With our tow boat and 15 barges filled with corn, wheat and soybeans now heading downstream, Captain Rider says 100 miles represents a good day on the Upper Mississippi River. South of St. Louis on the 730-mile journey to New Orleans and with no locks to slow down the tow, it's a different story.
Barge design and positioning affect efficient movement on the Mississippi River. But when aging infrastructure brings barges to a standstill for as long as 12 hours, all the design in the world can't save what amounts to $100 million in delay-related costs. If the U.S. is going to move twice as much grain to market 20 or 30 years from now, we'll need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to update the river's ancient system of locks.
The National No-Tillage Conference returns January 12-15, 2027!Build and refine your no-till system with dozens of new ideas and connections at the 35th Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis, Jan. 12-15, 2027. Experience an energizing 4-day agenda featuring inspiring general session speakers, expert-led No-Till Classrooms and collaborative No-Till Roundtables. Plus, Certified Crop Adviser credits will be offered.
I'm in Yakima, Washington this week at FIRA USA where there's always lots of great ag technology on display. Why don't we go take a look at the newest edition of the Aigen robot. We'll hear from Kenny Lee, the CEO of Aigen.