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Lower Mississippi River updates will help ag exports

The chair of the United Soybean Board says progress is being made on a project to deepen the lower Mississippi River and improve the efficiency of ag exports.

The Army Corps of Engineers is deepening more than 250 miles of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. This part of the river moves more than half of U.S. corn and soybean exports. When the project is complete, the water will be 50 feet deep. The deeper river allows larger ships to be used and current ships to transport heavier loads of commodities.

Meagan Kaiser, a Missouri farmer, says the soy-checkoff has invested in the project.

“Our $2 million investment was met with a $245 million investment from the State of Louisiana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Here we are, 7 years later, watching dredging happening on the Mississippi River, which will help basis.”

A study conducted by the Soy Transportation Coalition also says soybean shipping costs from Mississippi Gulf export terminals would decline as a result of the project at 13 cents per bushel once the river is dredged to 50 feet.

Kaiser says the Mississippi River is an important corridor to get U.S. soybeans to the global marketplace.

“It also adds to the sustainability and reliability of U.S. soybeans and other products making it out of the Port of New Orleans.”

The project is being done in three phases and Kaiser says work should be completed in 2025.

The story was written with audio from Don Molino with the Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network.

Photo credit: Soy Transportation Coalition