# Congress must not ignore river system that is vital to U.S. economy

> An opinion piece cites a University of Wisconsin-Madison study that modeled a failure of the Saverton, Missouri lock. It estimates that a nine-month closure would stall 12 million tons of grain and require about 300,000 truckloads.

- Date: 2018-02-15 · published 2018-02-15T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/66392-congress-must-not-ignore-river-system-that-is-vital-to-u-s-economy
- 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

A lock failure would raise freight costs, widen farm-gate basis, and could shift export competitiveness toward Brazil. The article is a call for policy action rather than a new market event.

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2022-08-17 | [The mighty Mississippi River is even mightier now; here's why - DredgeWire : DredgeWire](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16693-the-mighty-mississippi-river-is-even-mightier-now-here-s-why-dredgewire.md) | +0.3% | +3.8% |
| CORN | 2018-09-26 | [Mississippi River Vessel Traffic Halted Due to Breakaway Barges North of St. Louis -Army Corps](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62914-mississippi-river-vessel-traffic-halted-due-to-breakaway-barges-north-of-st.md) | -0.2% | -0.1% |
| CORN | 2024-02-23 | [Mississippi River levels return to normal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16563-mississippi-river-levels-return-to-normal.md) | +0.1% | +7.0% |
| CORN | 2021-05-13 | [Melvin Price is Mississippi River’s concrete Colossus](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46999-melvin-price-is-mississippi-river-s-concrete-colossus.md) | -7.7% | -2.2% |
| CORN | 2019-10-30 | [Farmers Hope For River System Improvements](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56465-farmers-hope-for-river-system-improvements.md) | +2.1% | +0.3% |
| SOY | 2023-10-24 | [What does Canadian seaway worker strike mean to north country economy?](https://feedsoft.ai/events/33672-what-does-canadian-seaway-worker-strike-mean-to-north-country-economy.md) | -0.3% | +6.3% |
| SOY | 2017-10-23 | [US River System Still Not Flowing Smoothly Amid Fall Harvest](https://feedsoft.ai/events/68348-us-river-system-still-not-flowing-smoothly-amid-fall-harvest.md) | -0.4% | +1.2% |
| SOY | 2022-08-17 | [The mighty Mississippi River is even mightier now; here's why - DredgeWire : DredgeWire](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16693-the-mighty-mississippi-river-is-even-mightier-now-here-s-why-dredgewire.md) | +7.7% | +3.4% |

## Sources

- whig.com: https://www.whig.com/archive/article/congress-must-not-ignore-river-system-that-is-vital-to-u-s-economy/article_ed9b884e-6e8c-51e1-80dd-1e38075a46f9.html

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