Farmers: Deepen Ms. River

American soybean farmers are putting up $2M to assist in financing of state-federal initiative to deepen the Lower Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, La., to the Gulf of Mexico – a distance of 256 miles. Dredging the river from 45-to-50 feet would permit access of larger ships and allow current vessels to be loaded with greater quantities of grains, according to the Soy Transportation Coalition. The group cites a report it commissioned that said a deeper channel would increase competitiveness and revenues for U.S. soybeans in the export market; and estimated that shipping costs for soybeans from Mississippi Gulf Coast export terminals would drop 13 cents a bushel ($5 per metric ton) if the river channel was dredged to 50 feet. The 200-plus mile stretch of the Mississippi from Baton Rouge to the Gulf accounts for 60 percent of American soybean exports and 59 percent of corn exports, as well as petroleum, chemicals and other freight, the coalition said in a statement. (Source: Work Boat 07/11/19)