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 In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable.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.

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.

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.

Fuel surcharge data is collected monthly from individual railroad websites. Fuel surcharges apply per mile per car. They are typically billed on top of tariff rates, but note that tariff- and contract-specific fuel surcharges may differ from the reported surcharge. For instance, BNSF publishes three separate fuel surcharge series, based on different strike prices. Their $1.25 strike price was in effect on some grain tariffs prior to March 2011, when the $2.50 strike price calculation went into effect. In February 2015, BNSF removed the fuel surcharge from its grain tariffs. In January 2021, BNSF added the fuel surcharge back to its grain tariffs at the $3.25 strike price. All three series are included in this dataset.

Weekly on-highway diesel prices (dollars per gallon) from the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. This data includes the average diesel fuel price for the U.S. and five Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs) (including PADD subcomponents). There are ten variables in total: "U.S."; "East Coast" (PADD1), broken out further by "New England" (PADD1A), "Central Atlantic" (PADD1B), and "Lower Atlantic" (PADD1C); "Midwest" (PADD2); "Gulf Coast" (PADD3); "Rocky Mountain" (PADD4); and "West Coast" (PADD5), broken out further by "West Coast excluding California" and "California." See link below for the states included in each region.

Line chart showing weekly Europe Brent Spot Price in dollars per barrel from the Energy Information Administration, filtered to include the last year of data. Filterable by date.

A "spread" can have multiple meanings, but it generally implies a difference between two comparable measures. These can be differences across space, across time, or across anything with a similar attribute. For example, in the stock market, there is a spread between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept.

In this dataset, spread refers to differences in prices between two locations, an origin (e.g., Illinois, Iowa, etc.) and a destination (e.g., Louisiana Gulf, Pacific Northwest, etc.). Mathematically, it is the destination price minus the origin price.

Price spreads are closely linked to transportation. They tend to reflect the costs of moving goods from one point to another, all else constant. Fluctuations in spreads can change the flow of goods (where it may be more profitable to ship to a different location), as well as indicate changes in transportation availability (e.g., disruptions). For more information on how price spreads are linked to transportation, see the story, "Grain Prices, Basis, and Transportation" (https://agtransport.usda.gov/stories/s/sjmk-tkh6).

This is one of three companion datasets. The other two are grain prices (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/g92w-8cn7) and grain basis (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/v85y-3hep). 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, and there needs to be both an origin and a destination to have a price spread).

The origin and destination prices come from the grain prices dataset.

Line chart showing the full timeline of average US on-highway diesel prices (all types) from the Energy Information Administration to highlight long term fuel price trends.

This filtered view pulls the latest week of data from the Grain Basis dataset.