9. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The following tables provide information of the carrying amount, notional amount and fair value of financial instruments, including derivative financial instruments. The Company believes it is not practical to estimate the fair value of investments in other cooperatives due to the excessive cost involved as there is no established market for these investments. The carrying value of financial instruments classified as current assets and current liabilities, such as cash and short-term investments, receivables, accounts payable, notes and short-term obligations, approximate fair value due to the short-term maturity of the instruments. The carrying value of LIBOR-based debt, including the revolving credit facility, Term A loan and Term B loan, also approximates fair market value since the interest rate automatically adjusts every one to three months and credit spreads are not believed to have changed materially since the facilities were established. The fair value of fixed rate long-term debt was established through a present value calculation, based on available information on prevailing market interest rates for similar securities on the respective reporting dates and is summarized at December 31, as follows:

	2002				2001
	Carrying		Fair		Carrying		Fair
	Amount		Value		Amount		Value
Senior unsecured   notes due 2011	$	350,000	$	275,170	$	350,000	$	343,490
Capital Securities of Trust   Subsidiary due 2028		190,700		103,302		190,700		127,310

The Company enters into futures and options contract derivatives to reduce risk on the market value of inventory and fixed or partially fixed purchase and sale contracts.

The notional or contractual amount of derivatives provides an indication of the extent of the Company's involvement in such instruments at that time but does not represent exposure to market risk or future cash requirements under certain of these instruments. A summary of the notional or contractual amounts of these instruments at December 31 is as follows:

	2002				2001
	National		Fair		National		Fair
	Amount		Value		Amount		Value
Derivative financial instruments: Commodity futures contracts   Commitments to purchase	$	108,359	$	(4,543)	$	76,639	$	(6,475)
Commitments to sell		(56,969)		(615)		(6,111)		(86)

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