Local impact on farmers due to grain shipment delays

BRIMFIELD (25 News Now) - Barges are responsible for getting thousands of pounds of grain transported throughout the country. According to the Washington post, months of dry conditions have sent water levels plummeting. This affects barges that act as a highway for 60% of the nation’s foreign-bound corn and soybeans.

In Brimfield, Cornbelt Marketing Inc works closely with local grain farmers. They said the backups would end up costing farmers more to ship their product.

“I think barge freight was trading around 3000% normally. Typically, this time of year, it’s probably around 300% or 400%. To put that into perspective, that would be like paying $75 or $80 a gallon to put fuel in your car,” Vice President of Cornbelt Marketing Sam Hudson said.

Despite the hold up, Hudson said at this point, there is no cause for alarm.

As for the excess grain that some farms may have to deal with while waiting for barges, they may have to start pilling the grain outside of their full silos.

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