Upper Mississippi River Closing Extended

Farmers and merchandisers located in areas at flood levels that needed to market crops in March and April have been harmed by the limitations placed on the inland Mississippi waterways system. Those restrictions persist into May, reportsU.S. Soy.

No corn or soybeans have locked through Lock and Dam 15 (Rock Island, IL) since last December. Barge companies are now trying to arrange freight for the third week in May, effectively closing off the export market to many farmers.

There is no reason to suspect the summer of 2019 will be as bad as 1993, but May is definitely going to be very difficult for farmers and grain merchandisers in the area.

The wet weather continues, as a very unusual weather system in late April produced record snowfall for this late in the season across southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois.

Read the entire reporthere.