Have extended trading hours made agricultural commodity markets riskier?

Traders in agricultural commodity markets view volatility differently depending on their objectives. Producers generally dislike volatility and uncertainty and they trade on futures markets to lessen the risk associated with price changes. Nonproducers?traders with no direct involvement in producing or using the commodities themselves?seek to profit from uncertainty by predicting the path of futures prices. Producers are concerned that a recent extension of trading hours at commodity exchanges could lead to heightened volatility since trading is now taking place during the release of key government reports on commodity supply and demand. Kauffman examines the effect of extended trading hours on intraday corn futures markets and finds evidence of brief periods of elevated price volatility around the release of government reports. He concludes that producers whose long-term risk management strategies are not sensitive to brief spikes in intraday volatility are unlikely to be adversely affected.