WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS INVOLVED WITH AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND?

 

You should consider carefully the risks described below before making an investment decision. You should also refer to the other information included in this prospectus, and the Fund’s and the Trust’s financial statements and the related notes incorporated by reference herein. See “Incorporation by Reference of Certain Information.”

 

Risks Associated with Investing Directly or Indirectly in Corn

 

Investing in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts subjects the Fund to the risks of the corn market, and this could result in substantial fluctuations in the price of the Fund’s Shares.

 

The Fund is subject to the risks and hazards of the corn market because it invests in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts. The risks and hazards that are inherent in the corn market may cause the price of corn and the Fund’s Shares to fluctuate widely and you could incur a partial or total loss of your investment in the Fund.

 

 

 

 

An investment in the Fund is subject to correlation risk. Your return on an investment in the Fund may differ from the return of the Benchmark, changes in the Fund’s NAV and the spot price of corn.

 

There is a risk that changes in the price of Shares on the NYSE Arca will not correlate with changes in the Fund’s NAV; that changes in the NAV will not correlate with changes in the price of the Benchmark; and/or changes in the price of the Benchmark will not correlate with changes in the spot price of corn. Depending on certain factors associated with each of these correlations which are discussed in more detail below, you could incur a partial or total loss of your investment in the Fund.

 

The Benchmark is not designed to correlate with the spot price of corn, and this could cause the changes in the price of the Shares to substantially vary from the changes in the spot price of corn. Therefore, you may not be able to effectively use the Fund to hedge against corn related losses or to indirectly invest in corn.

 

The Benchmark Component Futures Contracts reflect the price of corn for future delivery, not the current spot price of corn, so at best the correlation between changes in such Corn Futures Contracts and the spot price of corn will be only approximate. Weak correlation between the Benchmark and the spot price of corn may result from the typical seasonal fluctuations in corn prices discussed above. Imperfect correlation may also result from speculation in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, technical factors in the trading of Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, and expected inflation in the economy as a whole. If there is a weak correlation between the Benchmark and the spot price of corn, then the price of Shares may not accurately track the spot price of corn and you may not be able to effectively use the Fund as a way to hedge the risk of losses in your corn related transactions or as a way to indirectly invest in corn.

 

 

Changes in the Fund’s NAV may not correlate well with changes in the price of the Benchmark. If this were to occur, you may not be able to effectively use the Fund as a way to hedge against corn related losses or as a way to indirectly invest in corn.

 

The Sponsor endeavors to invest the Fund’s assets as fully as possible in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts so that the changes in the NAV closely correlate with the changes in the Benchmark. However, changes in the Fund’s NAV may not correlate with the changes in the Benchmark for various reasons, including those set forth below.

 

The Fund incurs certain expenses in connection with its operations and holds most of its assets in income producing, short-term financial instruments for margin and other liquidity purposes and to meet redemptions that may be necessary on an ongoing basis. These expenses and income cause imperfect correlation between changes in the Fund’s NAV and changes in the Benchmark.

 

The Sponsor may not be able to invest the Fund’s assets in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts having an aggregate notional amount exactly equal to the Fund’s NAV. As a standardized contract, a single Corn Futures Contract is for a specified amount of corn, and the Fund’s NAV and the proceeds from the sale of a Creation Basket is unlikely to be an exact multiple of that amount. In such case, the Fund could not invest the entire proceeds from the purchase of the Creation Basket in such futures contracts. (For example, assuming the Fund receives $625,000 for the sale of a Creation Basket and that the value (i.e., the notional amount) of a Corn Futures Contract is $20,050, the Fund could only enter into 31 Corn Futures Contracts with an aggregate value of $621,550). While the Fund may be better able to achieve the exact amount of exposure to the corn market through the use of over the counter other corn interests, there is no assurance that the Sponsor will be able to continually adjust the Fund’s exposure to such other corn interests to maintain such exact exposure. Any amounts not invested in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts are held in cash and cash equivalents.

 

As Fund assets increase, there may be more or less correlation. On the one hand, as the Fund grows it should be able to invest in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts with a notional amount that is closer on a percentage basis to the Fund’s NAV. For example, if the Fund’s NAV is equal to 4.9 times the value of a single futures contract, it can purchase only four futures contracts, which would cause only 81.6% of the Fund’s assets to be exposed to the corn market. On the other hand, if the Fund’s NAV is equal to 100.9 times the value of a single Corn Futures Contract, it can purchase 100 such contracts, resulting in 99.1% exposure. However, at certain asset levels the Fund may be limited in its ability to purchase Corn Futures Contracts due to position limits imposed by the CFTC or position limits or accountability levels imposed by the relevant exchanges. In these instances, the Fund would likely invest to a greater extent in corn interests not subject to these position limits or accountability levels. To the extent that the Fund invests in other corn interests, the correlation between the Fund’s NAV and the Benchmark may be lower. In certain circumstances, position limits or accountability levels could limit the number of Creation Baskets that will be sold.

 

The Fund has not approached existing position limit levels of its Benchmark Component Futures Contracts which are traded on the CME with a 57,800 contract limit. There is no way to predict if or when investor demand might cause the Fund to approach position limits. Currently the Fund holds just over ten percent (under 6000 contracts) of the CFTC/CME position limits. The Fund has no intention of purchasing corn interests on foreign exchanges.

 

The Fund's FCM has not placed maximum position constraints on the number of corn futures contracts the Fund may purchase. However, volatility in the corn futures market may lead the FCM to impose risk mitigation procedures that could limit the Fund's investment in corn futures contracts beyond the accountability and position limits imposed by futures contract exchanges as discussed immediately above. If the current FCM were to impose position limits on the Fund before the Fund retains another FCM, or that FCM also imposes limits, the Fund's ability to meet its investment objective could be negatively impacted.

 

If changes in the Fund’s NAV do not correlate with changes in the Benchmark, then investing in the Fund may not be an effective way to hedge against corn related losses or indirectly invest in corn

 

Changes in the price of the Fund’s Shares on the NYSE Arca may not correlate perfectly with changes in the NAV of the Fund’s Shares. If this variation occurs, then you may not be able to effectively use the Fund to hedge against corn related losses or to indirectly invest in corn.

 

While it is expected that the trading prices of the Shares will fluctuate in accordance with the changes in the Fund’s NAV, the prices of Shares may also be influenced by other factors, including the supply of and demand for the Shares, whether for the short term or the longer term. There is no guarantee that the Shares will not trade at appreciable discounts from, and/or premiums to, the Fund’s NAV. This could cause the changes in the price of the Shares to substantially vary from the changes in the spot price of corn, even if the Fund’s NAV were closely tracking movements in the spot price of corn. If this occurs, you may not be able to effectively use the Fund to hedge the risk of losses in your corn related transactions or to indirectly invest in corn.

 

The Fund may experience a loss if it is required to sell cash equivalents at a price lower than the price at which they were acquired.

 

If the Fund is required to sell its cash equivalents at a price lower than the price at which they were acquired, the Fund will experience a loss. This loss may adversely impact the price of the Shares and may decrease the correlation between the price of the Shares, the Benchmark, and the spot price of corn. The value of cash equivalents held by the Fund, generally moves inversely with movements in interest rates. The prices of longer maturity securities are subject to greater market fluctuations as a result of changes in interest rates. While the short-term nature of the Fund’s investments in cash equivalents should minimize the interest rate risk to which the Fund is subject, it is possible that the cash equivalents held by the Fund will decline in value.

 

Certain of the Fund’s investments could be illiquid, which could cause large losses to investors at any time or from time to time.

 

The Fund may not always be able to liquidate its positions in its investments at the desired price for reasons including, among others, insufficient trading volume, limits imposed by exchanges or other regulatory organizations, or lack of liquidity. As to futures contracts, it may be difficult to execute a trade at a specific price when there is a relatively small volume of buy and sell orders in a market. Limits imposed by futures exchanges or other regulatory organizations, such as accountability levels, position limits and price fluctuation limits, may contribute to a lack of liquidity with respect to some exchange-traded corn interests. In addition, over the counter contracts may be illiquid because they are contracts between two parties and generally may not be transferred by one party to a third party without the counterparty’s consent. Conversely, a counterparty may give its consent, but the Fund still may not be able to transfer an over the counter corn interest to a third party due to concerns regarding the counterparty’s credit risk.

 

A market disruption, such as a foreign government taking political actions that disrupt the market in its currency, its corn production or exports, or in another major export, can also make it difficult to liquidate a position. Unexpected market illiquidity may cause major losses to investors at any time or from time to time. In addition, the Fund does not intend at this time to establish a credit facility, which would provide an additional source of liquidity, but instead will rely only on the cash and cash equivalents that it holds to meet its liquidity needs. The anticipated value of the positions in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts that the Sponsor will acquire or enter into for the Fund increases the risk of illiquidity. Because Benchmark Component Futures Contracts may be illiquid, the Fund’s holdings may be more difficult to liquidate at favorable prices in periods of illiquid markets and losses may be incurred during the period in which positions are being liquidated.

 

 

If the nature of the participants in the futures market shifts such that corn purchasers are the predominant hedgers in the market, the Fund might have to reinvest at higher futures prices or choose other corn interests.

 

The changing nature of the participants in the corn market will influence whether futures prices are above or below the expected future spot price. Corn producers will typically seek to hedge against falling corn prices by selling Corn Futures Contracts. Therefore, if corn producers become the predominant hedgers in the futures market, prices of Corn Futures Contracts will typically be below expected future spot prices. Conversely, if the predominant hedgers in the futures market are the purchasers of the corn who purchase Corn Futures Contracts to hedge against a rise in prices, prices of Corn Futures Contracts will likely be higher than expected future spot prices. This can have significant implications for the Fund when it is time to sell a Corn Futures Contract that is no longer a Benchmark Component Futures Contract and purchase a new Corn Futures Contract or to sell a Corn Futures Contract to meet redemption requests.

 

Storage costs could impact the value of the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts.

 

Storage costs associated with purchasing corn could result in costs and other liabilities that could impact the value of Corn Futures Contracts or certain other corn interests. Storage costs include the time value of money invested in corn as a physical commodity plus the actual costs of storing the corn less any benefits from ownership of corn that are not obtained by the holder of a futures contract. In general, Corn Futures Contracts have a one month delay for contract delivery and the pricing of back month contracts (the back month is any future delivery month other than the spot month) includes storage costs. To the extent that these storage costs change for corn while the Fund holds Corn Interests, the value of the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, and therefore the Fund’s NAV, may change as well.

 

The price relationship between the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts at any point in time and the Corn Futures Contracts that will become Benchmark Component Futures Contracts on the next roll date will vary and may impact both the Fund’s total return and the degree to which its total return tracks that of corn price indices.

 

The design of the Fund’s Benchmark is such that the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts change five times per year, and the Fund’s investments must be rolled periodically to reflect the changing composition of the Benchmark. For example, when the second to expire Corn Futures Contract becomes the first to expire contract, such contract will no longer be a Benchmark Component Futures Contract and the Fund’s position in it will no longer be consistent with tracking the Benchmark. In the event of a corn futures market where near to expire contracts trade at a higher price than longer to expire contracts, a situation referred to as “backwardation,” then absent the impact of the overall movement in corn prices the value of the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts would tend to rise as they approach expiration. As a result, the Fund may benefit because it would be selling more expensive contracts and buying less expensive ones on an ongoing basis. Conversely, in the event of a corn futures market where near to expire contracts trade at a lower price than longer to expire contracts, a situation referred to as “contango,” then absent the impact of the overall movement in corn prices the value of the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts would tend to decline as they approach expiration. As a result, the Fund’s total return may be lower than might otherwise be the case because it would be selling less expensive contracts and buying more expensive ones. The impact of backwardation and contango may lead the total return of the Fund to vary significantly from the total return of other price references, such as the spot price of corn. In the event of a prolonged period of contango, and absent the impact of rising or falling corn prices, this could have a significant negative impact on the Fund’s NAV and total return, and you could incur a partial or total loss of your investment in the Fund.

 

Regulation of the commodity interests and commodity markets is extensive and constantly changing; future regulatory developments are impossible to predict but may significantly and adversely affect the Fund.

 

The regulation of futures markets, futures contracts and futures exchanges has historically been comprehensive. The CFTC and the exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of a market emergency including, for example, the retroactive implementation of speculative position limits, increased margin requirements, the establishment of daily price limits and the suspension of trading on an exchange or trading facility.

 

The regulation of commodity interest transactions in the United States is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to ongoing modification by governmental and judicial action. Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in 2010. As the Dodd-Frank Act continues to be implemented by the CFTC and the SEC, there is a possibility of future regulatory changes within the United States altering, perhaps to a material extent, the nature of an investment in the Fund, or the ability for the Fund to continue to implement its investment strategy. In addition, various national governments outside of the United States have expressed concern regarding the disruptive effects of speculative trading in the commodities markets and the need to regulate the derivatives markets in general. The effect of any future regulatory change on the Fund is impossible to predict but could be substantial and adverse.

 

If you are investing in the Fund for purposes of hedging, you might be subject to several risks unique to the Fund, and the Fund may not be appropriate for hedging purposes. The Fund was not designed for hedging purposes; those using the Fund as a hedge of any kind do so exclusively at their own risk.

 

An investment in the Fund may provide you little or no diversification benefits. Thus, in a declining market, the Fund may have no gains to offset your losses from other investments, and you may suffer losses on your investment in the Fund at the same time you incur losses with respect to other asset classes.

 

It cannot be predicted to what extent the performance of Benchmark Component Futures Contracts will or will not correlate to the performance of other broader asset classes such as stocks and bonds. If the Fund’s performance were to move more directly with the financial markets, you will obtain little or no diversification benefits from an investment in the Shares. In such a case, the Fund may have no gains to offset your losses from other investments, and you may suffer losses on your investment in the Fund at the same time you incur losses with respect to other investments.

 

Variables such as drought, floods, weather, embargoes, market disruptions, tariffs and other political events may have a larger impact on corn and corn interest prices than on traditional securities and broader financial markets. These additional variables may create additional investment risks that subject the Fund’s investments to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.

 

Lower correlation should not be confused with negative correlation, where the performance of two asset classes would be opposite of each other. There is no historic evidence that the spot price of corn and prices of other financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, are negatively correlated. In the absence of negative correlation, the Fund cannot be expected to be automatically profitable during unfavorable periods for the stock market, or vice versa.

 

 

The Fund’s Operating Risks

 

The Fund may change its investment objective, Benchmark or investment strategies at any time without shareholder approval or advance notice.

 

Consistent with its authority under the Trust Agreement and Delaware law, the Fund, in its sole discretion and without shareholder approval or advance notice, may change the Fund’s investment objective, Benchmark or investment strategies, subject to applicable regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to, any requirement to amend applicable listing rules of the NYSE. The reasons for and circumstances that may trigger any such changes may vary widely and cannot be predicted. By way of example, the Fund may change the term structure or underlying components of the Benchmark in furtherance of the Fund’s investment objective of tracking the price of corn for future delivery if, due to market conditions, a potential or actual imposition of position limits by the CFTC or futures exchange rules, or the imposition of risk mitigation measures by a futures commission merchant restricts the ability of the Fund to invest in the current Benchmark Futures Contracts. Shareholders may experience losses on their investments in the Fund as a result of such changes.

 

The Fund is not a registered investment company, so you do not have the protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

 

The Fund is not an investment company subject to the Investment Company Act of 1940. Accordingly, you do not have the protections afforded by that statute, which, for example, requires investment companies to have a board of directors with a majority of disinterested directors and regulates the relationship between the investment company and its investment manager.

 

The Sponsor is leanly staffed and relies heavily on key personnel to manage trading activities.

 

In managing and directing the day to day activities and affairs of the Fund, the Sponsor relies almost entirely on a small number of individuals, including Mr. Sal Gilbertie, Mr. Steve Kahler and Ms. Cory Mullen-Rusin. If Mr. Gilbertie, Mr. Kahler or Ms. Mullen-Rusin were to leave or be unable to carry out their present responsibilities, it may have an adverse effect on the management of the Fund. To the extent that the Sponsor establishes additional commodity pools, even greater demands will be placed on these individuals.

 

The Sponsor has limited capital and may be unable to continue to manage the Fund if it sustains continued losses.

 

The Sponsor was formed for the purpose of managing the Trust, including the Fund, the other Teucrium Funds, and any other series of the Trust that may be formed in the future, and has been provided with capital primarily by its principals and a small number of outside investors. If the Sponsor operates at a loss for an extended period, its capital will be depleted, and it may be unable to obtain additional financing necessary to continue its operations. If the Sponsor were unable to continue to provide services to the Fund, the Fund would be terminated if a replacement sponsor could not be found. Any expenses related to the operation of the Fund would need to be paid by the Fund at the time of termination.

 

Position limits, accountability levels and daily price fluctuation limits set by the CFTC and the exchanges have the potential to cause tracking error, which could cause the price of Shares to substantially vary from the Benchmark and prevent you from being able to effectively use the Fund as a way to hedge against corn related losses or as a way to indirectly invest in corn.

 

The CFTC and U.S. designated contract markets, such as the CBOT, may establish position limits on the maximum net long or net short futures contracts in commodity interests that any person or group of persons under common trading control (other than as a hedge, which an investment by the Fund is not) may hold, own or control. For example, the current position limit for investments at any one time in the Corn Futures Contracts are 1,200 spot month contracts and 57,800 contracts total for all months. These position limits are fixed ceilings that the Fund would not be able to exceed without specific CFTC authorization.

 

Accountability levels differ from position limits in that they do not represent a fixed ceiling, but rather a threshold above which a futures exchange may exercise greater scrutiny and control over an investor’s positions. If a Fund were to exceed an applicable accountability level for investments in futures contracts, the exchange will monitor the Fund’s exposure and may ask for further information on its activities, including the total size of all positions, investment and trading strategy, and the extent of liquidity resources of the Fund. If deemed necessary by the exchange, the Fund could be ordered to reduce its aggregate net position back to the accountability level.

 

 

In addition to position limits and accountability levels, the exchanges set daily price fluctuation limits on futures contracts. The daily price fluctuation limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of futures contracts may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily price fluctuation limit has been reached in a particular futures contract, no trades may be made at a price beyond that limit.

 

On December 16, 2016, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFTC adopted a final rule that aggregate all positions, for purposes of position limits; such positions include futures contracts, futures-equivalent positions, over the counter swaps and options (i.e., contracts that are not traded on exchanges). These aggregation requirements became effective on February 14, 2017 and could limit the Fund’s ability to establish positions in commodity over the counter instruments if the assets of the Fund were to grow substantially.

 

As published in the January 14, 2021 Federal Register, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted to approve a final rule (Final Rule) regarding position limits for certain futures contracts and economically equivalent swaps. The Final Rule ends a decade of rulemaking activity in which the CFTC proposed, amended, and re-proposed its position limit rules and aggregation standards for speculative positions due to certain amendments to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). In the Final Rule, the CFTC confirmed that federal speculative position limits are necessary for 25 core referenced futures contracts and for any futures contracts and options on futures contracts that are linked to those contracts. The 25 core referenced futures contracts include the nine “legacy” agricultural contracts that are currently subject to federal position limits and 16 additional non-legacy contracts. The Final Rule became effective on March 15, 2021, but a number of the requirements in the Final Rule have a general compliance date of January 1, 2022, and later compliance date of January 1, 2023 with respect to swaps-related requirements and the elimination of previously granted risk management exemptions. The Final Rule became effective on March 15, 2021, but a number of the requirements in the Final Rule have a general compliance date of January 1, 2022, and later compliance date of January 1, 2023 with respect to swaps-related requirements and the elimination of previously granted risk management exemptions.

 

There are technical and fundamental risks inherent in the trading system the Sponsor intends to employ.

 

The Sponsor’s trading system is quantitative in nature, and it is possible that the Sponsor may make errors. Any errors or imperfections in the Sponsor’s trading system’s quantitative models, or in the data on which they are based, could adversely affect the Sponsor’s effective use of such trading systems. It is not possible or practicable for the Sponsor’s trading system to factor all relevant, available data into quantitative systems and/or trading decision. There is no guarantee that the Sponsor will use any specific data or type of data in making trading decisions on behalf of the Fund, nor is there any guarantee that the data actually utilized in making trading decisions on behalf of the Fund will be the most accurate data or free from errors. In addition, it is possible that a computer or software program may malfunction and cause an error in computation.

 

The Fund and the Sponsor may have conflicts of interest, which may cause them to favor their own interests to your detriment.

 

The Fund and the Sponsor may have inherent conflicts to the extent the Sponsor attempts to maintain the Fund’s asset size in order to preserve its fee income and this may not always be consistent with the Fund’s objective of having the value of its Shares’ NAV track changes in the Benchmark. The Sponsor’s officers and employees do not devote their time exclusively to the Fund. These persons may be directors, officers or employees of other entities. They could have a conflict between their responsibilities to the Fund and to those other entities.

 

In addition, the Sponsor’s principals, officers or employees may trade securities and futures and related contracts for their own accounts. A conflict of interest may exist if their trades are in the same markets and occur at the same time as the Fund trades using the clearing broker to be used by the Fund. A potential conflict also may occur if the Sponsor’s principals, officers or employees trade their accounts more aggressively or take positions in their accounts that are opposite, or ahead of, the positions taken by the Fund.

 

The Sponsor has sole current authority to manage the investments and operations of the Fund, and this may allow it to act in a way that furthers its own interests and in conflict with your best interests, including the authority of the Sponsor to allocate expenses to and between the Funds. Shareholders have very limited voting rights, which will limit the ability to influence matters such as amendment of the Trust Agreement, changes in the Fund’s basic investment policies, dissolution of the Fund, or the sale or distribution of the Fund’s assets.

 

Shareholders have only very limited voting rights and generally will not have the power to replace the Sponsor. Shareholders will not participate in the management of the Fund and do not control the Sponsor so they will not have influence over basic matters that affect the Fund.

 

Shareholders will have very limited voting rights with respect to the Fund’s affairs. Shareholders may elect a replacement sponsor only if the current Sponsor resigns voluntarily or loses its corporate charter. Shareholders will not be permitted to participate in the management or control of the Fund or the conduct of its business. Furthermore, any voting rights on shares held by the Fund will be exercised by the Sponsor, generally without seeking advice or voting instructions from Fund Shareholders. Shareholders must therefore rely upon the duties and judgment of the Sponsor to manage the Fund’s affairs.

 

The Sponsor may manage a large amount of assets, and this could affect the Fund’s ability to trade profitably.

 

Increases in assets under management may affect trading decisions. While the Fund’s assets are currently at manageable levels, the Sponsor does not intend to limit the amount of Fund assets. The more assets the Sponsor manages, the more difficult it may be for it to trade profitably because of the difficulty of trading larger positions without adversely affecting prices and performance and of managing risk associated with larger positions.

 

 

The liability of the Sponsor and the Trustee are limited, and the value of the Shares will be adversely affected if the Fund is required to indemnify the Trustee or the Sponsor.

 

Under the Trust Agreement, the Trustee and the Sponsor are not liable, and have the right to be indemnified, for any liability or expense incurred absent gross negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the Trustee or Sponsor, as the case may be. That means the Sponsor may require the assets of the Fund to be sold in order to cover losses or liability suffered by the Sponsor or by the Trustee. Any sale of that kind would reduce the NAV of the Fund and the value of its Shares.

 

Although the Shares of the Fund are limited liability investments, certain circumstances such as bankruptcy could increase a Shareholder’s liability.

 

The Shares of the Fund are limited liability investments; Shareholders may not lose more than the amount that they invest plus any profits recognized on their investment. However, Shareholders could be required, as a matter of bankruptcy law, to return to the estate of the Fund any distribution they received at a time when the Fund was in fact insolvent or that was made in violation of its Trust Agreement.

 

You cannot be assured of the Sponsor’s continued services, and discontinuance may be detrimental to the Fund.

 

You cannot be assured that the Sponsor will be willing or able to continue to service the Fund for any length of time. The Sponsor was formed for the purpose of sponsoring the Fund and other commodity pools and has limited financial resources and no significant source of income apart from its management fees from such commodity pools to support its continued service for the Fund. If the Sponsor discontinues its activities on behalf of the Fund or another series of the Trust, the Fund may be adversely affected. If the Sponsor’s registrations with the CFTC or memberships in the NFA were revoked or suspended, the Sponsor would no longer be able to provide services to the Fund.

 

The Fund could terminate at any time and cause the liquidation and potential loss of your investment and could upset the overall maturity and timing of your investment portfolio.

 

The Fund may terminate at any time, regardless of whether the Fund has incurred losses, subject to the terms of the Trust Agreement. For example, the dissolution or resignation of the Sponsor would cause the Trust to terminate unless shareholders holding a majority of the outstanding shares of the Trust, voting together as a single class, elect within 90 days of the event to continue the Trust and appoint a successor Sponsor. In addition, the Sponsor may terminate the Fund if it determines that the Fund’s aggregate net assets in relation to its operating expenses make the continued operation of the Fund unreasonable or imprudent. As of the date of this prospectus, the Fund pays the fees, costs and expenses of its operations. If the Sponsor and the Fund are unable to raise sufficient funds so that the Fund’s expenses are reasonable in relation to its NAV, the Fund may be forced to terminate, and investors may lose all or part of their investment. Any expenses related to the operation of the Fund would need to be paid by the Fund at the time of termination.

 

However, no level of losses will require the Sponsor to terminate the Fund. The Fund’s termination would result in the liquidation of its investments and the distribution of its remaining assets to the Shareholders on a pro rata basis in accordance with their Shares, and the Fund could incur losses in liquidating its investments in connection with a termination. Termination could also negatively affect the overall maturity and timing of your investment portfolio.

 

As a Shareholder, you will not have the rights enjoyed by investors in certain other types of entities.

 

As interests in separate series of a Delaware statutory trust, the Shares do not involve the rights normally associated with the ownership of shares of a corporation (including, for example, the right to bring shareholder oppression and derivative actions). In addition, the Shares have limited voting and distribution rights (for example, Shareholders do not have the right to elect directors, as the Trust does not have a board of directors, and generally will not receive regular distributions of the net income and capital gains earned by the Fund). The Fund is also not subject to certain investor protection provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 and the NYSE Arca governance rules (for example, audit committee requirements).

 

A court could potentially conclude that the assets and liabilities of the Fund are not segregated from those of another series of the Trust, thereby potentially exposing assets in the Fund to the liabilities of another series.

 

The Fund is a series of a Delaware statutory trust and not itself a legal entity separate from the other Teucrium Funds. The Delaware Statutory Trust Act provides that if certain provisions are included in the formation and governing documents of a statutory trust organized in series and if separate and distinct records are maintained for any series and the assets associated with that series are held in separate and distinct records and are accounted for in such separate and distinct records separately from the other assets of the statutory trust, or any series thereof, then the debts, liabilities, obligations and expenses incurred by a particular series are enforceable against the assets of such series only, and not against the assets of the statutory trust generally or any other series thereof. Conversely, none of the debts, liabilities, obligations and expenses incurred with respect to any other series thereof is enforceable against the assets of such series. The Sponsor is not aware of any court case that has interpreted this inter-series limitation on liability or provided any guidance as to what is required for compliance. The Sponsor intends to maintain separate and distinct records for the Fund and account for the Fund separately from any other Trust series, but it is possible a court could conclude that the methods used do not satisfy the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, which would potentially expose assets in the Fund to the liabilities of one or more of the Teucrium Funds and/or any other Trust series created in the future.

 

 

The Sponsor and the Trustee are not obligated to prosecute any action, suit or other proceeding in respect of any Fund property.

 

Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee is obligated to, although each may in its respective discretion, prosecute any action, suit or other proceeding in respect of any Fund property. The Trust Agreement does not confer upon Shareholders the right to prosecute any such action, suit or other proceeding.

 

The Fund does not expect to make cash distributions.

 

The Sponsor intends to re-invest any income and realized gains of the Fund in additional Benchmark Component Futures Contracts or cash and cash equivalents rather than distributing cash to Shareholders. Therefore, unlike mutual funds, commodity pools or other investment pools that generally distribute income and gains to their investors, the Fund generally will not distribute cash to Shareholders. You should not invest in the Fund if you will need cash distributions from the Fund to pay taxes on your share of income and gains of the Fund, if any, or for any other reason. Although the Fund does not intend to make cash distributions, it reserves the right to do so in the Sponsor’s sole discretion, in certain situations, including for example, if the income earned from its investments held directly or posted as margin may reach levels that merit distribution, e.g., at levels where such income is not necessary to support its underlying investments in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts and investors adversely react to being taxed on such income without receiving distributions that could be used to pay such tax. Cash distributions may be made in these and similar instances.

 

There is a risk that the Fund will not have sufficient total net assets to compensate for the fees and expenses that it must pay and as such the expense ratio of the Fund may be higher than that filed in this document.

 

The Fund pays management fees at an annual rate of 1.00% of its average net assets, brokerage commissions and various other expenses from its ongoing operations (e.g., fees of the Administrator, Trustee and Distributor), resulting in a total estimated expense ratio of approximately 1.63% of net assets. These fees and expenses must be paid in all events, regardless of the Fund’s total net assets.

 

The Fund may incur higher fees and expenses upon renewing existing or entering into new contractual relationships.

 

The arrangements between clearing brokers and counterparties on the one hand and the Fund on the other generally are terminable by the clearing brokers or counterparty upon notice to the Fund. In addition, the agreements between the Fund and its third-party service providers, such as the Distributor and the Custodian, are generally terminable at specified intervals. Upon termination, the Sponsor may be required to renegotiate or make other arrangements for obtaining similar services if the Fund intends to continue to operate. Comparable services from another party may not be available, or even if available, these services may not be available on the terms as favorable as those of the expired or terminated arrangements.

 

The Fund may experience a higher breakeven if interest rates decline.

 

The Fund seeks to earn interest on cash balances available for investment. If actual interest rates earned were to continue to fall and if the Sponsor were not able to waive expenses sufficient to cover the deficit, the breakeven estimated by the Fund in this prospectus could be higher.

 

The Fund is not actively managed.

 

The Fund is not actively managed and is designed to track a benchmark, regardless of whether the price of the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts is flat, declining or rising. As a result, the Fund may sustain losses that may have been avoidable if the Fund was actively managed.

 

The Net Asset Value calculation of the Fund may be overstated or understated due to the valuation method employed when a settlement price is not available on the date of net asset value calculation.

 

The Fund’s NAV includes, in part, any unrealized profits or losses on open swap agreements, futures or forward contracts. Under normal circumstances, the NAV reflects the quoted CBOT settlement price of open futures contracts on the date when the NAV is being calculated. In instances when the quoted settlement price of futures contracts traded on an exchange may not be reflective of fair value based on market condition, generally due to the operation of daily limits or other rules of the exchange or otherwise the NAV may not reflect the fair value of open futures contracts on such date. For purposes of financial statements and reports, the Sponsor will recalculate the NAV where necessary to reflect the “fair value” of a Futures Contract when the Futures Contract closes at its price fluctuation limit for the day.

 

 

An unanticipated number of redemption requests during a short period of time could have an adverse effect on the NAV of the Fund.

 

If a substantial number of requests for redemption of Redemption Baskets are received by the Fund during a relatively short period of time, the Fund may not be able to satisfy the requests from the Fund’s assets not committed to trading. As a consequence, it could be necessary to liquidate the Fund’s trading positions before the time that its trading strategies would otherwise call for liquidation, which may result in losses.

 

Fund assets may be depleted if investment performance does not exceed fees.

 

In addition to certain fees paid to the Fund’s service providers, the Fund pays the Sponsor a fee of 1.00% of asset under management per annum, regardless of Fund performance. Over time, the Fund’s assets could be depleted if investment performance does not exceed such fees.

 

The liquidity of the Shares may be affected by the withdrawal from participation of Authorized Purchasers, market makers, or other significant secondary-market participants which could adversely affect the market price of the Shares.

 

Only an Authorized Purchaser may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Purchasers. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Purchaser is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. In addition, a decision by a market maker, lead market maker, or other large investor, to cease activities for the Fund or a decision by a secondary market participant to sell a significant number of the Fund’s Shares could adversely affect liquidity, the spread between the bid and ask quotes, and potentially the price of the Shares. The Sponsor can make no guarantees that participation by Authorized Purchasers or market makers will continue.

 

If a minimum number of Shares is outstanding, market makers may be less willing to purchase Shares in the secondary market which may limit your ability to sell Shares.

 

There is a minimum number of baskets and associated Shares specified for the Fund. If the Fund experienced redemptions that caused the number of Shares outstanding to decrease to the minimum level of Shares required to be outstanding, until the minimum number of Shares is again exceeded through the purchase of a new Creation Basket, there can be no more redemptions by an Authorized Purchaser. In such case, market makers may be less willing to purchase Shares from investors in the secondary market, which may in turn limit the ability of Shareholders of the Fund to sell their Shares in the secondary market. These minimum levels for the Fund are 50,000 Shares representing two baskets. The minimum level of Shares specified for the Fund is subject to change. As of February 28, 2022, there were 6,475,004 Shares outstanding. (The current number of Shares outstanding is posted daily on our website, www.teucrium.com.)

 

The postponement, suspension or rejection of redemption orders could adversely affect a shareholder redeeming their Shares in the Fund.

 

The resulting delay of any postponement, suspension or rejection may adversely affect the value of the Shareholders’ redemption proceeds if the NAV of the Fund declines during the period of delay.

 

The failure or bankruptcy of a clearing broker could result in substantial losses for the Fund; the clearing broker could be subject to proceedings that impair its ability to execute the Fund’s trades.

 

Under CFTC regulations, a clearing broker with respect to the Fund’s exchange-traded corn interests must maintain customers’ assets in a bulk segregated account. If a clearing broker fails to do so or is unable to satisfy a substantial deficit in a customer account, its other customers may be subject to risk of a substantial loss of their funds in the event of that clearing broker’s bankruptcy. In that event, the clearing broker’s customers, such as the Fund, are entitled to recover, even in respect of property specifically traceable to them, only a proportional share of all property available for distribution to all of that clearing broker’s customers. The Fund also may be subject to the risk of the failure of, or delay in performance by, any exchanges and markets and their clearing organizations, if any, on which corn interests are traded.

 

From time to time, the clearing brokers may be subject to legal or regulatory proceedings in the ordinary course of their business. A clearing broker’s involvement in costly or time-consuming legal proceedings may divert financial resources or personnel away from the clearing broker’s trading operations, which could impair the clearing broker’s ability to successfully execute and clear the Fund’s trades.

 

The failure or insolvency of the Fund’s Custodian or other financial institution in which the Fund has deposits could result in a substantial loss of the Fund’s assets.

 

As noted above, the vast majority of the Fund’s assets are held in cash and cash equivalents with the Custodian and other financial institutions, if applicable. The insolvency of the Custodian and any financial institution in which the Fund holds cash and cash equivalents could result in a complete loss of the Fund’s assets.

 

 

Third parties may infringe upon or otherwise violate intellectual property rights or assert that the Sponsor has infringed or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights, which may result in significant costs, litigation, and diverted attention of Sponsor’s management.

 

Third parties may assert that the Sponsor has infringed or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights. Third parties may independently develop business methods, trademarks or proprietary software and other technology similar to that of the Sponsor and claim that the Sponsor has violated their intellectual property rights, including their copyrights, trademark rights, trade names, trade secrets and patent rights. As a result, the Sponsor may have to litigate in the future to determine the validity and scope of other parties’ proprietary rights or defend itself against claims that it has infringed or otherwise violated other parties’ rights. Any litigation of this type, even if the Sponsor is successful and regardless of the merits, may result in significant costs, divert resources from the Fund, or require the Sponsor to change its proprietary software and other technology or enter into royalty or licensing agreements.

 

On December 17, 2013, the Sponsor was issued a patent on certain business methods and procedures used with respect to the Fund. The patent protects the valuation engine which calculates asset values of futures contracts corresponding to the Fund benchmark in a locked position. A U.S. government maintenance fee is paid every three and one-half years from the issue date. The Sponsor paid the maintenance fee in 2021. The Sponsor utilizes certain proprietary software. Any unauthorized use of such proprietary software, business methods and/or procedures could adversely affect the competitive advantage of the Sponsor or the Fund and/or require the Sponsor to take legal action to protect its rights.

 

The Fund may experience substantial losses on transactions if the computer or communications system fails.

 

The Fund’s trading activities depend on the integrity and performance of the computer and communications systems supporting them. Extraordinary transaction volume, hardware or software failure, power or telecommunications failure, a natural disaster, cyber-attack or other catastrophe could cause the computer systems to operate at an unacceptably slow speed or even fail. Any significant degradation or failure of the systems that the Sponsor uses to gather and analyze information, enter orders, process data, monitor risk levels and otherwise engage in trading activities may result in substantial losses on transactions, liability to other parties, lost profit opportunities, damages to the Sponsor’s and Fund’s reputations, increased operational expenses and diversion of technical resources.

 

If the computer and communications systems are not upgraded when necessary, the Fund’s financial condition could be harmed.

 

The development of complex computer and communications systems and new technologies may render the existing computer and communications systems supporting the Fund’s trading activities obsolete. In addition, these computer and communications systems must be compatible with those of third parties, such as the systems of exchanges, clearing brokers and the executing brokers. As a result, if these third parties upgrade their systems, the Sponsor will need to make corresponding upgrades to effectively continue its trading activities. The Sponsor may have limited financial resources for these upgrades or other technological changes. The Fund’s future success may depend on the Sponsor’s ability to respond to changing technologies on a timely and cost-effective basis.

 

The Fund depends on the reliable performance of the computer and communications systems of third parties, such as brokers and futures exchanges, and may experience substantial losses on transactions if they fail.

 

The Fund depends on the proper and timely function of complex computer and communications systems maintained and operated by the futures exchanges, brokers and other data providers that the Sponsor uses to conduct trading activities. Failure or inadequate performance of any of these systems could adversely affect the Sponsor’s ability to complete transactions, including its ability to close out positions, and result in lost profit opportunities and significant losses on commodity interest transactions. This could have a material adverse effect on revenues and materially reduce the Fund’s available capital. For example, unavailability of price quotations from third parties may make it difficult or impossible for the Sponsor to conduct trading activities so that the Fund will closely track the Benchmark. Unavailability of records from brokerage firms may make it difficult or impossible for the Sponsor to accurately determine which transactions have been executed or the details, including price and time, of any transaction executed. This unavailability of information also may make it difficult or impossible for the Sponsor to reconcile its records of transactions with those of another party or to accomplish settlement of executed transactions.

 

The occurrence of a severe weather event, natural disaster, terrorist attack, geopolitical events, outbreak or public health emergency as declared by the World Health Organization, the continuation or expansion of war or other hostilities, or a prolonged government shutdown may have significant adverse effects on the Fund and its investments and alter current assumptions and expectations.

 

The operations of the Fund, the exchanges, brokers and counterparties with which the Fund does business, and the markets in which the Fund does business could be severely disrupted in the event of a severe weather event, natural disaster, major terrorist attack, cyber-attack, data breach, outbreak or public health emergency as declared by the World Health Organization (such as the spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19), or the continuation or expansion of war or other hostilities.

 

War and other geopolitical events in eastern Europe, including but not limited to Russia and Ukraine, may cause volatility in commodity prices including energy and grain prices, due to the region’s importance to these markets, potential impacts to global transportation and shipping, and other supply chain disruptions. These events are unpredictable and may lead to extended periods of price volatility.

 

Global terrorist attacks, anti-terrorism initiatives, and political unrest, as well as the adverse impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the global and U.S. markets and economy, continue to fuel concerns. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to adversely impact the level of services currently provided by the U.S. government, could weaken the U.S. economy, interfere with the commodities markets that rely upon data published by U.S. federal government agencies, and prevent the Funds from receiving necessary regulatory review or approvals. The types of events discussed above, including the COVID-19 pandemic, are highly disruptive to economies and markets and have recently led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and significant market losses.

 

 

More generally, a climate of uncertainty and panic, including the contagion of the COVID-19 virus and other infectious viruses or diseases, may adversely affect global, regional, and local economies and reduce the availability of potential investment opportunities, and increases the difficulty of performing due diligence and modeling market conditions, potentially reducing the accuracy of financial projections. Under these circumstances, the Fund may have difficulty achieving its investment objective, which may adversely impact performance. Further, such events can be highly disruptive to economies and markets, significantly disrupt the operations of individual companies (including, but not limited to, the Fund’s Sponsor and third party service providers), sectors, industries, markets, securities and commodity exchanges, currencies, interest and inflation rates, credit ratings, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Fund’s investments. These factors could cause substantial market volatility, exchange trading suspensions and closures that could impact the ability of the Fund to complete redemptions and otherwise affect Fund performance and Fund trading in the secondary market. A widespread crisis may also affect the global economy in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the current time. How long such events will last and whether they will continue or recur cannot be predicted. Impacts from these events could have significant impact on the Fund’s performance, resulting in losses to your investment. The current and future global economic impact may cause the underlying assumptions and expectations of the Fund to become outdated quickly or inaccurate, resulting in significant losses.

 

            In late February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, significantly amplifying already existing geopolitical tensions among Russia and other countries in the region and in the west. The responses of countries and political bodies to Russia’s actions, the larger overarching tensions, and Ukraine’s military response and the potential for wider conflict may increase financial market volatility generally, have severe adverse effects on regional and global economic markets, and cause volatility in the price of corn, corn futures, and the share price of the Fund. The price per bushel of corn in the United States is primarily a function of both U.S. and global production and demand. Long term impacts from sanctions, shipping disruptions, collateral war damage, and a potential expansion of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further disrupt the availability of corn supplies. Ukraine was the fifth largest global exporter of corn last season (accounting for approximately thirteen percent of total global corn exports) and prior to commencement of the Black Sea conflict was expected by the USDA to have become the third largest global exporter of corn this season. Ukraine was the largest global supplier of corn to China last year. Currently, the conflict has halted exports of Ukraine’s corn crop that was harvested last season. Now at question is the ability of farmers in both countries to plant this season’s corn crop in spring of 2022. As such, volatility, trading volumes, and prices in global corn markets have risen dramatically and are expected to continue indefinitely at extreme elevated levels. Given all of the above factors, the Sponsor has no ability to discern when current high levels of volatility will subside.

 

Failures or breaches of electronic systems could disrupt the Fund’s trading activity and materially affect the Fund’s profitability.

 

Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Sponsor, the Custodian or other financial institutions in which the Fund invests, or the Fund’s other service providers, market makers, Authorized Purchasers, NYSE Arca, exchanges on which Corn Futures Contracts or other corn interests are traded or cleared, or counterparties have the ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. Such failures or breaches may include intentional cyber-attacks that may result in an unauthorized party gaining access to electronic systems in order to misappropriate the Fund’s assets or sensitive information. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems of the Custodian or other financial institutions in which the Fund invests, or the Fund’s other service providers, market makers, Authorized Purchasers, NYSE Arca, exchanges on which Corn Futures Contracts or other corn interests are traded or cleared, or counterparties.

 

An investment in a Fund faces numerous risks from its shares being traded in the secondary market, any of which may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.

 

Although the Fund’s shares are listed for trading on the NYSE Arca, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in the Fund’s shares may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the NYSE Arca, make trading in shares inadvisable. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the NYSE Arca necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged or that the shares will trade with any volume, or at all. The NAV of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The market prices of shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s NAV and supply and demand of shares on the NYSE Arca. It cannot be predicted whether the Fund’s shares will trade below at or above their NAV. Investors buying or selling Fund shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares.

 

The NYSE Arca may halt trading in the Shares which would adversely impact your ability to sell Shares.

 

Trading in Shares of the Fund may be halted due to market conditions or, in light of NYSE Arca rules and procedures, for reasons that, in view of the NYSE Arca, make trading in Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules that require trading to be halted for a specified period based on a specified market decline. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing of the Shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. The Fund will be terminated if its Shares are delisted.

 

The event of a suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants to create or redeem shares.

 

The ability of Authorized Participants to create or redeem shares may be suspended for several reasons, including but not limited to the Fund voluntarily imposing such restrictions. A suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants would have no impact on the Fund's investment objective; the Fund's investment objective would remain the same – to have the daily changes in the Fund shares’ NAV reflect the daily changes of the price of corn for future delivery, as measured by a benchmark. Nor would the Benchmark change – the benchmark would remain three stipulated futures contracts.

 

With respect to the impact of a suspension on the price of Fund shares in the secondary market, Authorized Participants and other groups that make a market in shares of the Fund would likely continue to actively trade the Fund's shares. However, in such a situation, Authorized Participants and other market makers may seek to adjust the market they make in the shares. Specifically, such market participants may increase the spread between the prices that they quote for offers to buy and sell shares to allow them to adjust to the potential uncertainty as to when they might be able to create or redeem additional shares. In addition, Authorized Participants may be less willing to quote offers to buy or sell shares in large numbers. The potential impact of either wider spreads between bid and offer prices, or reduced number of shares on which quotes may be available, could increase the trading costs to investors in the Fund compared to the quotes and the number of shares on which bids and offers are made if the Authorized Participants still were able to freely create new baskets of shares. In addition, there could be a significant increase in the premium/discount between the market price at which shares are traded and the shares’ net asset value. The net asset value is the price at which the Fund can be created or redeemed by Authorized Participants.

 

The lack of active trading markets for the Shares of the Fund may result in losses on your investment in the Fund at the time of disposition of your Shares.

 

Although the Shares of the Fund will be listed and traded on the NYSE Arca, there can be no guarantee that an active trading market for the Shares of the Fund will be maintained. If you need to sell your Shares at a time when no active market for them exists, the price you receive for your Shares, assuming that you are able to sell them, likely will be lower than what you would receive if an active market did exist.

 

Risk of Leverage and Volatility

 

The Fund may become leveraged and may result in losses on all or substantially all of your investment if the Fund’s trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.

 

Commodity pools’ trading positions in futures contracts or other commodity interests are typically required to be secured by the deposit of margin funds that represent only a small percentage of a futures contract’s (or other commodity interest’s) entire market value. This feature permits commodity pools to “leverage” their assets by purchasing or selling futures contracts (or other commodity interests) with an aggregate notional amount in excess of the commodity pool’s assets. While this leverage can increase a pool’s profits, relatively small adverse movements in the price of the pool’s commodity interests can cause significant losses to the pool. While the Sponsor does not intend to leverage the Fund’s assets, it is not prohibited from doing so under the Trust Agreement. If the Sponsor were to cause or permit the Fund to become leveraged, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment if the Fund’s trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.

 

 

The price of corn can be volatile which could cause large fluctuations in the price of Shares.

 

As discussed in more detail above, price movements for corn are influenced by, among other things, weather conditions, crop disease, crop failure, transportation and storage difficulties, production decisions, various planting, growing and harvesting problems, governmental policies, various economic and monetary events, changing demand, and seasonal fluctuations in supply. More generally, commodity prices may be influenced by economic and monetary events such as changes in interest rates, changes in balances of payments and trade, U.S. and international inflation rates, currency valuations and devaluations, U.S. and international economic events, and changes in the philosophies and emotions of market participants. Additionally, war and other geopolitical events in eastern Europe, including but not limited to Russia and Ukraine, may cause volatility in commodity prices including energy and grains prices, due to: the region’s importance to these markets, impacts to global transportation and shipping, and other supply chain disruptions. These events are unpredictable and may lead to extended periods of price volatility. Because the Fund invests primarily in interests in a single commodity, it is not a diversified investment vehicle, and therefore may be subject to greater volatility than a diversified portfolio of stocks or bonds or a more diversified commodity pool.

 

Over the counter Contract Risk

 

Over the counter transactions are subject to changing regulation.

 

A portion of the Fund’s assets may be used to trade over the counter corn interests, such as forward contracts or swaps. The markets for over the counter contracts will continue to rely upon the integrity of market participants in lieu of the additional regulation imposed by the CFTC on participants in the futures markets. To date, the forward markets have been largely unregulated, except for anti-manipulation and anti-fraud provisions, forward contracts have been executed bi-laterally and, in general historically, forward contracts have not been cleared or guaranteed by a third party. While increased regulation of over the counter commodity interests is likely to result from changes that are required to be effectuated by the Dodd-Frank Act, there is no guarantee that such increased regulation will be effective to reduce these risks.

 

The Fund will be subject to credit risk with respect to counterparties to over the counter contracts entered into by the Fund.

 

The Fund faces the risk of non-performance by the counterparties to the over the counter contracts. Unlike in futures contracts, the counterparty to these contracts is generally a single bank or other financial institution, rather than a clearing organization backed by a group of financial institutions. As a result, there will be greater counterparty credit risk in these transactions. A counterparty may not be able to meet its obligations to the Fund, in which case the Fund could suffer significant losses on these contracts.

 

If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations due to financial difficulties, the Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. During any such period, the Fund may have difficulty in determining the value of its contracts with the counterparty, which in turn could result in the overstatement or understatement of the Fund’s NAV. The Fund may eventually obtain only limited recovery or no recovery in such circumstances.

 

The Fund may be subject to liquidity risk with respect to over the counter contracts.

 

Over the counter contracts may have terms that make them less marketable than Corn Futures Contracts. Over the counter contracts are less marketable because they are not traded on an exchange, do not have uniform terms and conditions, and are entered into based upon the creditworthiness of the parties and the availability of credit support, such as collateral, and in general, they are not transferable without the consent of the counterparty. These conditions make such contracts less liquid than standardized futures contracts traded on a commodities exchange and diminish the ability to realize the full value of such contracts. In addition, even if collateral is used to reduce counterparty credit risk, sudden changes in the value of over the counter transactions may leave a party open to financial risk due to a counterparty default since the collateral held may not cover a party’s exposure on the transaction in such situations.

 

In general, valuing OTC derivatives is less certain than valuing actively traded financial instruments such as exchange traded futures contracts and securities because the price and terms on which such OTC derivatives are entered into or can be terminated are individually negotiated, and those prices and terms may not reflect the best price or terms available from other sources. In addition, while market makers and dealers generally quote indicative prices or terms for entering into or terminating OTC contracts, they typically are not contractually obligated to do so, particularly if they are not a party to the transaction. As a result, it may be difficult to obtain an independent value for an outstanding OTC derivatives transaction.

 

The foregoing liquidity risks could impact adversely affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective.

 

In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain prudentially regulated entities and certain of their affiliates and subsidiaries (including swap dealers) to include in their derivatives contracts and certain other financial contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties (such as the Funds) to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the prudentially regulated entity and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. Similar regulations and laws have been adopted in non-US jurisdictions that may apply to a Fund’s counterparties located in those jurisdictions. It is possible that these new requirements, as well as potential additional related government regulation, could adversely affect a Fund’s ability to terminate existing derivatives contracts, exercise default rights or satisfy obligations owed to it with collateral received under such contracts.

 

 

Risk of Trading in International Markets

 

Trading in international markets would expose the Fund to credit and regulatory risk.

 

A significant portion of the Corn Futures Contracts entered into by the Fund are traded on United States exchanges including the CBOT. However, a portion of the Fund’s trades may take place on markets or exchanges outside the United States. Some non-U.S. markets present risks because they are not subject to the same degree of regulation as their U.S. counterparts. None of the CFTC, NFA, or any domestic exchange regulates activities of any foreign boards of trade or exchanges, including the execution, delivery and clearing of transactions, has the power to compel enforcement of the rules of a foreign board of trade or exchange or of any applicable non-U.S. laws. Similarly, the rights of market participants, such as the Fund, in the event of the insolvency or bankruptcy of a non-U.S. market or broker are also likely to be more limited than in the case of U.S. markets or brokers. As a result, in these markets, the Fund has less legal and regulatory protection than it does when it trades domestically. Currently the Fund does not place trades on any markets or exchanges outside of the United States and does not anticipate doing so in the near future.

 

In some of these non-U.S. markets, the performance on a futures contract is the responsibility of the counterparty and is not backed by an exchange or clearing corporation and therefore exposes the Fund to credit risk. Additionally, trading on non-U.S. exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. An adverse development with respect to any of these variables could reduce the profit or increase the loss earned on trades in the affected international markets.

 

International trading activities subject the Fund to foreign exchange risk.

 

The price of any non-U.S. corn interest and, therefore, the potential profit and loss on such investment, may be affected by any variance in the foreign exchange rate between the time the order is placed and the time it is liquidated, offset or exercised. However, a portion of the trades for the Fund may take place in markets and on exchanges outside of the U.S. Some non-U.S. markets present risks because they are not subject to the same degree of regulation as their U.S. counterparts. As a result, changes in the value of the local currency relative to the U.S. dollar may cause losses to the Fund even if the contract is profitable.

 

The CFTC’s implementation of its regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act may further affect the Fund’s ability to enter into foreign exchange contracts and to hedge its exposure to foreign exchange losses.

 

The Fund’s international trading could expose it to losses resulting from non-U.S. exchanges that are less developed or less reliable than United States exchanges.

 

Some non-U.S. exchanges also may be in a more developmental stage so that prior price histories may not be indicative of current price dynamics. In addition, the Fund may not have the same access to certain positions on foreign trading exchanges as do local traders, and the historical market data on which the Sponsor bases its strategies may not be as reliable or accessible as it is for U.S. exchanges.

 

Tax Risk

 

Please refer to “U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for information regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of Shares.

 

Your tax liability from holding Shares may exceed the amount of distributions, if any, on your Shares.

 

Cash or property will be distributed by the Fund at the sole discretion of the Sponsor, and the Sponsor currently does not intend to make cash or other distributions with respect to Shares. You will be required to pay U.S. federal income tax and, in some cases, state, local, or foreign income tax, on your allocable share of the Fund’s taxable income, without regard to whether you receive distributions or the amount of any distributions. Therefore, the tax liability resulting from your ownership of Shares may exceed the amount of cash or value of property (if any) distributed.

 

Your allocable share of income or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes may differ from your economic income or loss on your Shares.

 

Due to the application of the assumptions and conventions applied by the Fund in making allocations for U.S. federal income tax purposes and other factors, your allocable share of the Fund’s income, gain, deduction or loss may be different than your economic profit or loss from your Shares for a taxable year. This difference could be temporary or permanent and, if permanent, could result in your being taxed on amounts in excess of your economic income.

 

 

Items of income, gain, deduction, loss and credit with respect to Shares could be reallocated (or for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Fund itself could be liable for U.S. federal income tax along with any interest or penalties) if the IRS does not accept the assumptions and conventions applied by the Fund in allocating those items, with potential adverse tax consequences for you.

 

The Fund intends to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The U.S. tax rules pertaining to entities taxed as partnerships are complex and their application to publicly traded partnerships, such as the Fund, is in many respects uncertain. The Fund applies certain assumptions and conventions in an attempt to comply with the intent of the applicable rules and to report taxable income, gains, deductions, losses and credits in a manner that properly reflects Shareholders’ economic gains and losses. These assumptions and conventions may not fully comply with all aspects of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and applicable Treasury Regulations, however, and it is possible that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) will successfully challenge our allocation methods and require us to reallocate items of income, gain, deduction, loss or credit in a manner that adversely affects you. If this occurs, you may be required to file an amended tax return and to pay additional taxes plus deficiency interest.

 

In addition, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Fund may be liable for U.S. federal income tax on any “imputed underpayment” of tax resulting from an adjustment as a result of an IRS audit. The amount of the imputed underpayment generally includes increases in allocations of items of income or gains to any investor and decreases in allocations of items of deduction, loss, or credit to any investor without any offset for any corresponding reductions in allocations of items of income or gain to any investor or increases in allocations of items of deduction, loss, or credit to any investor. If the Fund is required to pay any U.S. federal income tax on any imputed underpayment, the resulting tax liability would reduce the net assets of the Fund and would likely have an adverse impact on the value of the Shares. In such a case, the tax liability would in effect be borne by Shareholders that own Shares at the time of such assessment, which may be different persons, or persons with different ownership percentages, than persons owning Shares for the tax year under audit. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may be eligible to make an election to cause Shareholders to take into account the amount of any imputed underpayment, including any interest and penalties. The ability of a publicly traded partnership such as the Fund to make this election is uncertain. If the election is made, the Fund would be required to provide Shareholders who owned beneficial interests in the Shares in the year to which the adjusted allocations relate with a statement setting forth their proportionate shares of the adjustment (“Adjusted K-1s”). The investors would be required to take the adjustment into account in the taxable year in which the Adjusted K-1s are issued. For an additional discussion please see “U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations – Other Tax Matters.”

 

If the Fund is required to withhold tax with respect to any Non-U.S. Shareholders, all Shareholders may bear the cost of such withholding.

 

Under certain circumstances, the Fund may be required to pay withholding tax with respect to allocations to Non-U.S. Shareholders. Although the Trust Agreement provides that any such withholding will be treated as being distributed to the Non-U.S. Shareholder, the Fund may not be able to cause the economic cost of such withholding to be borne by the Non-U.S. Shareholder on whose behalf such amounts were withheld since the Fund does not intend to make any distributions. Under such circumstances, all Shareholders may bear the economic cost of the withholding, not just the Shareholders on whose behalf such amounts were withheld. This could have a material impact on the value of your Shares.

 

The Fund could be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which may substantially reduce the value of your Shares.

 

The Trust has received an opinion of counsel that, under current U.S. federal income tax laws, the Fund will be treated as a partnership that is not taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, provided that, among other things, (i) at least 90 percent of the Fund’s annual gross income consists of “qualifying income” as defined in the Code, (ii) the Fund is organized and operated in accordance with its governing agreements and applicable law, and (iii) the Fund does not elect to be taxed as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Although the Sponsor anticipates that the Fund has satisfied and will continue to satisfy the “qualifying income” requirement for all of its taxable years, that result cannot be assured. The Fund has not requested and will not request any ruling from the IRS with respect to its classification as a partnership not taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If the IRS were to successfully assert that the Fund is taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year, rather than passing through its income, gains, losses and deductions proportionately to Shareholders, the Fund would be subject to tax on its net income for the year at corporate tax rates. In addition, although the Sponsor does not currently intend to make distributions with respect to Shares, any distributions would be taxable to Shareholders as dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, then treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of the Shareholder’s basis in the Shares (and will reduce the basis), and, to the extent it exceeds a Shareholder’s basis in such Shares, as capital gain for Shareholders who hold their Shares as capital assets. Taxation of the Fund as a corporation could materially reduce the after-tax return on an investment in Shares and could substantially reduce the value of your Shares.

 

Tax legislation that has been or could be enacted may affect you with respect to your investment in the Fund.

 

Legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect, and may adversely affect the Fund and its Shareholders. Please consult a tax advisor regarding the implications of an investment in Shares of the Teucrium Funds, including without limitation the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences.

 

PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE POSSIBLE TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF AN INVESTMENT IN SHARES; SUCH TAX CONSEQUENCES MAY DIFFER IN RESPECT OF DIFFERENT INVESTORS.

 

THE OFFERING

 

The Fund in General

 

The Fund’s investment objective is to provide investors with a cost-efficient way to gain price exposure to the corn market for future delivery. The Sponsor developed the Benchmark as a representation of the corn market for future delivery.

 

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest in the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts and cash and cash equivalents. The Sponsor believes that by investing in Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) will closely track the Benchmark. The Sponsor also believes that because of market arbitrage opportunities, the market price at which investors will purchase and sell Shares through their broker-dealer will closely track the Fund’s NAV. The Sponsor believes that the net effect of these relationships is that the Fund’s market price on the NYSE Arca at which investors purchase and sell Shares will closely track the corn market for future delivery, as measured by the Benchmark.

 

Consistent with applicable provisions of the Trust Agreement and Delaware law, the Fund has broad authority to make changes to the Fund’s operations. Consistent with this authority, the Fund, in its sole discretion and without shareholder approval or advance notice, may change its investment objective, Benchmark, or investment strategies. The Fund has no current intention to make any such change, and any change is subject to applicable regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to, any requirement to amend applicable listing rules of the NYSE.

 

The reasons for and circumstances that may trigger any such changes may vary widely and cannot be predicted. However, by way of example, the Fund may change the term structure or underlying components of the Benchmark in furtherance of the Fund’s investment objective of tracking the price of corn for future delivery if, due to market conditions, a potential or actual imposition of position limits by the CFTC or futures exchange rules, or the imposition of risk mitigation measures by a futures commission merchant restricts the ability of the Fund to invest in the current Benchmark Futures Contracts. The Fund would file a current report on Form 8-K and a prospectus supplement to describe any such change and the effective date of the change. Shareholders may modify their holdings of the Fund’s shares in response to any change by purchasing or selling Fund shares through their broker-dealer.

 

The Fund is organized as a series of the Teucrium Commodity Trust, a statutory trust organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on September 11, 2009. Currently, the Trust has five series that are separate operating commodity pools: the Teucrium Corn Fund, the Teucrium Wheat Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund, the Teucrium Sugar Fund, and the Teucrium Agricultural Fund. Additional series of the Trust may be created in the future at the Sponsor’s discretion. The Fund maintains its main business office at Three Main Street, Suite 215, Burlington Vermont 05401. The Fund is a commodity pool. It operates pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement, which is dated as of April 26, 2019 and grants full management control to the Sponsor.

 

See “Prior Performance of the Fund” on page 24 for more information about prior performance of the Fund.

 

The Sponsor

 

The Sponsor of the Trust is Teucrium Trading, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The principal office of the Sponsor and the Trust are located at Three Main Street, Suite 215, Burlington Vermont 05401. The Sponsor registered as a CPO with the CFTC and became a member of the NFA on November 10, 2009. The Sponsor registered as a Commodity Trading Advisor (“CTA”) with the CFTC effective September 8, 2017.

 

Aside from establishing the series of the Trust, operating those series that have commenced offering their shares, and obtaining capital from a small number of outside investors in order to engage in these activities, the Sponsor has not engaged in any other business activity prior to the date of this prospectus. Under the Trust Agreement, the Sponsor is solely responsible for management and conducts or directs the conduct of the business of the Trust, the Fund, and any series of the Trust that may from time to time be established and designated by the Sponsor. The Sponsor is required to oversee the purchase and sale of Shares by Authorized Purchasers and to manage the Fund’s investments, including to evaluate the credit risk of FCMs and swap counterparties and to review daily positions and margin/collateral requirements. The Sponsor has the power to enter into agreements as may be necessary or appropriate for the offer and sale of the Fund’s Shares and the conduct of the Trust’s activities. Accordingly, the Sponsor is responsible for selecting the Trustee, Administrator, Distributor, the independent registered public accounting firm of the Trust, and any legal counsel employed by the Trust. The Sponsor is also responsible for preparing and filing periodic reports on behalf of the Trust with the SEC and will provide any required certification for such reports. No person other than the Sponsor and its principals was involved in the organization of the Trust or the Fund.

 

The Sponsor may determine to engage marketing agents who will assist the Sponsor in marketing the Shares. See “Plan of Distribution” for more information.

 

The Sponsor maintains a public website on behalf of the Fund, www.teucrium.com, which contains information about the Trust, the Fund, and the Shares, and oversees certain services for the benefit of Shareholders.

 

The Sponsor has discretion to appoint one or more of its affiliates as additional Sponsors.

 

The Sponsor receives a fee as compensation for services performed under the Trust Agreement. The Sponsor’s fee accrues daily and is paid monthly at an annual rate of 1.00% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. For the period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, the Fund recognized $1,505,165 in management fees to the Sponsor. The Fund is also responsible for other ongoing fees, costs and expenses of its operations, including brokerage fees, and legal, printing, accounting, custodial, administration and transfer agency costs, although the Sponsor bore the costs and expenses related to the registration of the Shares. None of the costs and expenses related to the initial registration, offer and sale of Shares, which totaled approximately $644,850, were or are chargeable to the Fund, and the Sponsor did not and may not recover any of these costs and expenses from the Fund.

 

Shareholders have no right to elect the Sponsor on an annual or any other continuing basis or to remove the Sponsor. If the Sponsor voluntarily withdraws, the holders of a majority of the Trust’s outstanding Shares (excluding for purposes of such determination Shares owned by the withdrawing Sponsor and its affiliates) may elect its successor. Prior to withdrawing, the Sponsor must give ninety days’ written notice to the Shareholders and the Trustee.