Downbound grain barge movements on U.S. inland waterways totaled 1,683,600 short tons in the week ended Oct. 24, 2026, according to weekly transportation market data published by USDA AgTransport. The agency's dataset, which tracks commodity, river lock and short-ton movement fields, shows soybeans accounting for the overwhelming share of volume, with corn a distant second and wheat a marginal contributor.Soybeans Dominate VolumeSoybeans totaled 1,343,150 short tons for the week. The Mississippi River lock system car...
Downbound grain barge movements on U.S. inland waterways totaled 1,683,600 short tons in the week ended Oct. 24, 2026, according to weekly transportation market data published by USDA AgTransport. The agency's dataset, which tracks commodity, river lock and short-ton movement fields, shows soybeans accounting for the overwhelming share of volume, with corn a distant second and wheat a marginal contributor.
Soybeans Dominate Volume
Soybeans totaled 1,343,150 short tons for the week. The Mississippi River lock system carried the bulk of that flow: MS Locks 27 handled 364,900 short tons, MS Lock 26 moved 326,900 short tons, MS Lock 25 recorded 281,700 short tons and MS Lock 15 accounted for 179,600 short tons. IL La Grange added 124,300 short tons of soybean traffic, OH Olmsted contributed 60,050 short tons and AK Lock 1 moved 5,700 short tons.
Corn Flows Concentrated on Mississippi Locks
Corn shipments reached 339,050 short tons. MS Locks 27 and MS Lock 26 were nearly even at 89,400 and 89,300 short tons respectively, while IL La Grange moved 75,300 short tons. MS Lock 25 recorded 46,000 short tons, MS Lock 15 handled 24,900 short tons and OH Olmsted contributed 14,150 short tons. AK Lock 1 reported no corn movement for the week.
Wheat and Other Grain Minimal
Wheat totaled 1,400 short tons, all of it moving through AK Lock 1. Other Grain recorded zero short tons across every lock listed in the dataset, including MS Locks 27, MS Lock 26, MS Lock 25, MS Lock 15, IL La Grange, OH Olmsted and AK Lock 1.
Lock-Level Totals
Across all commodities, MS Locks 27 posted the highest combined tonnage at 454,300 short tons, followed by MS Lock 26 at 416,200 short tons and MS Lock 25 at 327,700 short tons. MS Lock 15 totaled 204,500 short tons, IL La Grange 199,600 short tons, OH Olmsted 74,200 short tons and AK Lock 1 7,100 short tons. The figures reflect week 42 of the reporting year and cover short-ton movements recorded through the week ended Oct. 24.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
Sort: Rank Sort: Company A-Z Sort: Headquarters A-Z
| # | Company | Headquarters | Focus | Scale | Note |
| 1 | Cargill | Wayzata, Minnesota | Global grain trading & processing | Global | Largest privately held US corp |
| 2 | Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) | Chicago, Illinois | Grain origination, processing, trading | Global | Major global agribusiness |
| 3 | Bunge | Chesterfield, Missouri | Global grain & oilseed trading | Global | Major oilseed processor & grain merchant |
| 4 | CHS Inc. | Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota | Grain marketing & cooperatives | National | Farmer-owned cooperative |
| 5 | The Andersons, Inc. | Maumee, Ohio | Grain merchandising & ethanol | National | Major grain elevator operator |
| 6 | Scoular | Omaha, Nebraska | Grain & ingredient merchandising | National | Employee-owned agribusiness |
| 7 | AGCO | Duluth, Georgia | Agricultural equipment manufacturer | Global | Producer via equipment for grain farming |
| 8 | Land O'Lakes | Arden Hills, Minnesota | Dairy & crop inputs | National | Member cooperative with grain operations |
| 9 | Gavilon | Omaha, Nebraska | Grain & fertilizer merchandising | National | Part of Marubeni, US HQ in Omaha |
| 10 | Perdue AgriBusiness | Salisbury, Maryland | Grain & oilseed processing | National | Part of Perdue Farms |
| 11 | Consolidated Grain and Barge | Memphis, Tennessee | Grain merchandising & logistics | National | Major Mississippi River grain handler |
| 12 | Farmer's Business Network (FBN) | San Carlos, California | Farmer network & grain marketing | National | Tech-enabled grain marketing platform |
| 13 | Green Plains Inc. | Omaha, Nebraska | Ethanol & grain processing | National | Major processor of corn |
| 14 | CGB Enterprises | Mandeville, Louisiana | Grain & transportation services | National | Integrated grain and logistics |
| 15 | AG Processing Inc (AGP) | Omaha, Nebraska | Soybean processing & grain | National | Farmer-owned cooperative |
| 16 | Pacificor | Arizona | Grain & feed commodity trading | National | Agricultural commodity firm |
| 17 | Zen-Noh Grain Corporation | Bensenville, Illinois | Grain export & trading | National | US subsidiary of Japanese cooperative |
| 18 | Ceres Global Ag Corp | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Grain handling & storage | Regional | Operates grain terminals |
| 19 | The DeLong Co., Inc. | Clinton, Wisconsin | Grain & agricultural products | Regional | Grain merchandising & logistics |
| 20 | United Grain Corporation | Vancouver, Washington | Grain marketing & export | Regional | Pacific Northwest grain handler |
| 21 | Midwest Grain Processing | Atchison, Kansas | Corn processing & ethanol | Regional | Part of Roquette |
| 22 | Crystal Valley Cooperative | Lake Crystal, Minnesota | Grain & agronomy | Regional | Midwest agricultural cooperative |
| 23 | Farmers Cooperative Co. | Farnhamville, Iowa | Grain & ag services | Regional | Iowa-based grain cooperative |
| 24 | Prairie Farms | Carlinville, Illinois | Dairy & grain operations | Regional | Cooperative with grain division |
| 25 | Didion Milling | Cambria, Wisconsin | Corn milling | Regional | Dry corn processor |
| 26 | Star of the West Milling Co. | Frankenmuth, Michigan | Wheat milling & grain | Regional | Wheat processor & merchandiser |
| 27 | The Miller Milling Company | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Wheat flour milling | National | Flour miller & grain buyer |
| 28 | Bay State Milling | Quincy, Massachusetts | Grain milling | National | Flour miller & grain buyer |
| 29 | Grain Millers, Inc. | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | Oat & grain milling | National | Whole grain ingredient supplier |
| 30 | C.H. Guenther & Son | San Antonio, Texas | Flour milling & grain | National | Milling company (Pioneer brand) |