Semester of Graduation
Summer 2026
Degree
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
The Mississippi River serves as a major transport hub for grain movement in the US. Despite this importance, the 2022 Drought severely disrupted the Mississippi River System’s navigation capabilities, constrained grain transport volumes, and affected local prices and basis. To address this problem, this study uses high-frequency elevator-level data across eight Mississippi River states and a difference-in-difference framework weighted with a spatial measure to estimate the heterogeneous impact of the drought on corn and soybean basis. The results show that the drought weakened corn and soybean basis, with larger effects in markets highly dependent on river transportation, and further evaluate the heterogeneous impact of the drought across the states in the study area along the Mississippi River. These findings show how weather shocks disrupt river navigability and contribute to basis volatility. This study’s results will help policymakers identify how to better support producers in managing price risk during such weather shocks.
Date
5-23-2026
Recommended Citation
Opaleye, Toyin Blessing, "EFFECTS OF THE 2022 MISSISSIPPI RIVER DROUGHT ON CORN AND SOYBEAN BASIS AND ITS IMPACT ON FARMERS' WELFARE" (2026). LSU Master's Theses. 6405.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/6405
Committee Chair
Goyal, Raghav
LSU Acknowledgement
1
LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment
1