Dry and High: How the Mississippi’s Dire Decline Fuels Food Inflation

In this discussion, Doug McIntyre and David Callaway explore how droughts in West Virginia and Southern Ohio are impacting the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, crucial waterways for U.S. agriculture. The low water levels are hindering barge transport of goods from the northern Midwest to the south and vice versa, likely leading to food price rises. They highlight that climate-driven changes in river levels are impacting other global waterways, such as the Rhine and Nile, but the Mississippi’s role as a prime U.S. agricultural channel poses unique problems.