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MO River ok, Mississippi River will have challenges this fall

The drought isn’t over and Missouri’s ag director says there’s been a lot of discussion among state officials about navigation for the two major rivers in the state.

Chris Chinn says the Missouri River should be ok, but the Mississippi River is expected to have issues without more water.

“We need rain in the northern part of the United States so we’re able to continue navigation for the entire season. Right now, we’re only at 60 to 80% capacity on our barges and that drives up transportation costs, which is never good.”

Chinn says it was a tough year for navigation along the Mississippi River last year and the dry conditions started earlier this year.

The updated U.S. Drought Monitor shows an expansion of extreme drought in the last week, now affecting more than 8% of the state and 53% of Missouri remains in a drought.