How Technology Has Transformed Today’s Agriculture Commodities Market

In this episode, host Kermit Nash, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, and colleague Casey Grabenstein, a partner in the firm’s Litigation Practice, speak with Mark Haraburda, CEO of Barchart, a leading provider of commodities and exchange data. They discuss how the digital age has not only impacted boards of trade going from the open-outcry days of traders shouting and giving hand signals on the trading floor to a two-way electronic trading environment, but also how today’s technology has leveled the playing field for all sizes of farmers, cooperatives and agriculture companies to easily and quickly access real-time data and seamlessly conduct business. For example, the traditional way of farmers selling grain has evolved from face-to-face interactions at the co-op or grain elevator to transactions being conducted over mobile apps that connect farmers to merchandisers instantly.