[2] MGEX has been the principal market for Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) since 1881, offering futures and options contracts based on its unique commodity.

In an agreement with Data Transmission Network (now Telvent DTN), a business-to-business electronic commerce and information services company in Omaha, Nebraska, MGEX has exclusive rights to DTNs agriculture and weather data bases, which the exchange uses to develop index products.

Founded as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in 1881, the MGEX has been a marketplace for producers, processors and millers for more than 125 years.

The three Grain Exchange buildings in downtown Minneapolis are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1883, the Chamber of Commerce introduced its first futures contract: hard red spring wheat.