@article{Kruse:207923,
      recid = {207923},
      author = {Kruse, John and Fellin, Luis and Fuller, Stephen and  Womack, Abner},
      title = {Analyses of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers as  Grain Transport Arteries: A Spatial Equilibrium Analyses},
      address = {2007-03},
      number = {1428-2016-118580},
      pages = {22},
      year = {2007},
      abstract = {Grain is the primary commodity transported on the upper  Mississippi and Illinois Rivers,
comprising about half of  the tonnage on the upper Mississippi and 40 percent of  the
Illinois River traffic. It is estimated these rivers  annually originate about 36 million
metric tons of corn and  soybeans that are primarily destined for export at  lower
Mississippi River ports. Spatial models representing  the international grain economy are
developed to estimate  the annual contribution of the upper Mississippi and  Illinois Rivers
to Midwest grain producer revenues and  evaluate alternate grain routing necessitated by  a
catastrophic event at Lock and Dam 27 near St. Louis, a  facility grain must pass on its
route to lower Mississippi  River ports. The analysis suggests the annual value of  the
upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers for grain  transport ranges from $233 to $799 million
but based on the  most likely scenario to range from $312 to $549 million.  The
catastrophic analyses examined the value of alternate  routings and corridors given a
violent event at Lock and  Dam 27 and results show the segment of the Mississippi  River
immediately below St. Louis to be an attractive  routing for grain from Illinois, Iowa, and
Minnesota given  closure of these rivers. Also of great importance as  alternate routings
was rail transportation on the Corn Belt  to Gulf corridor, and grain shipments via the
Ohio River  and Great Lakes. The upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers  are important
transport arteries for the Midwest grain  economy and their value and the value of
alternate grain  transport corridors and routings is greatly dependent on  pricing decisions
by competing railroads.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/207923},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.207923},
}