to New Orleans, where the corn, soybeans and wheat is stored and ultimately transferred to other ships. It’s usually an inexpensive, efficient way to transport crops, as a typical group of 15 barges lashed together carries as much cargo as about 1,000 trucks.
North of St. Louis, a series of locks and dams guarantees a 9-foot-deep channel as far north as Minneapolis-St. Paul. But that’s not the case in the lower Mississippi. A narrowed shipping lane also means barges from different companies must squeeze into limited space, forcing backups and delays.drought has caused the Mississippi to drop to near-record lows. With no significant rain in the forecast, it’s likely to keep falling.just months ago. A huge snowpack in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin quickly melted, forcing riverfront communities such as Davenport, Iowa, and Savanna, Illinois, to hurriedly erect barriers to stay dry in late April and early May.
Northern stretches of the river are now in good shape, but dredging continues south of St. Louis, Heinold said. “It’s the way that farmers in the middle of the United States connect with the international marketplace,” said Steenhoek, whose group advocates for effective crop transportation systems. “It allows these farmers to have a very efficient way of moving their products a long distance in a very economical manner.”
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