Data and scripts used to test the hypothesis that spikes in barge rates on the Mississippi River during the 2022 2023 and 2024 corn and soybean harvest season were not just due to flash droughts at these times but also higher fuel prices over the same period. The key data used were grain barge spot prices river level stage counts of grain barge unloads in New Orleans LA USA and barge fuel costs as represented by the price of No. 2 diesel along the US Gulf Coast. The data were used to develop a dynamic regression model in which the barge spot prices are dependent on the stage of the lower Mississippi River barge unloads and the price of diesel. All data used were from US government agencies were publically available on the internet and downloaded from US federal government agency websites.
