Agenda - CEC 2026. Online registration by Cvent

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

2027 Agricultural Economy Outlook

Troy Presley, Senior Risk Management Consultant | ATI

Michael Reginelli, Senior Risk Management Consultant |ATI

As the agricultural economy enters 2027, producers, businesses, and industry leaders face an evolving mix of economic, market, and global factors. This session will provide a forward-looking analysis of the agricultural economy, examining key trends shaping commodity markets, input costs, demand, trade, and the broader economic environment. Attendees will gain insights into the opportunities, challenges, and market dynamics that could define the year ahead.

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

After the Election: What’s Next for Washington

Justina Graff, Principal | The Russell Group

Ashlee Johnson, Principal | The Russell Group

Randy Russell, President and CEO | The Russell Group

With the 2026 midterm elections now behind us, this presentation will offer an analysis of the results and what they mean for Washington and the country. The discussion will examine the new balance of power in Congress, shifts in political dynamics and priorities, and the broader implications for the policy and business environment. Attendees will gain perspective on what the election results mean for the issues shaping Washington—from the economy, trade, and regulation to energy, taxes, and agriculture—and what to expect as the new Congress takes shape.

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Futures and More: The New Grain Trading Landscape

Reggie Griffith, Global Head of Regulatory Compliance, LDC

Ed Prosser, Senior Vice President of Special Projects, Scoular

John Ricci, Managing Director and Global Head of Agriculture, CME

Questions abound about the future of prediction markets, perpetual trading, and other emerging market structures in agriculture. This panel discussion will discuss new and potential products from both the perspective of the futures exchanges developing and adapting new products and the perspective of the traders and commercial participants. The conversation will explore how new market structures influence price discovery, liquidity, risk management, and trading strategies, while examining how exchanges and market participants are adapting to rapid innovation.

AI in Grain Merchandising: Building Data Readiness for Practical Results

Rob Huston, Cultura Technologies

Andrew Ward, Barchart

Grain cooperative CFO to be confirmed

As AI moves from experimentation to practical application, data readiness is a critical first step. Drawing on expertise in commodity market data, grain merchandising technology, and agribusiness software, along with the real-world perspective of a grain cooperative CFO, this session will explore data preparation, responsible employee use, and the benefits and risks of AI-assisted coding. Presenters will also discuss practical AI applications in grain merchandising to support decision-making, streamline workflows, improve operational efficiency, and deliver business value.

Learning outcomes:

Identify key data readiness requirements, including data quality, accessibility, consistency, and governance, to support AI adoption in grain businesses.
Evaluate guidelines for responsible AI use and the benefits, limitations, and risks of AI-assisted coding.
Identify practical opportunities to apply AI to grain merchandising workflows to support decision-making and improve operational efficiency.

Beyond Price: Hedging Crop Volume Risk

John Coleman, Managing Director, Agricultural Origination, Munich Re Trading LLC (MRTL)

You can hedge the price of grain—but how do you protect your business when the local crop fails? Join NGFA and MRTL for an engaging discussion on how crop-yield and crop-production derivatives help agricultural businesses manage volume risk and navigate increasing weather and climate volatility. Hear from companies already using these tools and gain actionable insights into practical applications, lessons learned, and how yield and production hedges can complement traditional price-risk management to protect grain handlers against crop-volume shortfalls.

Learning outcomes:

Distinguish between grain price risk and crop-volume risk, including why traditional price hedges do not fully address the business impact of local crop shortfalls.
Explain how crop-yield and crop-production derivatives can help manage volume risk and support greater predictability amid weather and climate volatility.
Draw practical lessons from companies using yield and production hedges, identifying applications relevant to your own business exposures.
Identify opportunities to integrate crop-volume hedging into a broader risk-management strategy, complementing existing price-risk management tools.

Bushel by Bushel: Building Grain Traceability That Works

Nadine Garland, Lead Auditor, SGS
Chris Malone, Partner, Richard Lake Partners
Beth Stebbins, Director Sustainability & Producer Strategy, Scoular

Using corn and soybean examples, this interactive breakout follows a bushel from multiple farms through commingling, storage, transfer, and sale to a customer making a sustainability claim. A grain handler, auditor, technology provider, and traceability consultant will address required records, mass balance, data transfer, audit evidence, and the capabilities of existing grain accounting systems. Attendees will gain practical guidance for building a credible traceability process and identifying when additional technology or expertise is needed.

Learning outcomes:

Trace corn and soybeans from multiple farms through commingling, storage, transfers, and sale to customers making sustainability claims.
Identify the records, data transfers, mass-balance practices, and audit evidence needed to support credible traceability.
Evaluate how existing grain accounting systems support traceability requirements and identify gaps requiring additional technology or expertise.
Develop practical steps to establish and maintain a credible, auditable traceability process.

Margin Opportunities in the Country Elevator System: Where They Hide and How to Capture Them

Ben Brame, Founder, Contango

This session shares four years of insights into where margin opportunities exist in country grain operations and how leading elevators capture them. Drawing on transaction-level data from elevator and cooperative partners (shared with explicit permission), market data, and operational constraints, as well as roughly 500 conversations with merchandisers, originators, and managers, we’ll explore practical strategies for improving margins, from direct-ship arbitrage and sourcing undervalued bushels to strengthening farmer loyalty, optimizing bids, minimizing transfers, and balancing carry opportunities against logistical constraints. For each strategy, we’ll show how to identify opportunities in your own data and translate them into actionable improvements.

Learning outcomes:

Identify the most common sources of margin leakage across origination and merchandising.
Use transaction, bid, and freight history to quantify margin opportunities within their own operations.
Evaluate origination strategies, including farmer targeting, bid competitiveness, and the impact of loyalty on acquisition costs.
Evaluate merchandising strategies, including direct-ship arbitrage, sales timing relative to carry, and constraints imposed by logistics capacity.

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

The Rail Outlook: Navigating What’s Ahead for Grain and Feed Shippers

Tony Hatch, Market Analyst | ABH Consulting

As the agricultural economy enters 2027, rail transportation remains critical to the movement of grain and feed across North America. In this timely industry outlook, Tony Hatch of ABH Consulting will examine the current state of the rail industry and the trends shaping its future, including service, capacity, investment, pricing, regulatory developments, and broader freight-market dynamics. Attendees will gain perspective on what these changes mean for grain and feed shippers and how to navigate an evolving transportation landscape.

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Strengthening U.S. Agricultural Market Access Under USMCA

Keith Currie, President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA)
Sergio Gomz Lora, CEO, Mexico's Business Coordinating Council

Since its adoption, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has generated numerous benefits for the U.S. food and agriculture sector. Ensuring this trade remains seamless, predictable, and science-based is essential to America’s farmers, grain handlers, feed manufacturers, exporters, and transportation partners. Mexico and Canada are two of the most important export markets for U.S. corn, soybeans, wheat, and other commodities. This session will focus on NGFA’s efforts to strengthen market access within USMCA, particularly in addressing non-tariff trade barriers related to sanitary and phytosanitary standards and agricultural biotechnology.