KEY FACTS
- Freight rail supports harvest before, during, and after peak season by moving equipment, fertilizer, seed, grain, food products, and other agricultural goods.
- Railroads carry about 1.6 million carloads of grain and 1.7 million carloads of food products each year.
- Freight railroads help make the U.S. a top global grain exporter.
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For nearly two centuries, freight rail has been vital to American agriculture, connecting farms and rural communities to markets across the country and around the world. Today, railroads support nearly every stage of the agricultural supply chain—from delivering fertilizer and farm equipment to moving grain, food, animal feed, and inputs for biofuels. By connecting farms, processors and consumers, freight rail helps strengthen food security and keep U.S. agriculture competitive in global markets.
By the Numbers
- Railroads handle a significant portion of U.S. grain transportation, with 24% of domestic grain movements and 39% of grain export movements, according to USDA data.
- Corn, the most transported grain by rail, accounted for 58% of rail grain carloads in 2025.
- A single railcar able to carry enough wheat for approximately 258,000 loaves of bread or enough corn to feed roughly 37,000 chickens.
- Railroads move 1.6 million carloads of grain and 1.7 million carloads of food annually.
- By the end of 2025, the North American grain car fleet included more than 290,000 railroad- and privately owned cars with a combined capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet.
- Railroads transport 764,000 carloads annually of grain-related products, including corn syrup, flour, soybean oil and meal, serving industries ranging from food production to beer brewing.
Railroads prepare for harvest year-round.
Every year, American farmers harvest more than 200 million acres of corn, soybeans and wheat—an area larger than Texas and Iowa combined. Because crops are often grown far from where they are processed or consumed, moving that harvest efficiently is essential.
Freight rail bridges those distances, carrying tens of millions of tons of grain to elevators, mills, food and feed producers, biofuel facilities, ports and other markets across North America.
Before planting begins, they move the fertilizer, seed, farm equipment, and other supplies farmers need to grow crops. During harvest, they transport tens of millions of tons of grain from rural communities to grain elevators, food manufacturers, livestock producers, and export terminals. Long after the fields are empty, trains continue moving grain and finished food products across North America, while also delivering the supplies needed for the next growing season.
February–April: Getting Ready to Grow
Contrary to what a lot of people believe, harvest season doesn’t start in fall. It actually begins long before anything is growing. As winter winds down, freight trains begin moving fertilizer, seed, and other supplies into farming regions to help farmers start planting.
The Northern Plains and Midwest are major growing regions for corn, soybeans and other grains that are staples of the food supply and important inputs for livestock feed and ethanol.
Because fertilizer is heavy and often travels hundreds or even thousands of miles from where it’s produced, rail is an efficient way to move it long distances. Covered hopper cars transport dry fertilizer, while tank cars carry liquid products.
Railroads also move farm equipment, steel, lumber, fuel, and other materials that help farmers prepare for planting. Once these shipments arrive at regional distribution centers, trucks make the final deliveries to local suppliers and farms. By the time spring arrives, much of what farmers need is already in place.
April–June: Planting the Crop
Spring is planting season across much of North America. Farmers work quickly to plant corn, soybeans, and other crops during a relatively short window when soil and weather conditions are right. Throughout the season, freight rail continues delivering fertilizer, fuel, and other supplies needed to keep farms running.
Behind the scenes, railroads begin preparing for harvest months before the first crops are ready. They work with grain companies and other customers to forecast crop volumes and shipping demand, position thousands of empty grain cars where they’ll be needed most, schedule locomotives and crews, coordinate with grain elevators, and plan maintenance around the expected surge in traffic.
Railroads also continually invest in the network that moves the harvest. They overwhelmingly own, operate and maintain around 133,000route-miles of track and invest about $25 billion annually in infrastructure, equipment, technology and maintenance.
Those investments include stronger track and bridges to handle heavy grain trains, expanded capacity on key agricultural routes, modernized yards and terminals, higher-capacity covered hopper cars, and shuttle train service that allows entire trains of grain to move efficiently from elevators to processors and export terminals.
July–August: The First Harvest Arrives
Many people associate harvest with fall, but the first major harvest often begins in midsummer. Winter wheat is harvested across many parts of the United States and Canada, and grain starts moving almost immediately. Farmers typically haul their wheat by truck to a nearby grain elevator, where it’s cleaned, dried, tested, and stored.
The elevator combines grain from many farms before loading it onto trains—often more than 100 railcars at a time—for shipment to flour mills, food manufacturers and export terminals. Some wheat may become flour for a nearby bakery. Other shipments travel hundreds or even thousands of miles before being loaded onto ships bound for customers around the world.
September–November: Harvest Hits Full Speed
Fall is when harvest reaches its peak. Corn, soybeans, sorghum, and many other crops move from fields to market or into storage. Freight rail and barges move large volumes of grain from grain elevators over long distances to flour mills, feed mills, ethanol plants, food manufacturers, livestock and poultry producers, export terminals, and ports.
Crops headed overseas are then loaded onto ocean vessels for export. Grain also travels to and from Mexico and Canada by rail.
December–January: The Harvest Keeps Moving
Harvest doesn’t end when the fields are empty. Millions of bushels of grain remain in storage and continue moving for months. Flour mills need wheat every day. Livestock producers need a steady supply of feed. Food manufacturers continue making cereal, bread, cooking oil, snacks and hundreds of other products throughout the year.
Grain harvested in the Midwest may become bread on the East Coast, livestock feed in Texas or food products sold overseas. While consumers may think of harvest as a season, the transportation network that supports it operates year-round.
Even as the previous harvest continues moving through the supply chain, the next one is already beginning. Railroads start delivering fertilizer and other agricultural supplies back into farming regions, helping prepare for the next growing season.
At-a-Glance: How the Harvest Gets to You
- Freight Rail: Months before planting begins, freight rail delivers fertilizer, seed, farm equipment, fuel and other agricultural supplies to farming communities, helping farmers prepare for the growing season.
- Farm: Farmers plant and grow crops like corn, soybeans and wheat before harvesting them when they’re ready.
- Truck: Trucks haul freshly harvested crops from the field to a nearby grain elevator.
- Grain Elevator: The grain is cleaned, dried, tested and stored before being loaded for its next journey. Many modern grain elevators are designed to load trains with more than 100 railcars, allowing enormous volumes of grain to move efficiently across the country.
- Freight Rail or Barge: Trains and barges move large volumes of grain long distances to flour mills, feed mills, ethanol plants, food manufacturers, export terminals and ports. Rail is especially well suited for moving heavy bulk commodities long distances.
- Ocean Vessel (Exports): Grain destined for international markets is loaded onto ships and transported to customers around the world.
- Food Manufacturer: The grain is turned into products like flour, cereal, bread, cooking oil, livestock feed and countless other everyday items.
- Freight Rail or Truck: Many finished food products are shipped from manufacturing plants to regional distribution centers by rail, truck or a combination of both, depending on the distance and destination.
- Distribution Center: Finished products are sorted and stored before being sent to grocery stores, restaurants and other retailers.
- Truck: Trucks make the final delivery, bringing food to the places where people buy and eat it.
Listen to the AAR Audio Narration
This is AAR Audio, and you’re listening to How Freight Rail Moves America’s Harvest.
For nearly two centuries, freight rail has connected American farms and rural communities with markets across the country and around the world.
Today, railroads support nearly every stage of the agricultural supply chain.
They deliver fertilizer, farm equipment, and other supplies farmers need to grow crops.
They move grain, food, animal feed, and ingredients for biofuels.
And they connect farms with processors, manufacturers, livestock producers, ports, and consumers.
Here’s a look at the full-year lifecycle of the harvest season and where freight rail plays a critical role.
As winter winds down, farmers are preparing to plant.
And freight trains are already moving.
Railroads deliver fertilizer and other agricultural supplies into major farming regions, including the Northern Plains and Midwest.
Fertilizer is particularly well suited for rail.
It’s heavy, farmers need a lot of it, and it often needs to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from where it’s produced.
Covered hopper cars carry dry fertilizer, while tank cars transport liquid products.
Railroads also move farm equipment, steel, lumber, fuel, and other materials that support agricultural operations.
From regional distribution centers, trucks can take those supplies the rest of the way to local businesses and farms.
So, by the time planting begins, freight rail has already been working for months to help get farmers ready.
Spring brings planting season.
Across much of North America, farmers have a relatively short window to get corn, soybeans, and other crops into the ground.
During this time, railroads continue delivering agricultural supplies.
But behind the scenes, something else is happening.
They’re already preparing to move the harvest.
Months before crops are ready, railroads work with grain companies and other customers to estimate how much grain may need to move, and where it will need to go.
They position thousands of empty grain cars.
They plan for locomotives and crews.
They coordinate with grain elevators.
And they schedule maintenance around the surge in traffic that will come later in the year.
They’re also leveraging their own private investments.
Freight railroads overwhelmingly own, operate, and maintain around 133,000 route-miles of track, investing roughly $25 billion each year in infrastructure, equipment, technology, and maintenance.
That can mean stronger track and bridges for heavy grain trains, more capacity on agricultural routes, modernized rail yards, higher-capacity covered hopper cars, and shuttle trains designed to move large quantities of grain efficiently.
And they need that capacity.
American farmers harvest more than 200 million acres of corn, soybeans, and wheat every year.
That’s an area larger than Texas and Iowa combined.
By midsummer, winter wheat is being harvested across parts of the United States and Canada.
Once it leaves the field, farmers typically haul that wheat by truck to a nearby grain elevator.
There, it’s cleaned, dried, tested, and stored.
Think of a grain elevator as a gathering point.
Instead of trains traveling to individual farms, grain from many farms comes together in one place.
Modern elevators can then load enormous quantities onto trains — sometimes more than 100 railcars at a time.
From there, that wheat could go almost anywhere.
Some might travel to a flour mill and eventually become bread.
Some might go to a food manufacturer.
And some might travel a long distance to a port, where it’s loaded onto a ship and sent to customers around the world.
One railcar alone can carry enough wheat to make approximately 258,000 loaves of bread.
And that’s just one car.
Then comes the season most of us associate with harvest.
Fall.
Corn, soybeans, sorghum, and other crops begin moving from fields in enormous quantities.
And this is where the scale of freight rail really comes into focus.
Railroads handle about 24% of domestic U.S. grain movements.
For grain headed overseas, that share rises to about 39%.
Corn is the most commonly transported grain by rail, accounting for 58% of rail grain carloads in 2025.
And one railcar can carry enough corn to feed roughly 37,000 chickens.
Grain moves from elevators by rail and barge to flour mills, feed mills, ethanol plants, food manufacturers, livestock and poultry producers, export terminals, and ports.
Some cross the border by rail into Canada or Mexico.
Some reaches a port and continues by ocean vessel to another part of the world.
And much of it becomes something completely different.
Corn can become animal feed, corn syrup, or ethanol.
Soybeans can become cooking oil.
Wheat can become flour, cereal, bread, pasta, and a variety of other foods.
Railroads transport about 764,000 carloads of grain-related products each year, including corn syrup, flour, soybean oil, and soybean meal.
Those shipments serve industries ranging from food production to beer brewing.
By winter, the combines may be parked.
But the harvest is still moving.
Millions of bushels remain stored in grain elevators and other facilities.
Flour mills still need wheat.
Livestock producers still need feed.
Food manufacturers are still making cereal, bread, cooking oil, snacks, and other products.
And customers around the world are still buying American agricultural products.
A bushel of grain harvested months earlier may still be somewhere in that supply chain.
In a typical year, railroads move about 1.6 million carloads of grain and another 1.7 million carloads of food.
And the fleet needed to move all of it is enormous.
By the end of 2025, North America’s grain car fleet included more than 290,000 railroad- and privately owned railcars, with a combined capacity of about 1.5 billion cubic feet.
But while one harvest is still moving, the next one is beginning.
Fertilizer and other supplies start moving back into agricultural regions.
Farmers begin preparing for another growing season.
And the cycle starts again.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Harvest is more than a few busy fall weeks; it is a year-round supply chain that starts before planting and continues long after crops leave the field. Alongside trucks, barges and ships, freight rail connects farms to elevators, manufacturers, livestock producers, ports and export markets—helping keep North America’s food supply moving.