The Mississippi River carries tons of grain and agricultural products each year. So what happens when more frequent droughts shorten America’s longest river? The Mississippi River, which runs from Minnesota to Louisiana, is a key transportation route for goods, but it has faced serious challenges in recent years.
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The river serves as a “superhighway” for 92 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports and 78 percent of the world’s feed grains each year. But the increasing frequency of droughts means barges can carry less cargo. According to the latest National Climate Report, climate change could negatively impact the Mississippi with serious regional and national consequences. Even a small one-foot drop in water levels results in a loss of 100,000 bushels of soybeans from a typical 15-barrel freight — equivalent to 2,738 metric tons.
