LUBBOCK, TX – A new USDA report highlights the central role of railroads in facilitating U.S. grain exports to Mexico. The Foreign Agricultural Service office in Monterrey noted that Mexico imported a record 33.6 million tons of U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat in 2024.
Roughly two-thirds of that grain traveled by rail, based on USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service data. The top U.S.-Mexico rail crossings for grain were Laredo, Eagle Pass, and El Paso, Texas. The rest of the grain moved via ocean shipping.
The report includes a USDA Agricultural Marketing Service map showing major export flow routes in 2022, highlighting the rail network’s reach. The study also reviews delays experienced in 2023 and 2024 and provides an overview of Mexican rail infrastructure.
With Mexican grain demand projected to grow, the report concludes that the long-term health of cross-border agricultural trade depends heavily on freight rail efficiency and capacity on both sides of the border.
(Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, July 2025)