Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017.  For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries.  All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.  The Company consolidates all entities, including variable interest entities (VIEs), in which it has a controlling financial interest. For VIEs, the Company assesses whether it is the primary beneficiary as defined under the applicable accounting standard. Investments in affiliates, including VIEs through which the Company exercises significant influence but does not control the investee and is not the primary beneficiary of the investee’s activities, are carried at cost plus equity in undistributed earnings since acquisition and are adjusted, where appropriate, for basis differences between the investment balance and the underlying net assets of the investee.  The Company’s portion of the results of certain affiliates and results of certain VIEs are included using the most recent available financial statements.  In each case, the financial statements are within 93 days of the Company’s year end and are consistent from period to period.

Reclassifications

The Company classified $15 million of fees from its U.S. futures commission brokerage business in cost of products sold in the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The current presentation is consistent with the classification of similar fees in the Company’s futures commission brokerage business in the U.K. The Company also classified $18 million of intangible amortization in selling, general, and administrative expenses in the quarter ended March 31, 2017. Prior period amounts of $15 million related to fees from the futures commission brokerage business and $19 million related to intangible amortization in the quarter ended March 31, 2016 have been reclassified from selling, general, and administrative expenses and other (income) expense - net, respectively, in the consolidated statement of earnings and in Note 13 to conform to the current presentation.

Last-in, First-out (LIFO) Inventories

Interim period LIFO calculations are based on interim period costs and management’s estimates of year-end inventory levels.  Because the availability and price of agricultural commodity-based LIFO inventories are unpredictable due to factors such as weather, government farm programs and policies, and changes in global demand, quantities of LIFO-based inventories at interim periods may vary significantly from management’s estimates of year-end inventory levels.