Drought and low river levels are crippling barge traffic and hurting grain exports

Water is critical to support life. Whether it’s a corn, wheat, soy, or any other kind of crop, they don't do well without rain. Rain nourishes the crops directly, but rain also fills the reservoirs used for irrigation. People don't do well without potable water either.
All over Missouri, ponds are at much lower levels than they normally are. Our three wet-weather creeks that run across our 39 acres have been dry most of the summer and are still bone dry today. This affects everything. We just filled our 7-ton grain bin with pig feed, and that feed was almost $100 more per ton then it was 5 months ago. I’ve said this before, the hay crop, that is used to feed the animals through the winter has been drastically reduced this summer as well. . . . . and I’ve been told to expect a harder winter than normal.