When we first became involved in trading grain and soybeans, one of the most impressive features of grain trade practices for us was the casual, off-handed way in which the buying and selling of grain was conducted. Transactions between buyers and sellers were almost always negotiated verbally. Buy/sell agreements were sometimes acknowledged by a handshake if the parties were physically together, perhaps on the floor of a grain exchange. More often an agreement on a trade was reached in a telephone conversation between a buyer and a seller. But once that handshake or telephone conversation occurred, a binding agreement was forged that had the force of a formal contract. A grain trader's word was his bond, and the sanctity of those contrac...