MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As the Mid-South continues to reel from inflation, what you pay at the grocery store could go up as the Mississippi River levels go down.
Since 2022, recurring droughts have caused river levels to hit record lows, putting a strain on farmers, as well as consumers.
“I started farming in 1987, and it’s probably the hardest crop and most expensive crop I’ve ever put in,” farmer Danny Daughhetee said.
For the third year in a row, Mid-South farmers like Daughhetee have faced an uphill battle thanks to a brutal summer.
“The rice and the soybeans have been hit the hardest,” Daughhetee said.
The sun and lack of rain has only allowed three quarters of his beans to properly grow. Now farmers have an added concern with the Mississippi River. Due to the lower levels, less goods can be transported at a time, requiring farmers to pay more to ship the same amount of goods as previous years.
“You just got to get creative and try to figure out how to refinance things,” said Daughhetee.
According to Mid-South economists, this disruption is usually expected around this time of year, but the constant record-breaking lows will likely cause prices in the store to change more, and not just in Memphis.
“We know it’s going to be more expensive, therefore, we’re going to adjust prices, so it begins to happen immediately," said Dr. John Gnuschke, 901 Economics president. "It’s a country-wide thing, but it’s also international.”
In turn, the Army Corps of Engineers is attempting to lessen the burden. The organization monitors river levels, and mitigates the low levels with the help of industry partners. Among the strategies is dredging, which involves moving the sediment or dirt from areas that could impede the movement of barges, and therefore goods.
“So the dredges help us dredge out that area to maintain navigable channels in those areas that we’ve seen some problems," said Col Brian Sawser with the Army Corps of Engineers.
The organization will speak on the low river levels on Sept. 11 starting at 9 a.m. for an update on conditions and what is being done to keep barge traffic operational.