News / Mississippi barge quagmire leaves exporters looking for alternative routes

© Bruce Lewis

Anxiety has been growing among US agriculture exporters as barges limp down a Mississippi River hobbled by closures and stoppages.

And the US Army Corps of Engineers is engaged in a frustrating game of ’whack-a-mole’, trying to unclog blockages along the river.

Water levels of the Mississippi fell to record lows last month with the persistent lack of rain and shipping has been severely hit by a combination of closures – to allow for dredging in critical areas – and pile-ups as ...