The executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition says the closure of the I-40 bridge in Memphis is very consequential to agriculture, not only because of truck traffic but the barge traffic that would normally pass under the bridge. “Pretty much any barge loaded with soybeans or corn north of Memphis, whether it’s on the upper Mississippi River, the Illinois River, the Ohio River, to an extent the Missouri River, it eventually is going to go past Memphis on its journey to the export terminals near New Orleans.”
Steenhoek says shutting down barge traffic is unwelcome news, and he will be monitoring the impacts for ag shippers closely, including exports going down river and inputs like fertilizer going back upstream.