How Did The Development Of The Grain Mills Help Make Minnesota Dominant In The Early 1900s?

To what extent did the development of the grain mills in Minneapolis help make Minnesota dominant in agriculture in the early 1900s?
The Grain Mills in Minneapolis and Saint Paul made a huge advancement in grain mill productions because having the Mississippi River created a highway for barges, which allowed for grain mills to grow along the river. This ultimately led to Minneapolis being a mecca for grain export. This Mecca of export drew people from all over looking for jobs which developed Minneapolis into a mill town. Which in turn has transformed the grain industry so that it is possible for you to always have wheat for bread.

When the mills started being built in Minneapolis the economy started to shift to be more focused on grain

The barges made it possible for grain to be transported from a long way away in a much safer manner than trucks, which have been prone to tipping over with heavy loads of grain. Which is devastating to farmers since that is their entire season's crop gone before their eyes in an instant. There were other methods of transportation that were used to transport grain, the most successful one was a designated railroad for transporting grain, the grain companies tried to use already built rail lines like the Chicago lines, who ended up fighting back against the grain mills because they felt they were not getting their share of the profits. Steamboats were also tried for transporting on the river but the railways provided a better route for the mills so the steamboats weren’t used long. Even though there were routes on the Mississippi and the St. Croix, the rail lines ended up being more efficient. Due to the Chicago line uprising, a new line called the Soo line began construction in 1873 and it was created for mills specifically, so it created a shorter route to the Atlantic that cost less. Because the Twin cities had few other options than the chicago lines which were notorious for charging large sums of money for the millers to use them. Steamers were also tried on Lake Superior; this was the easiest option for the mills before construction of the Soo line, but it

Another reason why the Twin cities were so perfect for the location of grain mills was because they were in a location where it was quite easy for seeds to be brought to them and to be sent out. Having a great location situated the mills in between farms and allowed them to get loads of grain faster and more often. The mills also already had infrastructure from the lumber mills that were there before the grain mills. The infrastructure of sawmills made the transition much smoother and having a base to build off of gave the mills in Minneapolis and St Paul the upper hand in building mills. Another thing that the Twin City mills focused on were storage facilities which allowed them to have a large amount of wheat ready to mill and storage for the grain that has been milled. Because of the problems with transport, the grain couldn’t always be moved right away. Farmers have also had some problems with the spring wheat they grew because the grains eventually started to deteriorate in yield and quality and that did not work for milling this caused the company to have to find alternative ways to mill flour. The mills had to counteract this buying into contracts with farmers in the dakotas which brought them more than enough grain to continue producing flour. This in turn continued to grow the size of the mills