USDA plans comment period on commodity reports, trading hours

Paper discusses potential impact

Faculty at Texas A&M have authored a paper, “What to Expect from Expanded Trading Hours?” discusses the potential impact expanded trading hours may have on the hedging activities of farmers and ranchers, and how the evolving business of

commodity futures exchanges affects price risk management. Find it at http://agecon2.tamu.edu/people/faculty/robinson-john/ExpandedTradingHours.pdf.

USDA is reviewing release times for several major statistical reports due to recent changes in market hours by major commodity exchanges. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) – USDA entities responsible for the reports – will seek public comment on the release times and procedures of their key statistical reports.

Dates for the comment period have not been set. USDA expects to publish a notice in the Federal Register advising the public of the comment period in the coming weeks.

USDA is reviewing release times of the following statistical reports: World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, Acreage, Cattle, Cattle on Feed, Crop Production, Grain Stocks, Prospective Plantings and Small Grain Summary. The current USDA release times of 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. ET will remain in effect until further notice.

"It is important that USDA continue to ensure the integrity of its report release process, particularly as global exchanges move closer to 24-hour trading," said Glauber. "To this end, USDA is reviewing our procedures and will solicit public input to determine the needs of those who use our data."

Previously, in a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) requested a 30-day public comment period on a proposal to expand electronic trading hours of grain and oilseed futures contracts. The proposals, from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the CME Group, would expand trading to 22 hours per day.

Among concerns, NCGA said allowing the futures markets to trade during the release of key USDA reports could lead to rampant market distortions, creating extreme market volatility and hurting growers’ ability to adjust risk management strategies and futures positions. Additionally, growers and elevators who routinely make marketing decisions based on daily market movements would find it more difficult to determine market positions.