Leaders in the grain industry discussed the future of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at the Commodity Council Markets gathering recently.

With the CFTC currently going through major changes, it seems the grain industry is hoping it will lead to a more lenient Commission. And, as Mark Wetjen is currently taking over the reins, it’s very possible that this will be the case.

The CFTC has already lost chairman Gensler, and with commissioner Chilton is on his way out, the CFTC will be without its two most vocal proponents for a strict hold on the derivatives market.

Timothy Massad and Sharon Bowen, considered to be Wall Street lawyers, are currently slated to take over for Gensler and Chilton respectively, and are less likely to be as strict.

Gensler managed to push through upwards of 70 percent of all the rules the CFTC was required to write during his term according to Reuters, which will leave Massad with little more to do in terms of large scale change. And Commissioner O’Malia has stated that he is hoping that the CFTC can focus more on tweaking the rules put in place to make things easier before continuing with new reform.

The main cause of concern for the grain industry seems to be how the CFTC will be defining “hedging” which could seriously affect the way farmers use futures contracts to anticipate the buying and selling of grain.