More than 40 ports across the United States will receive $653 million in funding for improvement projects, including facilities in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota that will help with the movement of grain, the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced. Under the Port Infrastructure Development Program, the funding will help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland river ports.

Due to unprecedented low levels on Gatun Lake, the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) is further limiting the number of daily vessel transits, reaching a low of 18 vessels per day by February 2024.The water level on Gatun Lake, which is the water source for the canal, is currently 79.7 feet, 7% below the prior five-year average for October, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Grain Transportation Report. The maximum sustainable capacity on the canal is 38-40 transits. The PCA took several water saving and conservation measures including reducing transit capacity to 32 vessels since July 30. Additional reductions were announced Sept. 29.

The Australian 2022/23 marketing year concluded at the end of September, and the final pieces of the season’s record grain export program were revealed, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics September export data report. Concentrating on the three key commodities of wheat, barley, and rapeseed (canola), Australia’s total exports for the 12 months came in at a record 44.8 million mt, with barley the only one not setting a new seasonal export record despite a late-season increase to China after it cut import tariffs in early August.

While wheat supplies seem plentiful, it should be noted that many countries will not have a bumper crop. Australia is currently harvesting a smaller crop, pegged at 24.5 mmt and Argentina's wheat crop has been reduced by drought coming in at 16.5 mmt. With wheat prices back to historically lower price levels, will additional end users step up purchases? After all, there are two global wars to contend with, and any flare up may affect commodity prices. Will end users want to get in front of that to secure supplies? Or have end users gone back to a complacent “hand to mouth” purchase mentality, and will only buy when needed?

Forging stronger political ties, Russia and China also are expanding agricultural trade, promising changes for the global grain market. In October, Food Export Trade, a Russian grain exporting firm, signed a $26 billion contract to supply China with 70 million tonnes of grain, legumes and oilseeds over the next 12 years. This is one of the biggest contracts in the history of the Russia-China trade relationship, said Karen Ovesepyan, head of the New Land-Based Grain Corridor Initiative, an infrastructure project designed to facilitate grain exports to China.

Over the last few weeks, we have explored all the major modes of the U.S. supply chain, evaluated recent trends, and highlighted how each type of transportation plays an integral role in the U.S. supply chain. Barging, rail, and oceangoing vessels work together to create the dependable supply chain importers of U.S. wheat expect. In periods of increased risk and volatility, a trustworthy, reliable supply chain is essential for providing customers with the wheat they need.

Idaho is losing too much open space, including farmland, according to a new voter survey and study. Idaho’s rate of population growth led the U.S. during the past decade and drives development that consumes agricultural ground and other open spaces, said Leon Kolankiewicz, scientific director for NumbersUSA, a nonprofit that advocates for less immigration. Some 77% of the sprawl in Idaho counties from 1982 to 2017 was related to an increase in the number of residents, he said. A rise in per-capita land consumption drove the rest, referring to the average amount of land occupied by each person