At West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, students have opportunities to engage with agriculture and natural resource commodity markets well beyond the textbook.
The Futures Markets and Commodity Prices course focuses on commodities central to food, energy, and natural resource systems, including agricultural products such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, hogs and milk, along with energy commodities like crude oil, natural gas, base and precious metals.
With a background in farming and a research agenda in price analysis and forecasting, the course is led by Siddhartha Bora, assistant professor of agribusiness management and applied economics at WVU Davis College.
Throughout the course, students complete guided lab sessions using platforms, such as CME Trading Simulator and LSEG Workspace, market data platforms widely used by commodity traders and analysts. Students can look up current and past futures contracts, examine price history and work through exercises tied to real-world market conditions.
This hands-on approach allows students to see how futures markets operate, a space where constantly changing commodity prices are managed by agriculture producers and businesses who are planning ahead.
“The goal, however, is not to encourage speculative trading, but to understand risk through exposure to market volatility in near real-time,” Bora said. “If you go into leveraged markets unprepared and uninformed, you can lose a lot of money very quickly. So, everything we do in the class is framed around learning how to manage risk, and how to not lose money.”
One of the main projects in this class involves trading futures contracts of agriculture, energy and minerals in a simulated risk-free yet competitive environment. Each semester, students take part in a multi-week trading challenge using a commodity futures simulator. The simulator allows them to trade agricultural and energy contracts as real events unfold, keep a trading diary and develop a formal trading plan.
“For the trading challenge, students start with $100,000 and try to make as much money as possible – but only by using proper risk management strategies,” Bora said. “That means diversifying across markets, using stop losses, and practicing clear rules for entry and exit.”
Beyond what the course offers, there are additional opportunities for students to participate in, including the CME Group University Trading Challenge, an international online trading competition.
Three students in the class participated in the competition last year – agribusiness management major Jack Case, mining engineering major Liam Dwyer and Adam Gratton, who graduated with a degree in environmental and natural resource economics from the Davis College.
“The CME Group competition is a very prestigious global event run by the world’s largest futures exchange. Our team did very well, and we were 42nd out of 616 teams in the world,” Bora said.
Participating in the challenge led the team and Bora to Chicago for the 2025 Day of Market Education Conference at CME Group headquarters, where they heard from industry professionals and learned more about commodity markets.
Case expressed his appreciation for the course and how going beyond the textbook widened his understanding of the field.
“Having experience is even more important. Being able to look at prices, make trades, and actually do the activity really helped me get a grip on everything,” Case said.
Dwyer said the experience helped him understand the scale and importance of the markets.
“It was a great opportunity just to see the scale of it. It’s insane how much money moves and how important this is to almost every sector of the economy,” Dwyer said.
Through the course, Bora aims to bring real market activity to students’ desks, helping them gain a deep understanding of how markets operate.
“By the end of the semester, students aren’t just learning theory. They’re analyzing real data, writing market outlooks, and making recommendations like a commodity analyst would in the real world,” Bora said. “They leave the class with an analytical edge and a much deeper understanding of how markets and risks actually work.”
Students who are interested in registering for the Futures Markets and Commodity Prices course (ARE 440) should reach out to their academic advisor for more information on how to register.
The Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources envisions a West Virginia with healthy food, resilient natural resources, and thriving communities. To learn more about the Davis College, visit davis.wvu.edu. Keep up with the latest updates and news on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube by following @WVUDavis.
-WVU-
an/04/16/2026
MEDIA CONTACT: Aden Nickerson
Communications Specialist
WVU Division for Land-Grant Engagement
304-293-7606; aden.nickerson@mail.wvu.edu