The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday said that the agency plans to release the Commitment of Traders Report twice a week by the end of the year.
The announcement came during an Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting, which CFTC chairman Michael S. Selig reconvened for the first time in over two years.
The COT Report is currently released once a week on Friday afternoons.
Selig said the goal is to deregulate the commodities markets.
"It also includes promoting greater transparency in the commodity markets to facilitate fair competition. To start, I've directed the staff to begin circulating the Commitments of Traders Report on a bi-weekly basis, as opposed to the current once-weekly format. We hope to begin doing so by the end of the year," Selig said.
Selig said that for years, federal agencies have layered regulations onto financial intermediaries serving the agricultural industry.
In doing so, the agencies have often failed to ask the farmers, ranchers, or producers who depend on these markets whether the rules work for them, according to the CFTC press release.
Selig also noted that many futures commission merchants, swap dealers and commodity trading advisors that serve agricultural producers are owned by banks subject to stringent capital requirements while also being regulated separately by the CFTC and the National Futures Association.
The committee also discussed ways to make agricultural data available to market participants more quickly.
Mary Catherine Cromley, a US Department of Agriculture staffer, told the committee a new acreage reporting system should be rolled out in the next few months.
"If you plant something in March and don't report it until July, it doesn't help a lot of people to know what's out there," Cromley said.
During the meeting, Gabe Afolayan, vice president of soybean merchandising and trading at Cargill, asked if action could be taken so farmers can take more advantage of the biofuels market.
Heather Manzano, of the USDA, said the agency is trying to make progress in the oilseeds sector.
"We have a couple of products that we have approved (in an effort to be more transparent and actuarial) along that route. Data is always a challenge for us, but it's core to our program. So, as we are able to get more data, we have every intention to grow in those areas," Manzano said.