Archer-Daniels-Midland processes agricultural commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat into food ingredients, animal feed and biofuel products, operating grain elevators, processing plants and transportation infrastructure across major farming regions. The company sits between farmers who grow raw crops and the food, feed and fuel manufacturers who need processed agricultural ingredients, earning margins on the storage, transportation and processing services it provides along that supply chain. ADM's profitability depends partly on crush margins, the spread between the cost of raw commodities like soybeans and the value of the processed products, like oil and meal, that come out of them. The company's results can be affected by weather-driven crop yields, global trade policy affecting agricultural exports, and swings in commodity prices that influence both its input costs and the value of what it sells.