This data is reported by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). USDA's Export Sales Reporting Program monitors U.S. agricultural export sales on a daily and weekly basis. Export sales reporting provides a constant stream of up-to-date market information for 40 U.S. agricultural commodities sold abroad. A single statistic reveals the significance of the program: in a typical year, the program monitors more than 40 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports. The program also serves as an early alert on the possible impact foreign sales have on U.S. supplies and prices. The weekly U.S. Export Sales report is the most current available source of U.S. export sales data. The data is used to analyze the overall level of export demand, determine where markets exist, and assess the relative position of U.S. commodities in foreign markets.

The date field in export sales is weekly, based on the calendar year. However, the dataset also keeps track of marketing year export sales. Be cautious when aggregating the export sales data over the date variable to properly account for these factors.

The turn of the marketing year often falls on a different day of the week then the weekly calendar year reporting. In this case, FAS adds an additional row (two total) to the dataset for that calendar week. One row represents that week's values which fell in the previous marketing year, while the other row captures that week's values which fell in the new marketing year. The "Marketing Year Start or End" variable labels these rows as "ENDING MY" and "STARTING MY", respectively, and is otherwise empty.

This creates a double counting issue when aggregating some of the variables by calendar week. See our view, https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/885i-uek7, for an example of avoiding double counting to show total outstanding sales over time.

Prices are a fundamental component of exchange and have long been important to the functioning of agricultural markets. Grain prices are closely related to grain transportation, where the supply and demand for grain simultaneously determines both the price of grain, as well as the demand for grain transportation.

This data has corn, soybean, and wheat prices for a variety of locations. These include origins—such as Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and many others—and destinations, such as the Pacific Northwest, Louisiana Gulf, Texas Gulf, and Atlantic Coast.

The data come from three sources: USDA-AMS Market News price reports, GeoGrain, and U.S. Wheat Associates. Links are included below. GeoGrain offers granular data for purchase. The GeoGrain data here is an average of those granular prices for a given state (and the "Southeast" region, which combines Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama).

This is one of three companion datasets. The other two are grain basis (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/v85y-3hep) and grain price spreads (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/an4w-mnp7). These datasets are separate, because the coverage lengths differ and missing values are removed (e.g., there needs to be a cash price and a futures price to have a basis price).

The data shows grain prices at select inland origin points and export destination ports and the price spread between them. More specifically, this dataset compares interior prices of corn in Illinois and Nebraska with the Gulf; Iowa and Gulf soybean prices; Kansas and Gulf hard red winter wheat; and North Dakota and Portland hard red spring wheat.

Monthly movements of U.S. waterborne containerized grain exports.

This chart shows historical grain train speeds, averaged by month, to provide a sense of long-term trends. Use the filters to select different date ranges, commodities, or railroads.

This data includes historical volumes of U.S. grains inspected for export from major U.S. port regions and countries of destination. Information Contained In This Data Reflects Exported Grain Inspected And Weighed Through The Authority Under The U.S. Grain Standards Act.

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.

Line chart showing monthly averages of railcar bids in the secondary auction market, broken out by year to provide a seasonal perspective on rates. Filterable by date, railroad, and train type.

The data shows the cost of shipping grain from the U.S. Gulf and Pacific Northwest to Japan in dollars per metric ton.

Basis reflects both local and global supply and demand forces. It is calculated as the difference between the local cash price and the futures price. It affects when and where many grain producers and shippers buy and sell grain. Many factors affect basis—such as local supplies, storage and transportation availability, and global demand—and they interact in complex ways. How changes in basis manifest in transportation is likewise complex and not always direct. For instance, an increase in current demand will drive cash prices up relative to future prices, and increase basis. At the same time, grain will enter the transportation system to fulfill that demand. However, grain supplies also affect basis, but will have the opposite effect on transportation. During harvest, the increase in the supply of grain pushes down cash prices relative to futures prices, and basis weakens, but the demand for transportation increases to move the supplies.

For more information on how basis is linked to transportation, see the story, "Grain Prices, Basis, and Transportation" (https://agtransport.usda.gov/stories/s/sjmk-tkh6), and links below for research on the topic.

This data has corn, soybean, and wheat basis for a variety of locations. These include origins—such as Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and many others—and destinations, such as the Pacific Northwest, Louisiana Gulf, Texas Gulf, and Atlantic Coast.

This is one of three companion datasets. The other two are grain prices (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/g92w-8cn7) and grain price spreads (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/an4w-mnp7). These datasets are separate, because the coverage lengths differ and missing values are removed (e.g., there needs to be a cash price and a futures price to have a basis price).

The cash price comes from the grain prices dataset and the futures price comes from the appropriate futures market, which is Chicago Board of Trade (CME Group) for corn, soybeans, and soft red winter wheat; Kansas City Board of Trade (CME Group) for hard red winter wheat; and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange for hard red spring wheat.