Disclosures About Fair Value of Financial Instruments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]

Disclosures About Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Disclosures About Fair Value of Financial Instruments:

Financial Fair Value Measurements:

The following tables set forth the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis at March 31, 2012, and December 31, 2011, by level within the fair value hierarchy. Assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to the asset or liability.

The Company owns $30.5 million of available-for-sale equity securities that trade on over-the-counter bulletin board markets. At March 31, 2012, the Company classified $20.8 million of those securities as Level 2 due to the trading volumes being lower than normal, coupled with wide bid/ask spreads, lack of current publicly available information, or few or no recent transactions. There were no material transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 during the periods presented.

The Company has entered board crush margin hedge contracts (the "swaps") with an international bank. The purpose of the swaps is to hedge the crush margin of the canola seed crushing facility that the Company anticipates will become operational in the second half of 2012. The swaps begin at the time of estimated initial production for a notional quantity of 19,500 tons per month (approximately 67% of anticipated capacity) and swaps the floating price of the crush margin (the margin produced from the sale of canola oil and canola meal less the cost of canola seed) for a fixed price for a period of six months to March 2013. The Company may enter into further swap agreements over the course of the next few months with the same counterparty for up to 80% of estimated future production. Each swap qualifies as a financial instrument and is a cash-flow derivative that does not qualify for hedge accounting treatment. As such, gains and losses on this contract are reported in operating and other costs and the liability is included in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

At March 31, 2012 (in thousands):

Assets	Quoted Prices In Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)	Balance at  March 31, 2012
Available-for-sale securities (1)	$	56,001	$	20,787		$	76,788
Readily marketable inventory (2)	$	6,776				$	6,776
Derivative instruments(3)	$	21	$	159		$	180
Liabilities
Derivative instruments (3)	$	729	$	687		$	1,416

At December 31, 2011 (in thousands):

Assets	Quoted Prices In Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)	Balance at December 31, 2011
Available-for-sale securities (1)	$	58,739	$	19,537		$	78,276
Liabilities
Derivative instrument (3)			$	2,511		$	2,511

⁽¹⁾ Where there are quoted market prices that are readily available in an active market, securities are classified as Level 1 of the valuation hierarchy. Level 1 available-for-sale investments are valued using quoted market prices multiplied by the number of shares owned and debt securities are valued using a market quote in an active market. All Level 2 available-for-sale securities are one class because they all contain similar risks and are valued using market prices and include securities where the markets are not active, that is where there are few transactions, or the prices are not current or the prices vary considerably over time. Inputs include directly or indirectly observable inputs such as quoted prices. Level 3 available-for-sale securities would include securities where valuation is based on unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets. This includes certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.

⁽²⁾ Readily marketable inventory are commodity inventories that are reported at fair value based on commodity exchange quotations. Inventories are valued based on the quoted market price for the underlying commodity multiplied by the quantity of inventory and are classified as Level 1.

⁽³⁾ Included in this caption are three types of derivative contracts: swaps, exchange traded futures, and forward commodity purchase and sale. The exchange traded futures contracts are valued based on quoted prices in active markets and are classified as Level 1. Level 1 exchange traded futures contracts are valued using the quoted market price multiplied by the number of contracts. The swaps are classified as Level 2 because the inputs are directly observable, such as the quoted market prices for relevant commodity futures contracts. The swaps are valued based on the difference of the arithmetic average of the quoted market price of the relevant underlying multiplied by the notional quantities, and the arithmetic average of the prices specified in the instrument multiplied by the notional quantities.  Forward commodity purchase and sale contracts classified as derivatives are valued using quantitative models that require the use of multiple inputs including quoted market prices and various other assumptions including time value. These contracts are categorized as Level 2 and are valued based on the difference between the quoted market price and the price in the contract multiplied by the undelivered notional quantity deliverable under the contract.

Estimated Fair Value of Financial Instruments Not Carried at Fair Value

The following table presents the carrying value and fair value of the Company's financial instruments which are not carried at fair value at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The level within the fair value hierarchy in which the fair value measurements are classified include measurements using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active (Level 2), and significant valuation assumptions that are not readily observable in the market (Level 3). As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the fair values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable and receivable approximated their carrying values because of the short-term nature of these investments or liabilities based on Level 1 inputs. The estimated fair value of the Company's debt approximated the carrying value based on current borrowing terms available, which are Level 2 inputs. The estimated fair value of the Company's investment in preferred stock of a private company approximated carrying value based on Level 3 inputs.

	March 31, 2012				December 31, 2011
	Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value
Financial assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	110,398	$	110,398	$	125,547	$	125,547
Other investments	$	2,060	$	2,060	$	2,060	$	2,060
Notes and other receivables, net	$	6,353	$	6,353	$	6,893	$	6,893
Reinsurance receivable	$	15,372	$	15,372	$	15,475	$	15,475
Financial liabilities:
Debt	$	110,066	$	110,066	$	93,431	$	93,431