Milling & Baking News - January 5, 2016 - 10

Business X

St. Louis-area flooding disrupts
milling operations
Continued from Page 1

Mississippi river barge traffic between
St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., may be halted
or slowed to prevent wake damage to
heavily-stressed levees.
As Mississippi flood waters began to
recede, mills affected by flooding were
determining when they'll reopen. Facilities not flooded themselves were
expected to resume production once
they're able to receive wheat and ship
flour and byproducts (railroad sidings
and truck dumps and even roads were
or still are under water). For some, this
may be toward the middle of the first
full week in January. The Ardent mill

AP PHOTO/JEFF ROBERSON

north of St. Louis, was closed due to
high water on Dec. 28," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its latest Grain Transportation report. "In
addition, Lock 24, Lock 25, Lock 26
(also known as Melvin Price Locks and
Dam) were closed on Dec. 29. Locks
above Mississippi River Lock 24 are
not expected to be closed. Traffic on
the Mississippi river at St. Louis was
stopped on Dec. 28 when water levels
reached 38 feet, the level at which the
Coast Guard restricts traffic through
the St. Louis Harbor." The National

In this aerial photo, floodwater from the Mississippi river threatens a correctional center, Dec.
31, 2015, in Chester, Ill. Surging Midwestern rivers forced hundreds of evacuations, threatened
dozens of levees and brought transportation by car, boat or train to a virtual standstill Dec. 31 in
the St. Louis area.

Weather Service (N.W.S.) expected the
Mississippi river at St. Louis to crest
Dec. 31 at 43.1 feet, about 6.5 feet below the record crest of 49.6 feet in 1993.
"As of Dec. 30, the N.W.S. expects
the St. Louis water levels to remain
above 38 feet until Jan. 3 or 4," the
U.S.D.A. continued. "However, the
harbor may not open immediately
when the levels are below 38 feet as
swift currents and floating debris may
interfere with barge traffic. Water levels are expected to decrease rapidly. In
1993, St. Louis water levels were at or
above 45 feet for several weeks."
Barge traffic delays and stoppages
also were reported on the Illinois,
Ohio, and Arkansas rivers due to
flood conditions, the U.S.D.A. said.
10 / January 5, 2016 XMilling & Baking News

in Chester was expected to require a
longer period for cleanup, industry
sources said.
Floods in many areas were said to
be worse than in 1993, the bar against
which all subsequent flood events
have been measured. Certainly damage to wheat fields flooded because
of their proximity to the Mississippi
and its tributaries may be extensive
or even total. Elsewhere, ponded water was beginning to evaporate, and
crop damage in affected areas may
be minimal. Of increasing concern,
though, was lack of snow cover across
the Central states, which rendered the
crop vulnerable to winterkill if and
when temperatures turn much colder.
Despite the significant disruptions,

the overall impact on flour supply and
millfeed availability was limited in
part by the Christmas and New Year's
holidays. Milling companies were
able to shift at least some production
to other mills that had scheduled extra down time for the yearend holiday
weeks. While this affected logistics, it
limited the potential reduction in flour
output and any spike in prices, although wheat quotes from mills in the
region were pulled last week. Trade
sources estimated as many as 50 loads
of millfeed production were lost due
to closed mills or logistics due to the
floods, but most of that was made up
from added flour grind at other mills,
again limiting significant price increases, although deliveries were delayed and logistics were complicated.
The heavy rains around St. Louis
were just one part of severe weather
late in the year that brought heavy
snow to the Upper Midwest, a wintry mix across the Southern Plains
and even tornadoes in some areas.
Warm fall and early winter temperatures meant some hard and soft winter
wheat still had not entered dormancy.
The consensus was that the moisture, though extreme - with rain
totals in parts of Texas at 10 inches -
was probably of a net benefit to the
hard red winter crop. There was some
concern that parts of the Great Plains
lacking snow cover, though, could be
harmed by cold temperatures.
That storm movement, though, rendered soft red winter wheat growing
areas from northern Arkansas to Ohio
vulnerable to flood damage. While
much wheat as far south as Tennessee
had recently moved into dormancy,
some plants remained in a growth
stage because of the unusually warm
weather this fall. Crop observers indicated some concern that pooling
fields with standing water could present problems for wheat plants. At the
same time, they seemed convinced a
drying weather trend was in store for
the Midwest that would mostly take
care of problems with flooded fields.
Grain merchandisers were on edge
last week because of the high potential
for transportation problems caused
by of the excessive rains in the country's midsection. Trains aren't able to
move if tracks are submerged in water.
While there was no overall assessment
of rail transportation performance
throughout winter-wheat growing
areas, a grain merchandiser in Kansas
City said he had observed a slowdown
in service last week that he attributed
to weather issues. MBN
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