River levels complicate already complex set of challenges facing ag exports

Have you ever said the phrase, “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another?” Usually said in frustration while feeling like you're beset from all sides with challenges, it’s a phrase agricultural shippers are probably thinking lately, as the commodity logistics chain finds itself dealing with challenges related to ocean freight rates, container availability, possible rail strikes, not enough truck drivers, and now… not enough water in our inland rivers and waterways?

Several vulnerabilities in the supply chain were exposed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and although the industry worked through many of those challenges with an impressive resiliency, there is little question that concerns remain. The availability of labor and the issues with ocean-going freight, for example, are still very much a challenge for the industry.

And now, due in no small part to the effects of climate change and erratic weather patterns, concerns have emerged about the volume of water in the U.S. inland waterway system, a system of rivers, locks and dams that have long been a competitive advantage for U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace.

In this episode we talk with Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, about the nature of the concern and what it means heading into harvest across the Midwest.