Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers: Value and Importance of these Transport Arteries for U.S. Agriculture

Abstract

The upper Mississippi River is a 663-mile segment extending from Minneapolis, Minnesota to near St. Louis, Missouri: this waterway forms borders for Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin. The 349-mile Illinois waterway extends from Chicago, Illinois to the confluence of the Illinois and upper Mississippi Rivers near St. Louis, Missouri. Both transport arteries originate important quantities of corn, soybeans and wheat that are transported via the middle and lower Mississippi River to export elevators in the lower Mississippi River port area (3). Past studies indicated over 90 percent of the export-destined corn and soybeans originating in states that border the upper Mississippi and Illinois waterways is destined for lower Mississippi River ports (1, 4). In addition, it is estimated that over half of the U.S.'s corn exports and over a third of the soybean exports originate in states bordering the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and move via these transport arteries to lower Mississippi River ports (1, 4).