Derivatives

The Company’s operating results are affected by changes to commodity prices. The Grain and Ethanol businesses have established “unhedged” position limits (the amount of a commodity, either owned or contracted for, that does not have an offsetting derivative contract to lock in the price). To reduce the exposure to market price risk on commodities owned and forward grain and ethanol purchase and sale contracts, the Company enters into exchange traded commodity futures and options contracts and over the counter forward and option contracts with various counterparties. The exchange traded contracts are primarily via the regulated Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME"). The Company’s forward purchase and sales contracts are for physical delivery of the commodity in a future period. Contracts to purchase commodities from producers generally relate to the current or future crop years for delivery periods quoted by regulated commodity exchanges. Contracts for the sale of commodities to processors or other commercial consumers generally do not extend beyond one year.

All of these contracts meet the definition of derivatives. While the Company considers its commodity contracts to be effective economic hedges, the Company does not designate or account for its commodity contracts as hedges as defined under current accounting standards. The Company accounts for its commodity derivatives at estimated fair value. The estimated fair value of the commodity derivative contracts that require the receipt or posting of cash collateral is recorded on a net basis (offset against cash collateral posted or received, also known as margin deposits) within commodity derivative assets or liabilities. Management determines fair value based on exchange-quoted prices and in the case of its forward purchase and sale contracts, estimated fair value is adjusted for differences in local markets and non-performance risk. For contracts for which physical delivery occurs, balance sheet classification is based on estimated delivery date. For futures, options and over-the-counter contracts in which physical delivery is not expected to occur but, rather, the contract is expected to be net settled, the Company classifies these contracts as current or noncurrent assets or liabilities, as appropriate, based on the Company’s expectations as to when such contracts will be settled.

Realized and unrealized gains and losses in the value of commodity contracts (whether due to changes in commodity prices, changes in performance or credit risk, or due to sale, maturity or extinguishment of the commodity contract) and grain inventories are included in sales and merchandising revenues.

Generally accepted accounting principles permit a party to a master netting arrangement to offset fair value amounts recognized for derivative instruments against the right to reclaim cash collateral or obligation to return cash collateral under the same master netting arrangement. The Company has master netting arrangements for its exchange traded futures and options contracts and certain over-the-counter contracts. When the Company enters into a future, option or an over-the-counter contract, an initial margin deposit may be required by the counterparty. The amount of the margin deposit varies by commodity. If the market price of a future, option or an over-the-counter contract moves in a direction that is adverse to the Company’s position, an additional margin deposit, called a maintenance margin, is required. The margin deposit assets and liabilities are included in short-term commodity derivative assets or liabilities, as appropriate, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following table presents at June 30, 2015, December 31, 2014 and June 30, 2014, a summary of the estimated fair value of the Company’s commodity derivative instruments that require cash collateral and the associated cash posted/received as collateral. The net asset or liability positions of these derivatives (net of their cash collateral) are determined on a counterparty-by-counterparty basis and are included within current or noncurrent commodity derivative assets (or liabilities) on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets:



	June 30, 2015					December 31, 2014					June 30, 2014
(in thousands)	Net derivative asset position		Net derivative liability position			Net derivative asset position			Net derivative liability position		Net derivative asset position		Net derivative liability position
Collateral paid (received)	$	—	$	49,007		$	79,646		$	—	$	61,992	$	—
Fair value of derivatives	—		(58,195		)	(10,981		)	—		52,731		—
Balance at end of period	$	—	$	(9,188	)	$	68,665		$	—	$	114,723	$	—

The following table presents, on a gross basis, current and noncurrent commodity derivative assets and liabilities:



	June 30, 2015
(in thousands)	Commodity derivative assets - current			Commodity derivative assets - noncurrent			Commodity derivative liabilities - current			Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent			Total
Commodity derivative assets	$	52,405		$	3,072		$	3,956		$	43		$	59,476
Commodity derivative liabilities	(61,552		)	(82		)	(46,578		)	(2,220		)	(110,432		)
Cash collateral	49,007			—			—			—			49,007
Balance sheet line item totals	$	39,860		$	2,990		$	(42,622	)	$	(2,177	)	$	(1,949	)



	December 31, 2014
(in thousands)	Commodity derivative assets - current			Commodity derivative assets - noncurrent			Commodity derivative liabilities - current			Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent			Total
Commodity derivative assets	$	49,847		$	545		$	6,123		$	118		$	56,633
Commodity derivative liabilities	(36,722		)	(38		)	(70,198		)	(3,436		)	(110,394		)
Cash collateral	79,646			—			—			—			79,646
Balance sheet line item totals	$	92,771		$	507		$	(64,075	)	$	(3,318	)	$	25,885



	June 30, 2014
(in thousands)	Commodity derivative assets - current			Commodity derivative assets - noncurrent			Commodity derivative liabilities - current			Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent			Total
Commodity derivative assets	$	113,205		$	323		$	3,143		$	260		$	116,931
Commodity derivative liabilities	(12,770		)	(11		)	(89,277		)	(7,704		)	(109,762		)
Cash collateral	61,992			—			—			—			61,992
Balance sheet line item totals	$	162,427		$	312		$	(86,134	)	$	(7,444	)	$	69,161

The gains included in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income and the line items in which they are located for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:



	Three months ended June 30,					Six months ended June 30,
(in thousands)	2015			2014		2015		2014
Gains (losses) on commodity derivatives included in sales and merchandising revenues	$	(6,450	)	$	73,517	$	61,361	$	19,831

The Company had the following volume of commodity derivative contracts outstanding (on a gross basis) at June 30, 2015, December 31, 2014 and June 30, 2014:



	June 30, 2015
Commodity	Number of bushels (in thousands)	Number of gallons (in thousands)	Number of pounds (in thousands)	Number of tons (in thousands)
Non-exchange traded:
Corn	233,812	—	—	—
Soybeans	29,823	—	—	—
Wheat	8,809	—	—	—
Oats	24,180	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	139,789	—	—
Corn oil	—	—	6,394	—
Other	350	—	—	118
Subtotal	296,974	139,789	6,394	118
Exchange traded:
Corn	139,965	—	—	—
Soybeans	30,945	—	—	—
Wheat	22,585	—	—	—
Oats	4,690	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	25,620	—	—
Bean Oil	—	—	—	—
Other	—	—	—	—
Subtotal	198,185	25,620	—	—
Total	495,159	165,409	6,394	118



	December 31, 2014
Commodity	Number of bushels (in thousands)	Number of gallons (in thousands)	Number of pounds (in thousands)	Number of tons (in thousands)
Non-exchange traded:
Corn	265,574	—	—	—
Soybeans	23,820	—	—	—
Wheat	14,967	—	—	—
Oats	23,440	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	233,637	—	—
Corn oil	—	—	18,076	—
Other	28	—	—	139
Subtotal	327,829	233,637	18,076	139
Exchange traded:
Corn	159,575	—	—	—
Soybeans	31,265	—	—	—
Wheat	30,360	—	—	—
Oats	7,545	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	41,832	—	—
Bean oil	—	—	2,700	—
Other	—	—	—	5
Subtotal	228,745	41,832	2,700	5
Total	556,574	275,469	20,776	144



	June 30, 2014
Commodity	Number of bushels (in thousands)	Number of gallons (in thousands)	Number of pounds (in thousands)	Number of tons (in thousands)
Non-exchange traded:
Corn	244,716	—	—	—
Soybeans	42,565	—	—	—
Wheat	10,787	—	—	—
Oats	30,470	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	246,812	—	—
Corn oil	—	—	25,371	—
Other	22	—	—	102
Subtotal	328,560	246,812	25,371	102
Exchange traded:
Corn	142,580	—	—	—
Soybeans	27,855	—	—	—
Wheat	36,740	—	—	—
Oats	7,980	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	110,586	—	—
Other	—	—	—	5
Subtotal	215,155	110,586	—	5
Total	543,715	357,398	25,371	107