Beans, basis, bins and barges
Problems occur at harvest time as the demand for barges increases, but restrictions mean fewer barges can make the trip. That adds up to higher shipping costs.
By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Sept. 3, 2025
Fast facts:
- NASS: Arkansas has 235 million bushels of on-farm storage
- Demand for barges increases at harvest time
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(602 words)
(Newsrooms: with mainbar 09-03-2025-ark-Low Mississippi)
JONESBORO, Ark. — Bins and barges play a key role for beans and basis.
The moment a pod is plucked from the soybean plant, its role as a market commodity begins. In a typical scenario, harvested soybeans would go to an elevator, be checked for quality and moisture content, then be dried or loaded onto gulf-bound barges for export.
However, as commodity prices flag, especially near harvest time, farmers who have built bins are able to store their soybeans and other commodities and sell them when prices improve.
Not everyone has bins though, or enough bins to store all of their commodities. For those without lots of storage, their crops can wind up on a barge.
The barges that ply the Mississippi River are essentially a group of large rectangular flat boats onto which grain and other commodities are loaded. These large flat barges are “towed” — actually pushed — by powerful flat-hulled vessel with a square front. The flat hulls are important for river transport because of the low water levels compared to the open ocean where keeled boats operate.
Despite their flat bottoms, these boats do displace water and sit deeper in the river when loaded. This depth is called “draft.” When water levels in the Mississippi drop below a certain level, the U.S. Coast Guard can place restrictions on shipping including reducing the number of barges in a tow and reducing the draft to prevent the barges from grounding on the river bottom and snarling traffic.
Problems occur at harvest time as the demand for barges increases, but restrictions mean fewer barges can make the trip. That adds up to higher shipping costs.
“Lower Mississippi River barge freight has been increasing since early July — for seven out of the last eight weeks per USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service,” Stiles said. “By my rough estimate, the freight increase over the last eight weeks is equivalent to 19 cents per bushel.
“With draft and tow restrictions, we’d expect to see freight costs continue higher,” he said. “This will add pressure to grain basis” as commodities back up at the elevators.
“The lower Mississippi typically loads barges to about 1,700 tons,” Stiles said. “Each one of those would be about 56,000 to 57,000 bushels of soybeans,” he said. “Removing four to five from a tow is equal to 228,000 to 285,000 bushels.”
The storage issue
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Arkansas had 235 million bushels of on-farm storage in 2024.
Even so “there isn’t enough on-farm storage in the state to hold the entire crop until market conditions improve,” Stiles said. “Given current estimates from NASS, the state's combined production of corn, soybeans and rice is expected to reach 491 million bushels in 2025.
"Thus, on-farm storage would hold about 48 percent of expected production in the state,” he said. “However, growers do have the option of paying for commercial storage and marketing their crop at a later time.
“As for on-farm storage, corn and rice usually take priority over soybeans for bin space,” Stiles said. “This is partly due to the drying cost that is common for corn and rice.”
This year at least, moisture levels on soybeans have been fairly low on the early harvested acres and in a lot of cases being 13 percent or less.
“At that level, soybeans could go straight to the elevator with no moisture dockage,” he said. “Fortunately, soybean prices have rallied as much as 80 cents off the early August lows as the Mid-South harvest is getting kicked off. Prices have slipped from recent highs at $10.63, but November soybean futures currently trade near $10.40 per bushel.”
Read more about the topic at Southern Ag Today.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu