Inventories

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Major classes of inventories are presented below. Readily Marketable Inventories are agricultural commodity inventories such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and ethanol co-products, among others, carried at net realizable value which approximates fair value based on their commodity characteristics, widely available markets, and pricing mechanisms. The net realizable value of RMI is calculated as the fair value (spot price of the commodity in an exchange), less cost of disposal and transportation based on the local market. All other inventories are held at lower of cost or net realizable value.


	December 31,
(in thousands)	2020		2019
Grain and other agricultural products (a)	$	1,025,809	$	907,482
Frac sand and propane	12,477		15,438
Ethanol and co-products (b)	114,895		95,432
Plant nutrients and cob products	139,885		146,164
Railcar repair parts	7,627		6,020
	$	1,300,693	$	1,170,536

(a) Includes RMI of $972.8 million and $852.6 million at December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

(b) Includes RMI of $10.4 million and $10.6 million at December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

Inventories do not include 3.0 million and 6.4 million bushels of grain and other agricultural product inventories held in storage for others as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The Company does not have title to the inventory and is only liable for any deficiencies in grade or shortage of quantity that may arise during the storage period. Management has not experienced historical losses with regard to any deficiencies and does not anticipate material losses in the future.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded an $11.7 million lower of cost or net realizable value charge related to lower ethanol market prices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.