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MINUTES OF THE APRIL 5, 2022 MEETING OF THE

U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION’S 

AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Agricultural Advisory Committee (“AAC”) convened for a virtual public meeting 

on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. The meeting consisted of two presentations, a panel, 

and a discussion on future AAC meeting topics. The first presentation discussed agricultural 

data and analytics. During the panel, there was discussion of sustainable biofuels production. 

The second presentation discussed maritime issues impacting the agricultural economy. 

AAC Members in Attendance

Buddy Allen, American Cotton Shippers Association 

Joe Barker, National Council Farmer Cooperatives 

Chris Betz, Michigan Agri-Businesses Association 

Robbie Boone, Farm Credit Council 

Layne Carlson, Minneapolis Grain Exchange 

Robert Chesler, United Dairymen of Arizona 

Gerald Corcoran, Futures Industry Association 

Ed Elfmann, American Bankers Association 

Thomas Haag, National Corn Growers Association 

Thomas Hayden, Jr., Commodity Markets Council 

Scott Herndon, Field to Market 

Thomas Hogan, Cocoa Merchants Association of America 

Jered Hooker, American Soybean Association 

Bryan Humphreys, National Pork Producers Council 

Willis Kidd, Citadel

Jeff Lloyd, Archer Daniels Midland 

Michelle Mapes, Green Plains Inc.

Mark McHargue, American Farm Bureau Federation

Dr. Cynthia Nickerson, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Office of the Chief Economist 

Edward Prosser, The Scoular Company 

Michael Ricks, Cargill 

Bella Rozenberg, International Swaps and Derivatives Association

Troy Sander, National Cattleman’s Beef Association

Liam Smith, Futures Industry Association, Principal Traders Group 

Stephen Strong, North American Export Grain Association 

Curt Strubhar, Grain and Feed Association of Illinois 

Justin Tupper, US Cattlemen’s Association 

Wes Uhlmeyer, Demeter Logistics

Ryan Weston, American Sugar Alliance

Jason Wheeler, USA Rice Federation

CFTC Commissioners and Staff in Attendance 

Rostin Behnam, Chairman and AAC Sponsor 

Kristin N. Johnson, Commissioner 

Christy Goldsmith Romero, Commissioner 
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Association

Summer K. Mersinger, Commissioner 

Swati Shah, Special Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, and AAC Designated Federal 

Officer (“DFO”)

Invited Speakers in Attendance

Sara Menker, Gro Intelligence

Kathy Bergren, National Corn Growers Association

Devin Mogler, Green Plains, Inc. 

Alexa Combelic, American Soybean Association

John Duff, National Sorghum Producers 

Daniel Maffei, Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission

I. Opening Remarks

Ms. Shah called the meeting to order. Chairman Behnam, the Sponsor of the AAC, 

provided opening remarks. He thanked Ms. Shah, the new DFO, and Mr. Herndon, the new 

Chairman of the AAC. He recognized the participating Commissioners and the guest speakers. 

He thanked all members for their service on the Committee. 

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero, in prerecorded remarks, recognized the recent 

celebration of the 50th National Agricultural Day and thanked the Committee for its 

contributions to the American economy and global economies. She outlined the severe 

headwinds that the agricultural sector has faced over the last three years. She commended the 

agricultural community for their grit and resilience to provide food, fuel, and fiber and drive the 

economy during challenging times. She mentioned the Department of Agriculture’s efforts to 

boost homegrown biofuels and Department of Energy funding for biofuel production. 

Next, Commissioner Mersinger, also in prerecorded remarks, thanked all participants. She 

highlighted the critical importance of sustainable biofuels production, data analytics, and the 

waterways issues that impact the movement of agricultural products to reach international 

markets.

Commissioner Johnson, participating from Nairobi, Kenya, thanked each of the members 

of the AAC for joining and Chairman Behnam for his leadership of the AAC and Ms. Shah for 

her service as DFO. She expressed hope that she would be able to share lessons learned by the 

AAC with the agricultural sector in Nairobi, Kenya, and return to the United States with lessons 

learned from her trip.

Ms. Shah then proceeded with the roll call and turned the meeting over to Chairman 

Herndon. 

II. Presentation 1: Agricultural Data and Analytics 

Chairman Herndon introduced Ms. Menker. Ms. Menker presented slides on the main 

macro themes that Gro Intelligence as a data and analytics company sees around global 

agricultural markets. She surveyed agricultural price changes in local currency since the start of 
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2020 and observed that the food inflation story is global and persistent. She discussed the 

intersection of U.S. dollar food import expenditures and the repayment of foreign currency 

denominated debt. She observed that fertilizer prices continue to decline but affordability 

continues to be a problem where there is a currency crisis. She highlighted persistent drought 

across 75 percent of the world’s wheat producing regions at a time when global wheat 

inventories remain very tight and Ukrainian acreage has declined. She discussed the effect of 

high snow depth levels on corn plantings in the United States. She contrasted too much snow in 

the Northern Plains with too much drought in the Southern Plains. She discussed projected corn 

and soybean yields in South America, with Brazil expected to make up for lost corn production 

in Argentina. She highlighted record drought levels for the rice and wheat producing areas of 

China, which is becoming increasingly reliant on global grain imports. She explained the Gro 

Intelligence drought index weighted by wheat and rice as applied to Europe. She discussed 

drought conditions in North Africa and the Middle East, major importers of food generally and 

wheat in particular. She identified two major changes on the demand side: China becoming a 

structural importer of grain and the continued increase in demand for biofuels. She discussed the 

effect of the increase in demand for protein on the animal feed market, and the competition 

between vegetable oils for human consumption and industrial use. 

Chairman Herndon opened the floor to questions and comments from the AAC

membership. Ms. Menker answered a question about the percentage of grains exported from the 

United States to China as compared to the rest of the world, and committed to share her slide 

deck and projections about vegetable oil after the meeting. Chairman Behnam asked whether 

Ms. Menker could detect any changes in weather patterns that would relieve pressure in the 

Northern or Southern Plains, and she discussed the effects of volatility and variability on the 

predictability of markets and the inputs needed to hedge.

III. Panel on Sustainable Biofuels Production

Chairman Herndon introduced the second panel. Mr. Haag stated that biofuels are a key 

market for corn growers. Ms. Bergren followed with a discussion of policy developments. On 

the federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act included a clean fuel production tax credit. She 

then discussed state level policies that are helping drive toward lower carbon intensity in 

agriculture and biofuels. She emphasized that changes to production practices should remain 

voluntary, and that farmers’ information and data should be well protected. 

Ms. Mapes presented an overview of innovation in biofuels and how the biofuels industry 

can help economic development in rural America. She described Green Plans’ diversification 

away from ethanol and transformation to the biorefinery platform of the future. She described 

some of their newer products. She provided background on renewable fuel standards and how 

they incentivized biofuel production. She detailed some of the positive uses of the corn crop that 

goes into biofuel production and concluded with a discussion of the move to low-carbon fuel 

standards. 

Mr. Mogler began by discussing the clean fuel production credit created as part of the 

Inflation Reduction Act. He stated that it is designed to be a technology-neutral fuel tax credit 

for incentivizing the reduction in carbon intensity. He expressed the hope that the Treasury 
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Department, when promulgating regulations, would allow climate-smart agricultural practices to 

contribute. He then discussed the $220 billion included in the Inflation Reduction Act for 

working lands conservation programs. 

Mr. Hooker explained that the American Soybean Association represents over 500,000 

soybean farmers in 26 states and some multi-state organizations. He then introduced Ms. 

Combelic. Ms. Combelic presented a primer on biomass-based diesel and renewable diesel. 

She discussed efforts to lower carbon intensity scores, and traditional petroleum companies who 

are now interested in diversifying their portfolio and moving toward more renewable diesel and 

biodiesel services. She observed that the soybean production process creates a larger web of 

logistical challenges to qualify for incentives in terms of tracing the carbon intensity and 

capturing carbon benefits from the farm to end product than does corn. 

Mr. Duff provided background on the amount of sorghum used in fuel ethanol production 

and sold under the low-carbon fuel standard. He discussed other fuel standards, and observed 

that the Department of Treasury will be setting a low-carbon fuel standard in regulations under 

the Inflation Reduction Act. He outlined the challenges to changing on-farm practices and 

reducing the lifecycle emissions of fuels in the supply chain in order to comply with 

requirements to reduce emissions under various programs. He described how National 

Sorghum Producers used a climate-smart grant to establish a data platform to capture data on 

the value of on-farm practices to demonstrate that emissions reductions are actually taking 

place.

Chairman Herndon opened the floor to questions and comments from the AAC 

membership. In response to questions from Mr. McHargue, Mr. Mogler discussed how farmers can 

monetize the benefits of improved practices and producers can obtain a certified carbon intensity 

score, progress on carbon pipeline projects, and whether on-farm practices will qualify for carbon 

reduction under the Treasury regulations. Mr. Hayden asked about the 45Z tax credits outlined in the 

Inflation Reduction Act, and Mr. Mogler said he would follow up with Mr. Hayden. In response to a 

question from Chairman Herndon, Ms. Mapes discussed the growth path for sustainable aviation fuel

and Mr. Mogler discussed regulatory requirements. Ms. Bergren mentioned corn growers’ preference 

that Treasury rulemakings use the Department of Energy’s GREET model.

Chairman Behnam thanked the speakers and suggested that the Committee continue the 

discussion around carbon intensity and getting accurate scoring metrics applied.

Ms. Shah announced a fifteen-minute break.

[Recess taken from 10:46 a.m. to 11:16 a.m.] 

IV. Presentation 2: Maritime Issues Impacting the Agricultural Economy

Following the break, Chairman Herndon introduced the next panelist, Mr. Maffei, who 

participated by telephone. He discussed supply chain challenges that have affected agricultural 

producers and their ability to get their products to overseas markets. He gave an overview of the 

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which oversees transportation service between the U.S. 
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and foreign ports provided by companies that operate ocean cargo-carrying ships that offer their 

services to the general public. He described The Shipping Act, the regulatory work of the FMC, 

and the deregulation of international ocean shipping in the 1980s. He described the work of the 

FMC’s Bureau of Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance and the Consumer Affairs Office. 

He stated that the pandemic and the boom in demand for imported goods has spurred 

unprecedented problems with port congestion and spiraling freight costs and provided examples 

of some pressures and challenges. He observed that the worst of the supply chain problems have 

abated but some remain to be solved. He highlighted the FMC’s work against excessive fees and 

their new fast track charge complaint process. He credited the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 

2022 (“OSRA”) as the first major change in the international ocean freight shipping laws in nearly 

a quarter of a century. He discussed the unpredictability of future events that could affect ocean 

shipping supply chains relevant to agricultural groups. He outlined how domestic shipping issues 

intersect with international shipping issues, and the many foreign and domestic regulators whose 

jurisdiction abuts the FMC’s. He concluded with a statement of the FMC’s commitment to 

constituent services.

Chairman Herndon opened the floor to questions and comments from the AAC 

membership. Mr. Allen asked whether OSRA adequately expanded the FMC’s jurisdiction 

across the entirety of the maritime bill of lading and with respect to cargo receiving. Mr. Maffei 

responded that it depends on the kind of solution sought. He stated that somebody should have 

the authority to regulate intermodal shipping issues. Mr. Hayden raised the issue of chassis 

choice, and Mr. Maffei responded that he could not comment on particular administrative 

appeals before the FMC. In response to Chairman Behnam, Mr. Maffei offered his perspective 

on shipping and ports issues relating to trade with China. 

V. Member Discussion: Agenda for the 2023 AAC Meeting

Chairman Herndon opened the floor to take suggestions for topics for AAC’s next meeting 

scheduled for July 19, 2023. Mr. Barker suggested CME’s SPAN margining program, Mr. Prosser 

suggested the Commission’s role in price discovery as it relates to biofuels and carbon credits, Mr. 

Barker suggested new green listed products, Mr. McHargue suggested and inquiry into why some 

basic market data remains behind paywalls. 

VI. Closing Remarks

Chairman Herndon thanked participants. Ms. Shah recognized Chairman Behnam, who 

gave closing remarks.

Ms. Shah adjourned the meeting at 12:00 p.m.

 10/30/2023 

Scott Herndon, AAC Chair Date