Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Generally accepted accounting principles define fair value as an exit price and also establish a framework for measuring fair value. An exit price represents the amount that would be received upon the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. Fair value should be determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, a three-tier fair value hierarchy is used, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:


•	Level 1 inputs: Quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets;


•	Level 2 inputs: Inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly or indirectly; and


•	Level 3 inputs: Unobservable inputs (e.g., a reporting entity's own data).

In many cases, a valuation technique used to measure fair value includes inputs from multiple levels of the fair value hierarchy. The lowest level of significant input determines the placement of the entire fair value measurement in the hierarchy.

The following table presents the Company's assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2018 and 2017:



(in thousands)	December 31, 2018
Assets (liabilities)	Level 1			Level 2			Level 3		Total
Commodity derivatives, net (a)	37,229			(18,864		)	—		18,365
Provisionally priced contracts (b)	(76,175		)	(58,566		)	—		(134,741		)
Convertible preferred securities (c)	—			—			7,154		7,154
Other assets and liabilities (d)	5,186			(353		)	—		4,833
Total	$	(33,760	)	$	(77,783	)	$	7,154	$	(104,389	)



(in thousands)	December 31, 2017
Assets (liabilities)	Level 1			Level 2			Level 3		Total
Commodity derivatives, net (a)	18,603			(18,067		)	—		536
Provisionally priced contracts (b)	(98,190		)	(67,094		)	—		(165,284		)
Convertible preferred securities (c)	—			—			7,388		7,388
Other assets and liabilities (d)	9,705			(1,244		)	—		8,461
Total	$	(69,882	)	$	(86,405	)	$	7,388	$	(148,899	)


(a)	Includes associated cash posted/received as collateral


(b)	Included in "Provisionally priced contracts" are those instruments based only on underlying futures values (Level 1) and delayed price contracts (Level 2)


(c)	Recorded in “Other noncurrent assets” on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets related to certain available for sale securities.


(d)	Included in other assets and liabilities are assets held by the Company to fund deferred compensation plans, ethanol risk management contracts, and foreign exchange derivative contracts (Level 1) and interest rate derivatives (Level 2).

Level 1 commodity derivatives reflect the fair value of the exchanged-traded futures and options contracts that the Company holds, net of the cash collateral that the Company has in its margin account.

The majority of the Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value are based on the market approach valuation technique. With the market approach, fair value is derived using prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities.

The Company’s net commodity derivatives primarily consist of futures or options contracts via regulated exchanges and contracts with producers or customers under which the future settlement date and bushels (or gallons in the case of ethanol contracts) of commodities to be delivered (primarily wheat, corn, soybeans and ethanol) are fixed and under which the price may or may not be fixed. Depending on the specifics of the individual contracts, the fair value is derived from the futures or options prices quoted on various exchanges for similar commodities and delivery dates as well as observable quotes for local basis adjustments (the difference, which is attributable to local market conditions, between the quoted futures price and the local cash price). Because “basis” for a particular commodity and location typically has multiple quoted prices from other agribusinesses in the same geographical vicinity and is used as a common pricing mechanism in the agribusiness industry, we have concluded that “basis” is typically a Level 2 fair value input for purposes of the fair value disclosure requirements related to our commodity derivatives, depending on the specific commodity. Although nonperformance risk, both of the Company and

the counterparty, is present in each of these commodity contracts and is a component of the estimated fair values, based on the Company’s historical experience with its producers and customers and the Company’s knowledge of their businesses, the Company does not view nonperformance risk to be a significant input to fair value for these commodity contracts.

These fair value disclosures exclude physical grain inventories measured at net realizable value. The net realizable value used to measure the Company’s agricultural commodity inventories is the fair value (spot price of the commodity in an exchange), less cost of disposal and transportation based on the local market. This valuation would generally be considered Level 2. The amount is disclosed in Note 2 Inventories. Changes in the net realizable value of commodity inventories are recognized as a component of cost of sales and merchandising revenues.

Provisionally priced contract liabilities are those for which the Company has taken ownership and possession of grain but the final purchase price has not been established. In the case of payables where the unpriced portion of the contract is limited to the futures price of the underlying commodity or we have delivered provisionally priced grain and a subsequent payable or receivable is set up for any future changes in the grain price, quoted exchange prices are used and the liability is deemed to be Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy. For all other unpriced contracts which include variable futures and basis components, the amounts recorded for delayed price contracts are determined on the basis of local grain market prices at the balance sheet date and, as such, are deemed to be Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.

The risk management contract liability allows related ethanol customers to effectively unprice the futures component of their inventory for a period of time, subjecting the bushels to market fluctuations. The Company records an asset or liability for the market value changes of the commodities over the life of the contracts based on quoted exchange prices and as such, the balance is deemed to be Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy.

The convertible preferred securities are interests in several early-stage enterprises in the form of convertible debt and preferred equity securities.

A reconciliation of beginning and ending balances for the Company’s recurring fair value measurements using Level 3 inputs is as follows:



	Convertible Preferred Securities
(in thousands)	2018			2017
Assets (liabilities) at January 1,	$	7,388		$	3,294
New investments	1,086			3,750
Sales proceeds	(6,400		)	—
Gains (losses) included in earnings	3,900			—
Unrealized gains (losses) included in other comprehensive income	1,180			344
Assets (liabilities) at December 31,	$	7,154		$	7,388

The following tables summarize information about the Company's Level 3 fair value measurements as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:



Quantitative Information about Level 3 Fair Value Measurements
(in thousands)	Fair Value as of 12/31/18		Valuation Method	Unobservable Input	Weighted Average
Convertible preferred securities	$	7,154	Implied based on market prices	Various	N/A



(in thousands)	Fair Value as of 12/31/17		Valuation Method	Unobservable Input	Weighted Average
Convertible preferred securities	$	7,388	Implied based on market prices	Various	N/A
Real Property	$	29,347	Third-Party Appraisal	N/A	N/A

Fair Value of Debt Instruments

Certain long-term notes payable and the Company’s debenture bonds bear fixed rates of interest and terms of up to 15 years. Based upon the Company’s credit standing and current interest rates offered by the Company on similar bonds and rates currently available to the Company for long-term borrowings with similar terms and remaining maturities, the Company estimates the fair values of its fixed rate long-term debt instruments outstanding at December 31, 2018 and 2017, as follows:



(in thousands)	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Fair Value Hierarchy Level
2018
Fixed rate long-term notes payable	$	261,618	$	256,447	Level 2
Debenture bonds	27,324		26,154		Level 2
	$	288,942	$	282,601

2017
Fixed rate long-term notes payable	$	275,989	$	275,340	Level 2
Debenture bonds	30,432		29,452		Level 2
	$	306,421	$	304,792

The fair value of the Company’s cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their carrying value as they are close to maturity.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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