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Rising Mississippi Could Disrupt Grain Shipping
USAgNet - 09/27/2016

Heavy rains and flooding swamped a broad swathe of the northern Midwest this week, halting the harvest of corn and soybeans and forcing the closure of at least two Iowa crop processing plants, traders and farmers said on Friday. According to Reuters, farmers' concerns grew that standing water in fields could damage unharvested crops, while floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River and threatened to disrupt the loading of export-bound grain barges.

Parts of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota received several inches of rain at midweek, with two-day rain totals topping 10 inches in some areas. The region is expected to see two days of drier weather before more showers through next week, said David Streit, agricultural meteorologist with the Commodity Weather Group.

Farmers, meanwhile, are waiting for fields to drain and dry out before resuming the harvest, a process that will take longer in cooler September weather than it would in midsummer heat. Soggy conditions and waterlogged fields have raised concerns about crop damage and disease, which could reduce farmer revenues at a time when grain prices are already near multi-year lows.

Rising water in the Mississippi River, the main shipping route that links Midwest farms with Gulf Coast export terminals, may halt grain barge loading at some river elevators as vessels are unable to access loading spouts, Reuters reported.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it is currently not planning to close any of the Mississippi's locks as the latest National Weather Service forecast shows water rising near, but not above, the lock-closure stage.


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