News

Closed rivers add insult to injury

The head of the Soy Transportation Coalition says flooded rivers closed to barge traffic are adding insult to injury to farmers and grain traders.

Mike Steenhoek says the recent price rebound in corn and soybeans had farmers who stored their 2018 harvest looking forward to selling. He tells Brownfield Ag News, “Farmers are wanting to open that spigot and be able to release some of what they grew last year but we don’t have an effective hose to hook up to that spigot and that’s what our transportation system is. So, it’s very frustrating for farmers to not be able to transport that crop, further impeding their profitability.”

The Missouri River between St. Louis and Kansas City has reopened but Steenhoek tells Brownfield that doesn’t mean shipping gets back to normal quickly, “You still have to be very delicate when you’re operating these barges. It can still be restricted to daylight operations. You can still have bridge clearance issues. You may not be able to have as many barges lashed together.”

The Mississippi River north of St. Louis has been reopened to traffic.