I remember when I lived in Iowa, a friend's father explained his trading in the futures market, he was a corn farmer, he would hedge his exposure. That is what many people are doing, they are hedging contracts against physical delivery. Now some actually deliver the commodity, others do speculate, and banks make money on everything, that is how free markets work. Everyone is needed to make a market, otherwise the farmer is stuck with a crop that someone can say they don't want, unless you sell it at a lower price, these markets allow the very speculation that makes the underlying price fair.