The grain business has substantially changed in many ways over the years, some of which can make achieving satisfactory profitability more difficult and complex. The past couple of years have seen the so-called big multinational grain companies produce less-than-stellar results. A common thread among them has been annual net profits that have not quite met expectations of industry analysts nor those of corporate management and stockholders. It is not that the companies have been unprofitable; rather, their profits have been generally viewed as mediocre.It was not supposed to be this way. The last four years have featured abundant, increasing supplies of grain and oilseeds in the U.S. and around the world. They have also featured demand that...