Updated on
Summary River levels dropped as the most extensive drought in five decades intensified across the US.
The severe drought in the US Midwest wreaked more havoc across the country on Thursday, forcing barges on the Mississippi River to lighten loads for fear of getting stuck and raising more concerns about higher prices for food and gasoline.The most extensive drought in five decades intensified this week across the US Midwest and Plains states that produce most of the countys corn, soybeans and livestock, according to a report from climate experts.Almost 30 percent of the nine-state Midwest was suffering extreme drought, nearly triple from the previous week, according to the US Drought Monitor for the week ending July 24.Conditions in the Midwest, which produces roughly three quarters of the corn and soybean crops in the worlds largest producer and exporter, worsened despite the first measurable rainfall in a month in some areas.Some corn farmers in southern Illinois, like Gary Weiman, have abandoned the seasons crops and are mowing down their fields.Weiman said his crop was damaged so badly by the drought that he was forced to turn it into silage to feed cattle.More than 53 percent of the United States and Puerto Rico are in moderate drought or worse, a record-large amount for the fourth straight week in the Drought Monitors 12-year history.In some part of Kansas, the Arkansas River has completely dried up, leaving dry river beds.The effects of the drought were also being being felt downstream.One year after its waters swelled to historic proportions, the lower Mississippi River now sits so low that barge operators hauling some 180 billion US dollars in goods must lighten their loads for fear of getting stuck. But costs stay the same.It takes up the same amount of fuel to burn and the same amount of manpower to operated this vessel that were on, said Ed Henleben of the Ingram Barge Company.If water levels drop any lower, industry insiders say prices could rise on the raw commodities commonly shipped by boat - coal, grain, petroleum and steel, to name a few.Mississippi is the main artery in the US waterway system.
