CFTC Chairman Selig says agricultural markets should not be pushed into 24/7 trading

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig said agricultural commodity markets should not be pushed into continuous 24/7 trading, in remarks at the Agricultural Commodity Futures Conference on October 22, 2026, in Overland Park, Kansas.

He told the audience the views were his own as chairman and did not necessarily reflect those of the Commission.

Selig said the CFTC will not apply a single uniform model to 24/7 trading across markets, and that he has said repeatedly that continuous trading of the kind used in perpetual contracts may not suit agricultural commodities.

When exchanges proposed round-the-clock contracts, he said, the agency sought out the views of the market participants who would actually use those markets, and it has made clear that agricultural markets should not be pulled into nonstop trading merely because the technology to enable it exists.

Tailored regulation for agriculture

Selig said the CFTC does not take the same regulatory approach to agriculture as it does to crypto or precious metals.

The agency is working to tailor its regulations, he said, because agriculture is regional and livestock production and marketing differ from row crops and specialty crops.

Rebuilding the agricultural focus

Selig said the revived AgCon, a conference the agency brought back this year, is meant to be a gathering where CFTC staff can hear directly about the concerns of producers and agribusinesses and how to make sure end users have effective tools for managing and hedging risk.

He said he reconstituted the CFTC’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, which had been dormant for years, and that it held its first meeting in July.

Topics discussed included Basel III, clearing access, possible risk-management gaps between the product lines of the CFTC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, round-the-clock trading and perpetual futures.

Selig also said he hired the CFTC’s first Senior Agriculture Advisor, Emma Johnston, who leads staff work on the advisory committee and helped plan the conference.

Data and interagency coordination

Selig said the CFTC is working internally to move the Commitment of Traders report to twice-weekly publication before the end of the year, responding to feedback from the agricultural community that the report, a longstanding source of transparency on trading positions, could be more useful.

He said the CFTC and USDA are developing an updated memorandum of understanding intended to deepen coordination and information sharing between the agencies.

He said the CFTC is also working with the Environmental Protection Agency on matters involving Renewable Identification Numbers, carbon credits and derivatives that reference those products or are economically linked to them, and that it is increasing its collaboration with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on oversight of RIN and renewable fuels markets.

Statutory backdrop

Selig recounted that Congress enacted the Grain Futures Act in 1922, expanded federal oversight through the Commodity Exchange Act in 1936, and created the CFTC as an independent agency in 1974 with jurisdiction over nearly all commodities other than onions and motion picture box office receipts.

He noted that Congress created a special statutory category of agricultural commodities because they differ from other products and can demand disparate regulatory treatment.

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