Low levels on the Mississippi River are again disrupting U.S. grain shipments, but so far there aren’t major challenges up and down Oklahoma’s McClellan-Kerr Navigation System that feeds into the Mighty Mississippi.
“The low water on the Mississippi River has only affected us at Montgomery Point,” answered Sheila Shook, Director of Workforce and Education for the Tulsa Ports Authority.
Montgomery Point is actually in Arkansas.
“The low tailwater has created some minor shoaling concerns in that area but there are no restrictions currently,” she said in response to an email inquiry by OK Energy Today.
The low water on the Mississippi has affected Arkansas farmers for a second straight harvest season. The impact has been delays and forced operators to lighten the loads of the barges that they move to the markets. One report indicated the delays have sent the costs of cargo transport upward by 77% over a three-year period.
The Mississippi is used to transport 60% of all grains produced in the U.S.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently added more dredges to the St. Louis region.