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 September 30, 2015, December 31, 2014 and September 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:



	September 30, 2015				December 31, 2014					September 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)	$	28,585	$	—	$	79,646		$	—	$	(79,711	)	$	—
Fair value of derivatives	5,733		—		(10,981		)	—		147,983			—
Balance at end of period	$	34,318	$	—	$	68,665		$	—	$	68,272		$	—

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



	September 30, 2015
(in thousands)	Commodity derivative assets - current			Commodity derivative assets - noncurrent			Commodity derivative liabilities - current			Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent			Total
Commodity derivative assets	$	43,892		$	1,591		$	2,306		$	32		$	47,821
Commodity derivative liabilities	(11,512		)	(7		)	(52,217		)	(2,944		)	(66,680		)
Cash collateral	28,585			—			—			—			28,585
Balance sheet line item totals	$	60,965		$	1,584		$	(49,911	)	$	(2,912	)	$	9,726



	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



	September 30, 2014
(in thousands)	Commodity derivative assets - current			Commodity derivative assets - noncurrent		Commodity derivative liabilities - current			Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent			Total
Commodity derivative assets	$	212,760		$	2,383	$	2,897		$	196		$	218,236
Commodity derivative liabilities	(6,653		)	—		(232,162		)	(26,399		)	(265,214		)
Cash collateral	(79,711		)	—		—			—			(79,711		)
Balance sheet line item totals	$	126,396		$	2,383	$	(229,265	)	$	(26,203	)	$	(126,689	)

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 nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:



	Three months ended September 30,				Nine months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2015		2014
Gains (losses) on commodity derivatives included in sales and merchandising revenues	$	44,290	$	86,558	$	105,651	$	106,389

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



	September 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	331,740	—	—	—
Soybeans	47,208	—	—	—
Wheat	12,631	—	—	—
Oats	19,449	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	131,789	—	—
Corn oil	—	—	10,063	—
Other	572	—	—	123
Subtotal	411,600	131,789	10,063	123
Exchange traded:
Corn	129,810	—	—	—
Soybeans	24,860	—	—	—
Wheat	28,360	—	—	—
Oats	3,285	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	3,192	—	—
Bean Oil	—	—	—	—
Other	—	—	—	—
Subtotal	186,315	3,192	—	—
Total	597,915	134,981	10,063	123



	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



	September 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	293,592	—	—	—
Soybeans	68,486	—	—	—
Wheat	11,370	—	—	—
Oats	26,687	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	209,264	—	—
Corn oil	—	—	68,799	—
Other	140	—	—	115
Subtotal	400,275	209,264	68,799	115
Exchange traded:
Corn	117,175	—	—	—
Soybeans	34,760	—	—	—
Wheat	35,635	—	—	—
Oats	9,195	—	—	—
Ethanol	—	104,286	—	—
Other	—	—	5,400	11
Subtotal	196,765	104,286	5,400	11
Total	597,040	313,550	74,199	126