Low river levels cause problems for Missouri farmers transporting harvested goods

Even with the recent rainfall, more than 85% of Missouri is still mired in a drought, forcing farmers to switch to other alternatives due to low water levels.

Governor Mike Parson said he’s hoping for large snowfalls in the northern states to help with navigation on the rivers. The agriculture industry uses the waterways to ship bulk commodities like grain. Southeast Missouri farmer Tom Jennings said his irrigation system saved his crops this year.

“We have historically sold almost everything over the river,” Jennings said. “Sometimes you can skip an irrigation, but there wasn’t any skipping of them this year. We’ were watering it all the time.”

The full article is available at ozarksfirst.com.

(Story by Emily Manley, Kevin S. Held, ozarksfirst.com)