over, but situation remains fragile](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16566-mississippi-river-drought-is-officially-over-but-situation-remains-fragile.md) | +0.8% | +6.0% |

## Sources

- waterwayscouncil.org: https://waterwayscouncil.org/media/in-the-news/article/2022/02/opinion-upper-mississippi-river-infrastructure-finally-gets-its-due

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