The agricultural industry relies on the U.S. inland waterways navigation system to ship grains from production States to domestic destinations and export markets. Via the Mississippi River System, barges deliver roughly 90 percent of the grain exported from the Mississippi Gulf port region. USDA collects the following two datasets on barged grain volumes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Lock Performance Monitoring System (LPMS) and Waterborne Commerce Statistics (WCS) data. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) also collects and reports barge freight rates every week. This dashboard collates a variety of important barge performance indices that will be updated as new data is available based on WCS and LPMS data. Each visualization provides a link to its underlying processed data. Another hyperlink from the processed data allows users the access to the raw datasets.

The Mississippi River (north of St. Louis, MO) and its tributaries (e.g., the Arkansas River, Illinois River, Ohio River, etc.) make use of a series of locks and dams to bring traffic up and down the waterways. Grain generally flows south from the relatively production-rich areas of the Midwest to export ports in Louisiana and feed markets in the southeast.

This dataset provides weekly information on the amount (in tons), location, and commodity of barged grain transiting the following three major points: (1) the last lock on the Mississippi, Mississippi Locks 27 (called "Miss Locks 27" in the dataset), which captures downbound traffic from the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers; (2) the last lock on the Ohio River, Olmsted Locks and Dam (called "Ohio Olmstead" in the dataset), which captures any downbound traffic on the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers; and (3) the last lock on the Arkansas River, Arkansas River Lock and Dam 1 (called "Ark Lock 1" in the dataset).

Ohio Olmsted locks replaced Ohio Locks 52 beginning in November 2018.

Commodities include "corn," "soybeans," "wheat," and "other" (oats, barley, sorghum, and rye).

Combined, these three locks give a sense of barge grain traffic (by commodity) on the Mississippi--since grain shipments heading south from the Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River, Ohio River, and Arkansas River are captured. Note, however, that this data does not include all grain barge movements on the Mississippi Rover System, as some grain originates on the Mississippi below the locking portion (south of St. Louis, MO). Grain traffic originating below Lock 27 on the Mississippi is about 10 to 30 percent of total downbound grain shipments, which varies year to year.

A similar dataset, "Upbound and Downbound Loaded and Empty Barge Movements (Count)," contains information on the count of grain barges moving down the locking system (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/w6ip-grsn) versus this dataset that shows tonnages.

Data is collected weekly from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Lock Performance Monitoring System.

Weekly barge rates for downbound freight originating from seven locations along the Mississippi River System, which includes the Mississippi River and its tributaries (e.g., Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River, Ohio River, etc.). The seven locations are: (1) "Twin Cities," a stretch along the Upper Mississippi; (2) "Mid-Mississippi," a stretch between eastern Iowa and western Illinois; (3) "Illinois River," along the lower portion of the Illinois River; (4) "St. Louis"; (5) "Cincinnati," along the middle third of the Ohio River; (6) "Lower Ohio," approximately the final third of the Ohio River; and (7) "Cairo-Memphis," from Cairo, IL, to Memphis, TN (see map under Attachments).

The U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent-of-tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, the WFB no longer exists, and the ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board, which does not have jurisdiction over barge rates on the inland waterways. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks for rate units.

Each city on the river has its own benchmark, with the northern most cities having the highest benchmarks. They are as follows: Twin Cities = 619; Mid-Mississippi = 532; St. Louis = 399; Illinois = 464; Cincinnati = 469; Lower Ohio = 446; and Cairo-Memphis = 314.

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the 1976 benchmark and divide by 100: (Rate * 1976 tariff benchmark rate per ton)/100. As an example, a 271 percent tariff for a St. Louis grain barge would equal 271 percent of the St. Louis benchmark rate of $3.99, or $10.81 per ton.

This dataset provides weekly information on the number, location, direction, and type of barges transiting the following three major points: (1) the last lock on the Mississippi River, Mississippi Locks 27 (called "Miss Locks 27" in the dataset); (2) the last lock on the Ohio River, Olmsted Locks and Dam ; and (3) the last lock on the Arkansas River, Arkansas River Lock and Dam 1 (called "Ark Lock 1" in the dataset). (Olmsted locks replaced Ohio Locks 52 beginning in November 2018.)

The data offers insight on barge movements over time. One variable is "direction", which consists of upbound ("Up") and downbound ("Down"). It also offers insight on the "type" of traffic (e.g., empty barges, loaded barges, grain barges, and non-grain barges). More specifically, upbound data includes the number of empty barges and the number of loaded (any commodity) barges transiting the locking system. Downbound data includes the number of empty barges, the number of grain barges (loaded), and the number of non-grain (loaded) barges. That is, grain and non-grain sum to total loaded for downbound traffic. will Due to data availability, prior to 10/15/2000, downbound data includes just empty and loaded counts.

A similar dataset, "Downbound Barge Grain Movements (Tons)," contains information on the tonnage (and commodity) of grain moving by barge down the locking system: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/n4pw-9ygw/.

Data is collected weekly from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Lock Performance Monitoring System.

This dataset contains the annual volumes of major commodities transported by barge, measured in ton-miles. The data is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Waterborne Commerce Statistics.

This line chart shows monthly average downbound barge rates, providing a sense of longer term trends. Rates are averaged by month. Use the filters to change the locations included in the average, or to show different date ranges.

This dataset contains the annual volumes of major commodities transported by barge, measured in tons. The data is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Waterborne Commerce Statistics.

This data contains information of annual commodity grain movement (in volume) by origins, destination States, and commodity types.

Includes weekly data on the number of grain barges unloaded for export at grain elevators located in the New Orleans region, between Baton Rouge and Myrtle Grove.

Weekly barge rates in future months for downbound freight originating from seven locations along the Mississippi River System. This dataset contains rates for transactions one month in the future.

The seven locations are: (1) "Twin Cities," a stretch along the Upper Mississippi; (2) "Mid-Mississippi," a stretch between eastern Iowa and western Illinois; (3) "Illinois River," along the lower portion of the Illinois River; (4) "St. Louis"; (5) "Cincinnati," along the middle third of the Ohio River; (6) "Lower Ohio," approximately the final third of the Ohio River; and (7) "Cairo-Memphis," from Cairo, IL, to Memphis, TN.

The U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent-of-tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, the WFB no longer exists, and the ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board, which does not have jurisdiction over barge rates on the inland waterways. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks for rate units.

Each city on the river has its own benchmark, with the northern most cities having the highest benchmarks. They are as follows: Twin Cities = 619; Mid-Mississippi = 532; St. Louis = 399; Illinois = 464; Cincinnati = 469; Lower Ohio = 446; and Cairo-Memphis = 314.

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the 1976 benchmark and divide by 100: (Rate * 1976 tariff benchmark rate per ton)/100. As an example, a 271 percent tariff for a St. Louis grain barge would equal 271 percent of the St. Louis benchmark rate of $3.99, or $10.81 per ton.