ANKENY, Iowa – As the harvest season gets underway; there are concerns once again about the water evels on the Mississippi River. The latest U.S. Geological Survey charts show, water levels in both Memphis and St. Louis are lower this year than the same date last year.

“Even though we have experienced some rain over the past week or so in the Midwest, so much of that water will be absorbed by the ground since much of it is dehydrated,” said Mike Steenhoek, Soy Transportation Coalition executive director in Ankeny, Iowa.

Moreover, barge companies, in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard, continue to have restrictions on both loading capacity and the number barges they will attach together, he added: “The lack of water continues to make the shipping channel shallower and narrower.”

The Mississippi River drains much of the central U.S. between the Appalachians and the Rockies, with several large rivers that flow into it, Dennis Todey, agricultural meteorologist and USDA Midwest Climate Hub director in Ames, Iowa, told Farm World.

“If you look at drought coverage over this area, there is some level of drought over the drainage area, especially the wetter part, the Mississippi, and the Ohio Rivers,” he said. “The Plains are in better shape. But that doesn’t help the Mississippi flow that much this time of year. Drought over that large area is impacting flows on many of the larger rivers that flow into the Mississippi.

“In addition to the large area, we have had ongoing drought in some form over much of the region back to 2020,” he added. “So soils are dry; ground water is lower leading to lower flows on the smaller rivers that lead to the Mississippi. Iowa, for example, has had D1 (moderate drought), or worse drought in the middle of 2020,” which he estimated were about 169 weeks in a row.

He said, “On top of all of this, this time of year is usually a lower flow time because rainfalls start to fall off, and soils are typically drier by the end of the growing season.”

“That end of the growing season will help a little because crops, trees and other plants will stop using soil moisture,” he said. “And rains will start to help recover. But the progress is expected to be very slow. We have had some rains over the region. But they have been more isolated than widespread. And soils are so dry, much of the rain will go to refilling the soil moisture profile initially.

As water levels remain historically low, stalling movement of cargo, barge shipping rates continue to climb due to a decrease in barge capacity having to accommodate a given amount of freight, Steenhoek said.

“Barge rates originating out of the Memphis area are 97 percent higher than the three-year average, according to the USDA,” he said. “Barge rates originating out of St. Louis are 92 percent higher than the three-year average.

“Among producers and shippers, this will continue to motivate them to promote and pursue additional supply chain options, whether storage, driving to a rail facility, the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Coast, etc.,” he added.

He said, “We are seeing barge companies announce restrictions on the volume of freight they will load onto vessels due to the shallower shipping channel. As the low water conditions persist, we will likely see these restrictions become more pronounced on both loading capacity of individual barges and the number of barges able to be connected together.”