Selling or buying agricultural commodities is full of risk. Prices can rise or fall dramatically. But every business has tools it can use to reduce that risk and to lock in prices it finds acceptable.

Those tools include hedging on the futures market through buying or selling contracts or options. Developing a long-term, written strategy that uses these tools to mitigate risk can make a company stronger and even help it expand when other companies are struggling.

It is a complex job that involves knowledge of agricultural markets and production agriculture and the cooperation of lenders and business partners. Those engaged in risk mitigation must be prepared to deal with both rapidly changing conditions at any time and with long-term cycles of production and price variability.

Meet the Expert

About Al

  • Commodity advisor since 1976 and introducing broker with R.J. O'Brien.
  • Author of the weekly commodity newsletter, "The Al Kluis Report," and also the "Your Profit" column in Successful Farming magazine.
  • Expert columnist for 13 years for Corn and Soybean Digest, which featured his "Marketing Strategies" column weekly.
  • Has published two books on commodities trading. His co-author on the first book, Loren Kruse, is the now-retired Editor-in-Chief of Successful Farming magazine. 
  • Frequently quoted in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, and a frequent market analyst for the Linder Farm Radio News Network. 
  • Former executive director of the Minnesota Soybean Association before entering the markets full-time. Alan's family still owns a farm in southwest Minnesota and Al enjoys helping with fieldwork when the markets allow.


Experience

President • Kluis Commodities
Jun, 1974 — Present
  • Kluis Commodities is a regional brokerage commodity brokerage firm that publishes the Al Kluis report, the Real Farmers Almanac, and the Kluis Commodity calendar.
  • Kluis also writes the Your Profit column for Successful Farming magazine.
   

Education

University of Minnesota
BS, Agriculture Economics, 1974

Keynote Speeches

  • Al is a featured speaker at commodity conferences nationwide.

Publications

  • Al Kluis' Farmer's Almanac, Nov. 30, 2010, Kluis Publishing LLC.
Packages with Al starting from $500

Your Expert Package Includes:

Best Practices

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Pre-Meeting Discovery Process

Review and analysis of your issue with pre-meeting discovery questions by Al, followed by a 30- or 60-minute one-on-one call. Sample

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Meeting Summary Report

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