Farm Policy News says that as the fall harvest of record corn and soybean crops is in full swing, Mississippi River conditions continue to get worse. It’s stalling barges trying to move up and down the channel, especially in the Lower Mississippi River. That means barge drafts and tow sizes have been cut. A draft is the distance between the waterline and the deepest points of the boat, which typically is 12 feet at 1,500 tons.
On the Illinois River, barges are loaded to about a nine-foot draft at 900 tons. Each reduction in the draft means a barge’s cargo is cut by 200 tons. That will cost shippers more money as they’re paying for the same amount of money but shipping less freight than normal. More barges will be needed to pick up the slack. These costs typically get passed on to the farmers who haul grain to river terminals.
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