Study: Mississippi River's 2022 Low Water Levels Reduced Soybean Crop Value by Up to $293 Million

By Mary Hightower

Effects from record low levels on the Mississippi River could’ve reduced the value of Arkansas’ 2022 soybean crop up to $293 million, according to research by  two agricultural economists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

James Mitchell and Hunter Biram’s findings are in “The effects of extreme weather on rural transportation infrastructure and crop prices along the Lower Mississippi River,” published in the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.

Their investigation started with a simple question: “what would soybean prices have been in 2022-2024 if the Mississippi River wasn’t low?” 

In 2022 and 2023, the Lower Mississippi River reached historic lows. In October 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Memphis stream gauge read minus 12.0 feet. The previous year  also in October, the gauge read minus 10.8 feet. 

As the water lowered, draft restrictions were issued, meaning barges had to lighten their loads in order to sit higher in the water and not hit bottom. The number of barges in tow was also reduced. Both restrictions meant less of any given commodity moving along the Mississippi, the key marine highway for the Midwest and Mid-South to get agriculture products to the Port of New Orleans for export.