Our Company
Our mission is to educate and empower traders through the use of technology and
innovation focusing on agricultural commodities. We strive to provide actionable
information to help our customers meet their profitability goals. Our platform has
been developed specifically for the agricultural producer and provides live futures
quotes, direct market access, and cash market bids and intelligence. Finally, the
information you need to make profitable marketing decisions can be accessed under
one Grain Hedge log in.
Even though our accounts are self-directed, farmers are not alone. Our team of
brokers can be reached easily through a phone call, email, online support, or a web
meeting. Our brokers work hard to provide education so that each client can execute
their strategy with confidence. The avenues we use include: Grain TV, cash and futures
market commentary, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and weather intelligence from Planalytics.
Our headquarters are based in beautiful Bozeman, Montana which helps us draw upon
the talented group of people that attend Montana State University. Not only does our
location give us access to knowledgeable employees, it also keeps us in touch with our
small town roots. From this location, we are building a solid team that focuses on
customer service, personal relationships, technology driven solutions, and actionable
intelligence for grain traders. When contacting us you will not be treated as just
another trader but instead as a valued client.
Meet the Team
Kevin McNew
President & Founder
"I’ve always been fascinated by grain markets, their volatile nature, and the role
that economic and weather-based factors have in crop production, demand and ultimately
prices." says Kevin McNew, President of Grain Hedge. McNew was raised on a farm in central Oklahoma and received his bachelor’s
degree from Oklahoma State University, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Economics
from North Carolina State University. For over a decade, he was a Professor of Economics
at the University of Maryland and Montana State University, focusing on commodity
markets. He has received numerous academic awards for his research and outreach
work, and was (and still is) widely regarded for boiling down complex economic issues
into easy-to-understand concepts for applied life.
Today, McNew is one of the most well-respected industry experts on cash markets.
As an analyst, Kevin's unique commentary on cash markets can be seen weekly on Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Reuters and
other publications. He also currently serves on the CFTC Sub-Committee on Futures
Market Convergence issues. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at conferences
on topics of risk management, biofuels and new trading techniques and can be heard
regularly as the Chief Analyst on Grain TV.
In his free time McNew serves as the captain of the HHL hockey team, The Grain Gretzkys.
Although President of Grain Hedge, Kevin still takes an active role in new projects
that will continue to serve the company’s mission in the years to come. "Tenacious
innovation is what we strive for everyday in developing the best, most precise answers
to grain traders."
Brock Schimbeno
Senior Broker
Brock works closely with clients to help them execute futures and options trading
strategies that meet their risk management and profit objectives through
Grain Hedge. In addition to assisting clients in the futures market,
Brock pays special attention to helping clients utilize the cash market intelligence
tools provided by Grain Hedge to maximize their net returns. Brock also provides
futures market commentary, an overview of what is happening and what’s on the horizon
in the grain market, which can be found at our blog
and he shares his insights regularly on
Grain TV.
At a young age Brock was exposed to trading commodities while living on a livestock
and grain farm in southwest Minnesota. His first vehicle was actually paid for with
the proceeds from his cattle trades. Brock graduated from Montana State with honors
in Business Finance and a minor in Economics. Shortly after graduation, Brock joined
GeoGrain as a cash market specialist. Within a few months he obtained his Series
3 license to become a registered commodities broker and began his work with Grain Hedge.
Giving back to the community is important to Brock. Recently, he has made speaking
appearances at Montana State University’s Finance Club, D.A. Davidson’s investment
seminar, Montana Ag Bankers Association, and donates time to the March of Dimes
Foundation. His hobbies keep him busy in the mountains surrounding Bozeman, as he
enjoys trail running, mountain biking, snowboarding, and backpacking.
Cody Bills
Director of Client Services
As Director of Client Services, Cody works with current and prospective clients
to ensure their organizations are capturing the most value out of the cash market
data and intelligence that Grain Hedge offers. In addition, as a licensed commodities
broker, he works with clients to implement hedging strategies and capture the best
prices in cash trading opportunities.
Cody graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in Business
Administration concentrating on Finance. During this time he worked as an analyst
for a local investment management firm where his equity write-ups appeared in two
national publications.
Following the completion of his education, Cody moved to Bozeman, MT and began his
position at GeoGrain as Director of Data Services. During his tenure he also played
an important role in the development of the company’s web services which make Grain
Hedge solutions more customizable for clients. He is a regular analyst on Grain TV and AgWeb Radio focusing on fundamental and technical drivers of the grain
market.
Logan Burgess
Broker
Before becoming a licensed broker at Grain Hedge, Logan worked at GeoGrain as a
Senior Cash Market Specialist. In this role he helped oversee the collection of
cash grain bids from nearly 4,000 elevators across the country. Working this closely
with cash market data helped Logan develop an understanding of the geo-spatial relationships
in the cash market, in addition to the opportunities that many producers forego
when making marketing decisions. He now works closely with producers to ensure they
are getting the most out of their bushels when making cash sales.
Logan has enjoyed following markets and trading from an early age and it was this
interest that lead him to study Finance at Montana State University, where he graduated
with honors. He now uses his experience with online trading platforms to help producers
access the commodity markets from their home or office. He is a regular contributor
to the Grain Hedge blog, Grain TV broadcast,
and @GRAINTV twitter feed.
When he is not working or playing defense for the Grain Gretzky hockey team, he
enjoys hunting and fishing in the mountains of Southwest Montana.
