# Farmers could pay the price for shrinking U.S. barge fleet

> A CoBank report warns that the U.S. barge fleet is shrinking, with a forecast decline of more than 17% in ships by 2035. Replacement barge costs have doubled over the past decade, and 500 to 1,000 barges are retired each year against about 400 new builds.

- Date: 2026-11-13 · published 2026-11-13T21:10:37.481Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/98463-farmers-could-pay-the-price-for-shrinking-u-s-barge-fleet
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Tighter barge availability tends to raise Mississippi River freight rates and push more grain into storage, which weakens basis levels paid to farmers.

## Read by commodity

- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Sources

- brownfieldagnews.com: https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/farmers-could-pay-the-price-for-shrinking-u-s-barge-fleet/

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