ABC News
•73% Informative
Drought has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads.
About 60% of U.S. grain exports are taken by barge down the Mississippi to New Orleans .
Lower river levels mean barges can't load less into each vessel and string fewer barges together.
This is the second -straight year drought has caused river levels to drop to near-record lows.
Rising barge costs eating directly into farmers' profits come at a time when American soybean and corn exports face increased international competition, Jim Larson says.
He has seen plenty of droughts and floods during 30 years in the business and said it forces everyone who relies on the river to remain nimble.
VR Score
83
Informative language
87
Neutral language
47
Article tone
semi-formal
Language
English
Language complexity
44
Offensive language
not offensive
Hate speech
not hateful
Attention-grabbing headline
not detected
Known propaganda techniques
not detected
Time-value
short-lived
External references
no external sources
Source diversity
no sources
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