Agricultural Short-Term options

Explore our suite of diverse Agricultural options to control trading time horizons on your underlying contract of choice.

Features and benefits

Lower your premium cost

Reduced time frames lower option premium costs for hedgers, providing a cost-effective way to gain market exposure.

Control margin costs

When purchasing short-term options, you’ll know exactly what your margin costs will be. Offset futures margins or lower margin requirements.

Tailor your risk coverage

Manage risk around high-impact events or specific time frames with greater precision.

Explore our short-term Agricultural options

Our New Crop Weekly and Short-Dated options expire on Fridays, while our upcoming Weekly options, launching February 10, pending regulatory review, will expire every day of the trading week. All three options have the same tick size and expiration style as standard options. This commodity lends itself to overlay hedges on long-term positions or spread trading.

Understanding old crop vs. new crop

Old crop futures represent grain that has already been harvested, whereas new crop futures represent crops that are yet to be harvested. Both contracts are based on the same commodity but are fundamentally very different and can act accordingly. Old crop contracts typically have more volatility given macro sensitivities in comparison to new crop futures.

Listing Cycle: Corn Options (Table)

Short-term option scenarios

Price reactions will differ between old crop and new crop contracts. Market participants can easily define length of exposure and the underlying contract with our suite of short-term Agricultural options. Explore these example scenarios to learn how market participants can use different futures contracts to help manage risk.


New Crop Weekly options

Weather-driven views

An active trader wants to enter the corn market given an upcoming heatwave that they expect to impact price. New crop contracts represent grain that has not yet been harvested, so the weather has a bigger impact on price volatility. The active trader chooses New Crop Weekly options for a cost-effective way to gain exposure to short-term market fluctuations.


Short-Dated New Crop options

Scale selling for production hedging

In March, a corn producer is looking to forward-sell 20% of their crop by June, anticipating an impending price drop due to supply surplus later in the year. Using a July Short-Dated New Crop put, the producer can purchase a higher strike for a lower cost compared to December options. The put purchase guarantees the producer the right to sell at the strike price while allowing for upside participation.


Weekly options

Managing price changes driven by reports

In April, a cattle feeder who uses soybean meal as an input and has upside price risk to the nearby futures contract. Forecasts, policy change and USDA reports can have a large impact on prices. Weekly options are based on the front-month futures, and as of February 10, will expire every day of the trading week. The food supplier utilizes a Weekly call option to hedge the price risk of soybean meal rising from the USDA WASDE report.


Compare different short-term options

For the shortest time frame exposure on new crop, explore New Crop Weekly options.

Product codes
How they are designed:
  • Underlying futures are based on December Corn and November Soybeans
  • Option expiration every Friday that is not a Short-Dated expiration from February through August
  • Same tick size, strike interval, and expiration style as standard options
  • Listed up to 4 weeks out at a time
How you can benefit:
  • Very short time frame, resulting in reduced premium costs
  • Hedge around high-impact events such as USDA WASDE reports pinpointing new crop exposure
  • Volatility is historically lower for new crop leading to lower premium costs compared to old crop

If you’re looking for exposure one to three months out on new crop, explore Short-Dated New Crop options.

Product codes
How they are designed:
  • Underlying futures are always based on the new crop
  • Monthly expirations listed year round extending into two crop cycles
  • Same expiration date as standard Grain and Oilseed options
How you can benefit:
  • Hedge long-term exposure in short time frames (weeks to months) to take advantage of market fluctuations on new crop
  • Useful in North American summer months when Corn and Soybeans have the most volatility and standard option premium is expensive
  • Effective way to market a portion of grain throughout the growing season

For the shortest time frame exposure on old crop, explore Weekly options.

Product codes
How they are designed:
  • Underlying is the front month futures contract
  • Expire every trading day that is not a standard option expiration
  • Listed up to 4 weeks out at a time
  • Same tick size, strike interval, and expiration style as standard options
How you can benefit:
  • Expirations every day of the trading week, very short time frame (days) on liquid underlying and strong option liquidity
  • Year-round, constant hedging for individuals to manage ongoing front month exposure for end users such as ethanol plants, feed lots, or millers
  • Low premium/exposure for retail traders to take a position in Grains & Oilseeds

Courses

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Take self-guided courses on Agricultural futures and options.

If you’re new to Agricultural futures and options, the following courses can help you learn more about the benefits of short-term options and when it’s beneficial to leverage old crop versus new crop contracts.

Understanding Seasonality in Grains
Launch course

Product updates and analysis on short-term options

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