The record harvest pace of the corn and soybean crops in the U.S. Midwest was causing pockets of snags along the supply chain, backing up the movement of grains on barges and by rail, trade sources said.

There were concerns the bottlenecks in grain flow could worsen over the next two weeks as the harvest comes to an end.

Heavy deliveries of freshly-harvested soybeans are also causing bottlenecks at grain elevators along some Midwestern rivers because of tight supplies of empty barges.

"There is a clog situation," said Bruce Abbe, executive director of regional trade organization, the Midwest Shippers Association, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

With two main railroads in the upper Midwest one to two weeks behind schedule and cars sitting on the rails, things are taking a little more time to move, Abbe told Reuters.

The United States is forecast to harvest a record large soybean crop and the third biggest corn crop this year. Early spring planting has led to the fastest harvest on record.

Abbe said the speedy harvest and heavy rains in Wisconsin and Minnesota earlier in the month hampered barge transport and elevators were finding it difficult to get rail cars.

The grain loading pace along the Mississippi River was also hampered earlier in October by high river levels, even flooding, in some areas along the Illinois and Iowa border.

As a result, spot barge freight rates on the upper Mississippi River have spiked to the highest level in nearly a year, barge freight brokers said.

More Congestion in Next Two Weeks Lifely
The corn harvest was 68 percent complete as of Sunday, up from 51 percent last week and the five-year average pace of 39 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Soybeans were 83 percent harvested, compared with 67 percent last week and the average pace of 62 percent.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing some greater congestion over the next couple weeks when harvest is more nearing completion," Mike Steenhoek, Soy Transportation Coalition executive director in Ankeny, Iowa said.

In particular, terminals along the upper and mid-Mississippi River have been busy due to bumper crops in those areas. However, points along the Illinois River have not had as much crop to load, a Midwestern barge broker said.

"In the last five years there was not that much grain loaded out of St. Paul, Minnesota so there was not a lot equipment up there. But because their crop is pretty good this year they need more (barges) than they have historically needed," the barge broker said.

Barges have taken longer to reach the St. Paul-Savage, Minnesota area, the furthest point north on the Mississippi River, and other areas along the mid-Mississippi River, the broker said.

A soyoil broker in Missouri said rail cars have been slow to return to shipping terminals this season amid the bulge of heavy harvest supplies and strong export demand.

"There are huge issues with logistics in the country," the broker said. (Reuters)