Infrastructure
Dredging Project Readies Mississippi River for Efficient Soy Transportation
United Soybean Board-funded research is used to inform a dredging project in the Mississippi River, which will improve freight-based transportation of soybeans and create a…
Infrastructure
Barge Market Update
The Inland Mississippi River System, an important aspect of the U.S. transportation system, helps to ensure the reliable supply of U.S. Soy.
Infrastructure
The Resilience of U.S. Soy Trade in Uncertain Times
The U.S. soy trade is resilient, says Eric Woodie, trade analyst for the Illinois Soybean Association, pointing to reliable supply and transportation.
Exports
Delivery Process Helps Get U.S. Soy to Buyers
This piece explains the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)’s delivery process.
Planting
Soybean Seed Transportation Logistics Adapt During Pandemic
Airlines ensure timely transportation of soybean seed to the U.S. to be planted during the 2020 season during the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak.
Exports
Grains Go With The Flow: U.S. Inland Waterway System Operating Normally During COVID-19
The U.S. continues to ship agricultural commodities via waterways, including a reliable supply of soybeans, during the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.
Exports
Railways Keep U.S. Grains Chugging Down the Track to Export Market
The U.S. continues to ship agricultural commodities via railways, including a reliable supply of soybeans and soy products, during the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.
Infrastructure
La Nina Increasing Transportation Challenges
Doane’s Alan Barrett examines how La Nina could potentially affect the U.S. soy industry this year.
Infrastructure
Flooding Concerns to Remain into Planting Season
U.S. soybean farmers deal with flooding each spring, primarily along the Red, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers.
Exports
U.S. Ag Exports Continue During Pandemic
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has slowed many industries in recent months. But U.S. farmers continue to grow a reliable supply of agricultural commodities – including…
Infrastructure
Despite IMO, Ocean Freight Rates to Remain Below $50 per Metric Ton
Lower barge and ocean freight rates could be beneficial to the U.S. soy industry.
Infrastructure
Barge Industry Consolidation
Barge industry consolidation will affect the U.S. soy industry in 2020.
Transportation
Minimum Freight Rates Increasing 11% to 15%
One of the most provocative items in determining the minimum freight rate (MFRT) was the fact that it must provide a “livable just wage” for…
Exports
Paving of BR-163 Improves Brazil Northern Arc Ports
Improvements to Brazilian infrastructure could potentially affect the U.S. soy industry.
Transportation
Brazil’s Minimum Freight Rates are Being Negotiated
Approximately 60% of corn and soybeans in Brazil is transported by truck from origin to destination. As a result, truck freight rates play a major…
Transportation
IMO 2020 Regulation Could Increase Diesel Cost
For agriculture, fuel cost is extremely important because it factors into the farming operation’s profit as a direct cost, derived cost, and transportation cost. The…
Transportation
IMO 2020 Regulation Could Increase Diesel Cost
In 1973, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) enacted regulations to reduce pollution from marine and shipping operations. The International Maritime Organization’s new regulations (IMO 2020)…
Transportation
Truck Capacity Availability Improving in 2019
American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimates the U.S. has approximately 3.5 million Class 8 trucks dispatched by over 210,000 trucking companies transporting 16.18 billion tons of…
Transportation
Dry Barge Fleet Consolidation
Over the near term, the U.S. Coast Guard, due to flood conditions, has reduced barge tow configurations from St. Louis, Missouri to the Gulf, which…
Transportation
River Elevator Swap Limits Competition
Illinois farmers are fortunate to have six options at harvest. The farmers can deliver directly to a soybean crushing facility, shuttle elevator, river elevator, container…
Transportation
Despite River Constraints, Barge Rates Normal
Crop barge capacity is the number of covered barges in the fleet multiplied by the number of times the barge can be loaded minus other…
Transportation
Weaker Currency Offsetting Higher Brazilian Truck Freight Rates
One factor that will eventually help U.S. soybean farmers obtain a higher soybean price is higher Brazilian truck freight rates increasing the Brazilian soybean port…
Transportation
Soybeans Trapped in Upper Mississippi River Region
As of June 1, no crop volume has transversed Lock 15 at the Quad Cities. Even in 1993, the average water level was below flood…
Transportation
The Importance of Mississippi River to U.S. Farmers
The inland Mississippi River system plays a major role in transporting commodities; especially soybeans and corn. Approximately 60 percent of all grain inspected is exported…
Transportation
Flooding Shows Value of U.S. Infrastructure
The Army Corps reported Mississippi River at Lock and Dam 15 Rock Island crested at 22.7 feet, a record high in the Quad Cities representing…
Infrastructure
Upper Mississippi River Closing Extended as Flooding Continues
Farmers and merchandisers located in areas at flood levels that needed to market crops in March and April have been harmed by the limitations placed…
Transportation
Transportation Infrastrucuture Projects Improving the Environment
Transportation infrastructure projects reduce congestion and improve efficiency, which improves economic returns, reduces traffic related deaths, limits environmental impacts and reduces government expenditures. Often when…
Transportation
Transportation Infrastructure Projects Improving Safety
The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) has demonstrated in reports the benefits of improved environmental and safety conditions with a better transportation system. This is…
Transportation
River Conditions Impact the Movement of U.S. Soybeans
The inland Mississippi River system plays a major role in transporting commodities, especially soybeans. The inland Mississippi River system is comprised of navigable waterways that…
Transportation
The Potential Impact of 5 Feet on the Mississippi River
Dredging the lower Mississippi from 45 to 50 feet could get soybeans to market in larger, more cost-effective shipments that accommodate larger global ports, says…
Transportation
Increasing Demand for U.S. Soybeans in Container Shipments
An aggregation of historical Federal Grain Inspections Services (FGIS) data shows that non-Chinese buyers have shown a growing preference for receiving U.S. soybeans in container…
Transportation
High Waters Slow U.S. Grain Movement to the Gulf
According to Federal Grain Inspections Service (FGIS) data, 48.1 percent of grain inspected for export in 2018 left via the Mississippi River. The percentage of…
Transportation
Consistent Supply Puts U.S. Soy in Demand
When delays of just days can result in big costs, U.S. soy customers buy for reliable supply Supply isn’t sexy. Steve Jobs isn’t remembered for…
Infrastructure
U.S. Soy’s Transportation Costs: A Competitive Advantage
Thanks to our more efficient infrastructure of highways, rivers, rails and ports, it is far less expensive to ship soybeans from the United States than…
Infrastructure
U.S. Infrastructure is a Smooth, Efficient, Operating System
Jay O’Neil is a senior agricultural economist and instructor with the International Grains Program (IGP) at Kansas State University. With 43 years of experience in…
Exports
STC Looks North of the Border to Ship Soybeans
When it comes to exports, farmers don’t want to put all their soybeans in one or even a few baskets. Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) leaders…
Conservation Tillage
Farming is More than a Job – It’s a Way of Life for U.S. Soybean Growers
Sustainable practices help U.S. soybean farmers produce more soybeans on less land while reducing harmful emissions and soil erosion. These videos, narrated in English, Mandarin,…
Buyers
U.S. Transportation System: Delivering Quality Soy
U.S. Soy has a leg up on the competition because of our robust transportation infrastructure – and we can use that advantage to better meet…
Transportation
Soybeans on the Move
Reliability, sustainability, and superior quality make up the U.S. Soy Advantage. One example of U.S. soy’s reliability is its capability to get soybeans to market…
Infrastructure
ERIC POWELL, Importance of Reliable Container Transportation and Reliable Infrastructure
Eric Powell, manager, intermodal and economic development, Indiana Railroad Company, spoke about the importance of reliable container transportation and a reliable infrastructure at the 2016…
Quality
STEVE FORD, 2016 U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange Speaker
Steve Ford, president of Stonebridge, Ltd., was a featured speaker at the 2016 U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ford spoke about 2016…
Transportation
KEN ERIKSEN, 2015 U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange Speaker
The continuous improvement of infrastructure is critical to the U.S. Soy industry. At the 2015 U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange, Ken Eriksen spoke to U.S.…
Buyers
DAVID IVERSON, Soybean farmer from South Dakota
South Dakota soybean farmer, David Iverson, talks about the importance of international markets to U.S. soy
Exports
Transportation: U.S. versus Brazil
How Brazil's infrastructure makes delivery costly and unsustainable
Economics
Brazilian Soybean Boom Continues Despite Challenges
Pluses and minuses of growing soybeans in Brazil, compared with the U.S. Brazilian soybean farmers are expected to plant a record soybean crop this year,…