The Elevator's Cut Podcast

S2E4 Welcome back to The Elevator's Cut, where Roger Gattis and Jason Wheeler cut through the misconceptions and complexities of the grain industry with a healthy dose of humor and pragmatism. This episode, they tackle the "joys" of corn planting season, dissecting USDA numbers and the ever-predictable weather chaos. They then dive into the wild world of grain spreads and basis trading, revealing why the math might make your head spin (and why your elevator isn't making a killing on price). Plus, get the inside scoop on why grain elevators actually make their money, and why co-op retirements are causing such a stir. And for the record, the internet has spoken: ranch is NOT a spread! Tune in for straight talk, funny takes, and maybe a few eye-rolls, all aimed at shedding light on the real challenges and opportunities in the grain business.

S2E03 What is the market really saying? Probably “good luck,” but we're listening anyway. In this episode, Roger and Jason decode how merchandisers respond to spread structures, why everyone's suddenly in love with averager contracts, and what to do when every farmer within 100 miles decides to grow corn. As always, no financial advice—just sarcasm, strategy, and survival tips from the merchandiser trenches.

Ep 97 In this episode, Jason and Roger return from the road to unpack what they're hearing across the industry—from farmer frustrations to merchandiser game plans. They dig into summer inversions, spread behavior that defies expectations, and the silent chaos of full bins before harvest. Also: co-op board decisions, pricing deadlines, and how bureaucratic policies somehow helped basis. If you're in grain merchandising or AG logistics, this one's for you.

Who's really pulling the strings in the grain market? The Grain Mafia? The speculators? The deep state? In this episode, Roger and Jason break down the latest rally, debunk some classic misconceptions, and take a closer look at why some folks think only farmers should be allowed to trade futures. Plus, we explore why certain pricing myths just won't die and how elevators actually manage risk (hint: it's not by guessing the top). Tune in for the usual mix of hard truths, sarcasm, and a few hot takes that might just get us canceled on grain Twitter.

How are basis traders looking at this recent harvest and the outlook for this season? We talk through the basics of what's going on, the importance of setting boundaries with customers, the value of space, why people hate Free DP so much, why the heck people hedge in the wrong months, and the prospects of setting up our own DOGE for the grain industry. A veritable cornucopia of zeitgeist delving after our recent hiatus.

The guys are back delving the Zeitgeists on all the latest bad basis takes. We discuss how basis may not actually have destroyed the country's infrastructure, how "trading like an elevator" may not be as glamorous as people think but still worthwhile, and what the heck is basis theft and basis fraud anyways.  If you'd like to hear how Christopher Columbus and CRT are related to basis trading, this is a good episode for you.

We are back with Part 2 for your harvest time listening pleasure. This time, with Special Guest, Susan Stroud of No Bull Ag (NO BULL (nobullag.com)). We delve into the Corn Sweat Zeitgeist, of course, but still have time to tackle the big topics of the 2024 fall harvest: rolling basis contracts, proactive selling to capture big carries, what's a "good price" and how does it change throughout the year?, logistics of a big crop, harvest marketing alternatives, and what's all this carbon intensity stuff mean?

It's that time again for some audio to help pass the long hours of harvest. The guys have a special guest, Michael Kaeb from IL, to share stories and have some fun talking about the more entertaining side of the grain business. From Chemtrails to damaged equipment to bathroom subscription services, we once again dare to delve where other podcasts refuse to.   0:00 Intro 3:10 Special Guest Introduction 9:05 Conspiracies -- Chemtrails/Flat Earth/ Corn Sweat/ Wildfires 18:00 Grain Truck Drivers -- Demographics/ Business Ideas/ Unfortunate Stories 37:40 Hired Hands at the Farm and Season Help at the Elevator

Do the fundamentals even matter anymore? Are the Spec Shorts covering their Longs? Why is this crop so big and prices so low? Mostly, what should we do now that nothing is sold and prices are worse? Finally, how should elevators be approaching the coming logistical crunch and capturing the value they should? As usual, the guys delve into these topics and have all the answers. 

Help! I HTA'd myself and I don't know what to do!   Join us as we delve into the mysterious world of re-owning hedges and other recent agtwitter shenanigans.

The guys chat with Phil Luce about his ascension from spreadsheet guy to Spreadsheet CEO. What should we get out of charts? How did you learn the business? Can we have raises? All the important questions asked or implied. And of course, how should we interpret Cicadian Rythyms?

An Elite Peer Group of geographically diverse grain merchants join the show to share about their love for the grain business as well as their struggles and how they help each other through it all. Join us for a lively chat with Jake Lund from Wisconsin, Ben Nething from Ohio, and Michael Mock from Pennsylvania.

When is a random line more than just a random line? When somebody tells you it's important to look at, that's when! Join us as we delve into the obscure world of technical terms and tag along on our jaunt down the path of the psychology behind the contract names.

Basis Rolls, Fees, Huge spreads, and changes in selling patterns. We saw a lot of interesting developments with this crop, so we delve into how it all intertwined to create a zeitgeist stew of merchandising opportunities for the coming year.

Do you believe in conspiracy theories? Does Bigfoot have a cousin? Can Elevators charge double digit monthly DP fees? Grab your trench coat and listen to find out as the guys delve into the inner workings of elevator bids and fees, farmer marketing behaviors, and a little known mythical figure of the West Arkansas Ozarks.

An extended version of our normal podcast to help keep you company during the long hours of harvest. We mix in grain talk with a lot of our own personal preferences, stories, and strange perspectives from the universe. Timestamps of topics below. 0:00:35 - What is this episode? 0:04:30 - Convenience Store Food Options 0:21:43 - Gas Station Bathrooms 0:24:40 - Farm Marketing Discussion on Choices vs Decisions 0:37:25 - PowerPoint Presetations 0:43:43 - Brokers 0:57:57 - Bankers/Interest costs in the Grain Biz/ Spread Structures 1:05:02 - Cashless Society Conspiracy Talk 1:09:58 - Floor Traders/ Algos/ GMD (Farmer) Conspiracy Theories 1:16:48 - Flat Earthers 1:21:44 - Ufology/ Aliens 1:33:00 - Restaurant Food 1:55:01 - Food Stories of Mr. White 2:02:50 - Travel Hacks and Hotel Thoughts

The guys discuss their ideas on the upcoming crop merchandising year and touch on the secret to unmitigated success (probably) for the basis trader.

What do spreads and summer have in common? They both start with “S”, duh. In this episode the guys get back to the business of grain merchandising and delve into what the ongoing shift in corn spreads spells for the basis trader. (hint: it rhymes with “hairy”)

What makes Cooperatives great? What makes them struggle? We chat with retired Co-Op Veteran, Scott Hardy, to discuss all he has seen over the years with Boards, GMs, Mergers, Patronage, and more. Some high quality insight for anyone that interacts with a Co-Op with some entertaining and informative stories mixed in.

Lovingly and famously known as "The July 1st Story," friend of the show and grain industry mentor to many, Scott Hardy, shares his harrowing tale from his days on the road visiting grain elevators. Over his 40 years of creating, observing, and retelling the stories, this one may top them all. From transportation challenges to food reactions to medical emergencies to Jamaican Ukeleles, this one has it all. 

Having exhausted this month's supply of market quips, the guys discuss the sayings of the grain biz that may or may not have any bearing on reality.

Roger recently listened to an insightful podcast which of course is a foreign concept to us, so Roger shared some of the big concepts from it and the guys discuss how these insights apply to our business. As a credit to Arkansas Public Schools, Jason learns what aphorism means and Roger learns what Zimbabwe is.

The guys are back from hiatus with a lively discussion on how merchandisers are coping with the current basis and spread environment and how that is affecting their plans for the next season. What should we be doing now? How should we be approaching the coming crop year?  We also announce our first ever shipment of Elevator's Cut T-shirts (sized M, L, XL) and what you can do to get one for yourself.

We delve into the farmer-elevator relationship from the perspective of the farmer with Kansas farmer, Adam Baldwin. What communication is the farmer looking for, what gets their attention, and how do they like to interact with their grain buyers? 

The guys delve into the pressing challenges, opportunities, and ideas from the largest annual conference of exclusively basis traders in history. Some great concepts on managing your business and how we see it applied in the grain industry. They discuss a possible monumental shift in preferred snacks of the show as well as new podcast swag in the works. 

What do GMD, Free DP, and Runza all have in common? This episode. Join us as we talk through it all and memorialize our 100,000th download. 

The guys chat up Jared Flinn of Bulkloads.com and discuss the finer points of elevator/trucker relationships.

The guys were invited on stage at the NGFA's annual Country Elevator Conference in St. Louis. This episode is a live recording of the panel they hosted about the upcoming merchandising and financial challenges that this crop year holds. We chat with bankers and merchants about how best to approach the year.

The guys delve into some of the aspects of what separates the haves and have-nots among merchandisers during years with flat/inverted market structures.

Known to many as the nicest guy in the grain business, Dan shares his wealth of experience with us in this episode. He shares some stories from his decades in the commercial grain business and tells us about the importance of building and maintaining relationships throughout his career. Dan also fills us in on what the heck a data scientist is and how they will help our industry grow into the future. 

The guys are back with some news! Big upcoming event details. Then we psychoanalyze some of the things we say in the grain business and why. Finally, we finish on some of the exciting basis trading stories from this harvest given the historic basis volatility. 

The guys have a discussion with Susan David of No Bull (@SusanNOBULL) on the recent disruption in the barge freight market. What's causing it? How will it be resolved? Who is benefitting? And what does it all mean to the rest of us? She gives us a great breakdown of what is going on.

The guys chat with White Commercial CEO and Basis Guru, Phil Luce, about managing basis, spreads, and expectations in these crazy times.

In this episode the guys speculate about what they're delve into on the episode just before they record the episode.... and are immediately proved wrong.

The guys connect via transoceanic technology to our friend and fellow elevator advocate across the pond, Dan Murphy, aka @GrainPirateDan, in the grain growing East Midlands region of England. Dan shares both the differences and similarities of the grain elevator business from his perspective, and we try to come to grips with a few cultural differences. So pour yourself a pint (just not of Stella) and enjoy!

The guys chat with Kellee James, CEO and Founder of Mercaris, to delve into the mysterious realm of specialty grains. If $42/bushel soybeans doesn't grab your attention, we don't know what will! Shout out to cauliflower rice for not sponsoring this episode.

The guys tackle springtime basis in light of inversions, and discuss what an elevator's fee structure signals to farmers. Just remember kids, keep your eye on the ball, be you a merchant or a farmer… just understand which ball you really should be looking at. Also, pringles are great.

As we look forward to a summer of diminishing grain stocks with big inversions and a new crop year of little to no carry in the spreads, how the heck is anyone going to make any money and what should grain merchants be doing now to prepare? Also, how should farmers be approaching their marketing in this environment? The guys walk through the situation and outline the opportunities. 

After some wild times following war news, the guys discuss why things happened the way they did in the cash market during days of locked limit up futures markets in Chicago. Why did people shift their bids to different months? Why were some not bidding at all? How should a farmer look at all of it? Was it all a cash grab for a big "elevator's cut" or were buyers just trying not to lose money? 

The guys bring in Phil Luce, new CEO of White Commercial, to share his keynote talk about decision making during volatile times in the grain business. Celebrating Easter early, we put some Easter eggs at the end for you. 

It's a Festivus Miracle! The guys are back with another episode. In this one we air our grievances about "knowing the markets," having a bunch of screens, and why people look at risk the opposite of the way Merriam Webster does. We also catch you up on some of our latest conferences and what's on our schedule for 2022. Hope to see y'all out there this year! 

The guys discuss the latest ways to #winbasis from last summer. Step 1: Volatility Step 2: Derivatives Step 3: ??? Step 4: #WinBasis

Once again, the guys welcome guest cohost and fellow GMD connoisseur, Susan David, to the show to do some analysis of the infamous Facebook page known on AgTwitter simply as GMD. We discuss some of our favorite posts and delve into the comment sections. Some good discussion on why people bid vs. different months, spreads, and how basis is used by grain buyers. 

The guys welcome guest cohost and fellow GMD connoisseur, Susan David, to the show to do some analysis of the infamous Facebook page known on AgTwitter simply as GMD. We discuss some of our favorite posts, delve into the comment sections, and hopefully bring somewhat of a counter argument to the anti-merchandiser, anti-elevator mentality that pops up from time to time.

For this episode, we cross international lines to talk with the (in)famous Pete Archer from Maizieing Acres in Ontario. Pete tells us his personal story as a grain farmer and eventual commercial grain elevator and gives us great insight on how basis trading actually works when trading across borders and currencies. 

The guys delve into the reality that bushels will likely be hunting for space this year, and what that means for the value of space amid the sad-trombone spread structure currently in place (hint: don't pay too much for the basis!) They also get into the nitty gritty of the real cost of running a grain elevator and how your policies can help (or hurt) your ability to cover those costs. As always, the anecdotes are free for our valued listeners.

We are joined by University of Arkansas Professor, Dr. Mckenzie, to discuss the grain business and how he has been able to bridge the gap between academia and pragmatic cash grain trading through his career. He also shares with us his perspective about what qualities young people are looking for in an employer as they begin their careers (and it's not what you might think). Finally, we discuss his very intriguing work on the psychology of farm marketing. 

We sit down with Fred Seamon, Executive Director of Commodity Research and Product Development at CME Group, to discuss all the buzz and consternation around the corners of the internet for the agricultural world. Of course, we also delve into the zeitgeist of this season. Fred sets us straight on how the commercial side is affected by HFT, algos, convergence, and more. And he does it all in a clear and simple way that even a couple guys from Arkansas can understand.

Long time friend of the show Jeff Reardon spends some time with us going over how the financial side of the business is handling this big rally year. He also tells us how commercial grain business margins are faring this year based on his unique analysis and metrics.

Ashley Bettenhausen (@TheFarmWifey) joins the guys all the way from up north to share her trials and triumphs as a female grain originator from a non-ag background. And of course, she sets the record straight on just exactly how proper spread terminology do.  

What does grain merchandising, family business transition, and dog food have in common? More than you might think. Join the guys as Chad takes us down his professional pathway and sheds some light on that ol grain business chestnut, "its different around here." (Spoiler Alert: it ain't)