Recently we hosted an exciting CPN Livestream Session featuring Julie Lerner, Founder and CEO of PanXchange, and Keith Petersen, Barchart’s Head of Strategy. The livestream provided attendees with an in-depth look into the cmdty Pricing Network (CPN) and the data being provided by PanXchange, the leading Hemp and Frac Sand benchmark provider. Andrew Bish, Founder and CEO of Hemp Harvest Works, a leading provider of equipment and consulting services to hemp producers, also joined in on this exclusive webinar. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to attend - we’ll fill you in now!

Keith started the webinar with a quick overview of the CPN network, which is designed to increase transparency in global commodity markets by facilitating access to global commodity prices from leading brokerages and traders of physical commodities. He then passed it over to Julie Lerner. Julie gave an overview of PanXchange, which is a market structure solution for the physical commodities that feed and fuel the world. It’s centered around their institutional grade trading platform focused on moving products from point A to point B. Their clients include growers, processors, and tradehouses. They also provide benchmark prices for hemp. They were the first to market when the farm bill was released and they are now the leading provider for hemp benchmark prices and the first to offer benchmark prices for hemp fiber and hemp grain.

Julie also provided insight on her background and how she got into the business. She started with Cargill in Geneva, Switzerland and later moved on to be Cargill’s Senior Latin American sugar trader. She has also worked in electricity markets for Sempra Energy Trading and in agricultural weather derivatives with XL Financial. Julie also emphasized the importance of networking and how her ability to talk to people and make connections helped her get to where she is today. 

Julie also covered how firms use their data for analysis and decision making, including providing information to investors, helping with market structuring issues, testifying in lawsuits about lost revenue opportunities, providing testimony to the USDA for farmer relief, and helping growers prove they have sold the majority of their crop ahead of time so they can get funding and crop insurance.  

Next Keith transitioned over to Andrew, who explained how Hemp Harvest works focuses on harvesting solutions and identifying the most economical way for people to harvest their crops. In order to identify the most economical way for people to harvest their crops Hemp Harvest Works needs to know market pricing, which is where PanXchange comes in. Hemp Harvest Works uses Panxchange data in different economic models to help growers understand how they can make a profit on this crop. They’ve been researching and identifying the impact of row spacing, plant spacing, and population density on output, but this information only translates to potential profits when they have the go to market value of the crop.

After a discussion on the hemp grain and fiber market, Keith facilitated a great Q&A, which provided insights on how to get started farming hemp, anecdotes from hemp conferences, if the changing legal environment has an impact on their business model, and much more! Watch the full livestream here to learn more! To learn more about the data available from PanXchange please visit our website. Sign up for product updates here to stay in the loop on upcoming CPN webinars!