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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Saturday, February 01, 2025
The U.S. fertilizer sector is doing well, buoyed by solid demand and strong commodity prices, but the industry is increasingly concerned about disruptions like low water levels in the Mississippi River and a potential rail strike, says Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute.
Despite some improvement from a week ago, record-low water levels are continuing to hinder grain transportation on the Mississippi River, leaving farmers with fewer alternatives for getting their crops onto barges to export.
Water levels in parts of the shrunken Mississippi River and its tributaries are reaching depths not seen in more than 30 years, grounding barges and forcing producers to store more of their grain.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is making headway on a major Mississippi River project that will make barge transportation on the river more efficient.
It’s hard to walk in any store in America today without seeing a “help wanted” sign hanging in the window and companies that move grain are among them — trying to quickly fill positions as harvest approaches.
More than a thousand barges – many of them likely carrying corn or soybeans – can now resume their trip along the Mississippi River after traffic was stopped due to a cracked bridge near Memphis, Tenn., according to a statement released by the U.S. Coast Guard.
