Even though grain elevators are experiencing the pinch of interrupted transportation, farmers won't be effected unless the flooding persists beyond another two weeks, said Phillip Baumel, who is Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture in the economics department. With the Upper Mississippi River closed from Keokuk north, Iowa is effectively shut off from barge traffic.
Exporters have other options for transporting grain to New Orleans, however.
Because it's the planting season and grain prices are low due to low exports, farmers are not selling much now, he said. Farmers and country elevators who are selling now can expect to receive about two cents per bushel less for their grain because processors are receiving more offers to purchase grain than they need. Should floodwaters persist, however, farmers statewide could face a shortage of both dry and liquid fertilizers, Baumel said. Some anhydrous ammonia comes up river on pressurized barges. There shouldn't be a problem unless the flood lasts more than a couple of weeks.