The Mississippi River is suffering from low waters for the third straight autumn, a crucial time of year when American farmers rely on the route to deliver their crops to the world.

Drought across the central U.S. is shrinking the Mississippi River, sending barge rates soaring and threatening to roil shipments of everything from corn to gasoline.

The Mississippi River is at risk of bottlenecks for a third straight year as warm, dry spring weather and low winter snowpack limit the amount of water feeding into it.

PANAMA CITY — A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes.

Water levels on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers are falling for a second straight year, raising the prospect of shipping problems along the all-important U.S. freight routes.

Drought has again closed a portion of the Mississippi River — and this time shrunk a part of the major U.S. waterway in Memphis, Tenn., to its lowest level ever.

A drought is spreading across the Midwest, drying up the Mississippi River and its tributaries that serve as a critical freight artery for the country.

Prolonged drought is jeopardizing waterborne trade along the Mississippi River, a basin that produces 92% of the nation’s agricultural exports.

A logjam of more than 100 ships, tugboats and their convoys of barges in the shrinking Mississippi River is threatening to grind trade of grains, fertilizer, metals and petroleum to a halt.