Chicago, Ill.-based R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest and largest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the U.S., announced that it has expanded its commitment to its agricultural technology offering for the commercial grain industry, originally known as AutoHedge and now rebranded as Hrvyst.

Hrvyst enables users to manage their grain risk in real time enterprise-wide, automatically converting cash grain movement into futures hedging orders. Conceived and developed internally by the RJO Commercial Agricultural team, Hrvyst automates what has historically been a human process, thereby improving communication, accountability and hedging precision for large grain elevator companies and cooperatives, commercial producers and commercial agricultural operations, according to the company.

Spearheading the strategic initiative full time will be longtime RJO executive Kirk Bonniwell, who has been in charge of the Commercial Grains and OTC Markets divisions.

"We believe Hrvyst is positioned to revolutionize the agriculture industry by enabling grain operators to achieve significant economies of scale and superior streamlining of their business,” RJO chairman and chief executive officer Gerald Corcoran said. “This innovative technology platform helps our clients modernize ag commerce and build a productive bridge to farmers. I've asked Kirk to focus exclusively on the initiative going forward, with the expectation that the offering will grow and serve an important role in the industry."

Bonniwell said, "Following our early success with select clients, we will continue to build on our hedge management platform while expanding the Hrvyst ecosystem to deliver – in new and exciting ways – a range of products and services to the market."