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A new project to dredge the Mississippi River near the Gulf of Mexico could boost local prices for corn and soybeans in Minnesota, but when and by how much are a matter of debate, reports the Star Tribune.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced last week it will devote $85.4 million to deepening the mouth of the river to 50 feet, enabling oceangoing ships to load more grain at terminals upriver.
That should drive down the cost of shipping and lift prices that elevators in the Midwest offer to farmers for goods.
Nine of the 14 grain export terminals at the end of the river — including sites owned by CHS Inc. and Cargill — are on that stretch of the river.
