ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 11, 2025 – The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) today reiterated its strong support for reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a standalone agency. In a statement submitted to the House Agriculture Committee as part of the Committee’s hearing on reauthorization of the CFTC, NGFA cited the agency’s essential role in overseeing agricultural derivatives markets and supporting transparent, competitive, and well-functioning price discovery.

“Our industry relies on well-regulated futures markets to manage risk and serve America’s farmers, processors, and consumers,” said NGFA President and CEO Mike Seyfert. “The CFTC’s oversight is foundational to market integrity and to the ability of commercial users to hedge effectively.”

NGFA’s filing highlights several priority issues:

• Opposition to 24/7 trading for agricultural futures: NGFA warned that a move to round-the-clock trading would dilute liquidity, increase execution risk, widen bid-ask spreads, and introduce opportunities for manipulation during thinly traded periods. NGFA also stressed that agricultural cash markets do not operate 24/7, making misalignment with futures markets risky for commercial hedgers.
• Support for the traditional intermediated trading system: NGFA underscored the vital role Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) play in managing customer funds, ensuring proper margining, and maintaining system integrity. The statement notes concerns over past proposals – including the “Basel III endgame” bank capital changes and FTX’s direct-to-clearing model – that could have destabilized or disintermediated traditional FCM services.
• Enhancements to the Commitments of Traders (COT) Report: The Association encouraged the CFTC to reduce the three-day lag between data collection and publication, increase reporting frequency, and develop an improved process for updating COT data following federal government shutdowns to prevent prolonged gaps in market transparency.

NGFA concluded by reaffirming its strong support of the CFTC’s mission and its importance to agricultural risk-management markets.

“Reauthorization provides an important opportunity to strengthen the CFTC’s ability to protect market participants, promote transparency, and support America’s agricultural economy,” Seyfert said.

-30-