According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, minor flooding is forecast or occurring across the western and southern portions of the Ohio River Basin and within the lower Mississippi River Basin says the weekly Grain Transportation Report.
The Ohio River at Cairo, IL, where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River, has crested and is not expected by the National Weather Service to begin to fall until April 14.
Navigation on the lower Mississippi River though Vicksburg, MS, and Baton Rouge, LA, continues to be restricted to daylight only.
Barge movements on the Mississippi River, in the area between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, require additional time and towboats to unload grain and return empty barges upriver due to high and fast river conditions.
With the on-going conditions, barge freight rates have been above average for several weeks. As of April 10, spot barge rates for export grain have been 60% to 121% above the 3-year average.
