LITTLE ROCK — If forecasts hold, the Mississippi River level at Memphis, Tennessee, will again fall below zero as harvest season takes hold, raising the specter of the last two seasons’ higher freight rates, piled up grain and weaker basis.
Now is the time for farmers to look closely at ways to protect themselves by managing basis risk, said Scott Stiles extension economics program associate for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The latest forecast from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service shows the river gauge at Memphis falling to minus 3.2 feet by Aug. 27. In October 2023, the Mississippi fell to a record minus 11.5 feet, topping the record low set in October 2022 of minus 10.81 feet.
Read more of this story from the University of Arkansas Extension on their website here: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2024/august2024/03-13-2024-ark-low-mississippi.aspx
Story By Mary Hightower; U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
