Before I knew anything about futures and basis, that is what I used to do. I now see the benefits of using my local coop for what it is there for. I sell almost 100% of my grain through our local with HTA's. It allows me to lock in a good CBOT price when I think it is time, and gives me the flexibility of choosing to roll my futures or set the basis to whoever has the best bid later. Today, Cargil in Cedar Rapids has a basis of -.10 the July for full June delivery, and ADM in Cedar Rapids is +.04 for June delivery. By doing Hedge to Arrives with the local coop I can get 14 cent better basis at ADM today than had I sold it directly to Cargill. Also, ADM is 11 cents better than Muskatine and a whole lot closer.
