USDA Grain Transportation Report 2 (10/27): USDA to Discontinue Dataset on Rail Deliveries to Port

According to today's USDA Grain Transportation Report, after the November 10 GTR, USDA will discontinue publication of its rail deliveries to port (rail-to-port) data (GTR table 3 and GTR fig. 2).

Railroads, grain elevators, and ports have voluntarily provided the data weekly for over 40 years. However, over time, a number of reporting entities have stopped providing data, and others have indicated a desire to cease reporting in the near future. Thus, USDA will no longer be able to provide these data.

This week’s GTR feature article discusses two data sources that closely approximate the discontinued data: grain inspections from USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service (available in the GTR and on USDA’s AgTransport) and grain shuttle turn data from the Surface Transportation Board (available on AgTransport).

Read the full report here.