Back to the Futures

The Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing at the University of Illinois, Scott Irwin — with writer Doug Peterson — details the movements and effects of commodity futures markets.

Transferring Risk

US commodity markets blossomed when growers of wheat and corn moved onto the American Plains in the 1830s and 1840s. When a winter freeze of rivers and roads prevented farmers from delivering autumn harvests, they had to wait until spring to get their crops to market. If every farmer across the Plains followed suit, all would deliver their produce at the same time, flooding the market and collapsing prices. The Chicago Board of Trade began selling forward contracts in 1851. For example, a grain elevator operator could lock in profit by agreeing to sell corn at a guaranteed price in a few months.