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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Lease Expense
The company leases certain facilities, parcels of land, and equipment, with remaining terms ranging from less than one year to approximately 13.6 years. The land and facility leases include renewal options. The renewal options are included in the lease term only for those sites or locations in which they are reasonably certain to be renewed. Equipment renewals are not considered reasonably certain to be exercised as they typically renew with significantly different underlying terms.
The components of lease expense are as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
March 31,
20242023
Lease expense
Operating lease expense$7,136$6,746
Variable lease expense (benefit) (1)
186(131)
Total lease expense$7,322$6,615
(1)Represents amounts incurred in excess of the minimum payments required for a certain building lease and for the handling and unloading of railcars for a certain land lease, offset by railcar lease abatements provided by the lessor when railcars are out of service during periods of maintenance or upgrade.
Supplemental cash flow information related to operating leases is as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
March 31,
20242023
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows from operating leases$6,988 $6,197 
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations
Operating leases7,163 16,658 
Supplemental balance sheet information related to operating leases is as follows:
March 31,
2024		December 31,
2023
Weighted average remaining lease term4.3 years4.5 years
Weighted average discount rate5.25 %5.16 %
Aggregate minimum lease payments under the operating lease agreements for the remainder of 2024 and in future years are as follows (in thousands):
Year Ending December 31,Amount
2024$20,885 
202523,609 
202616,839 
202712,684 
20285,054 
Thereafter8,715 
Total87,786 
Less: Present value discount(9,735)
Lease liabilities$78,051 
The company has an additional railcar operating lease anticipated to commence during the second quarter of 2024, with undiscounted future lease payments of approximately $2.3 million and a lease term of five years. These amounts are not included in the tables above.
Other Commodities, Storage and Transportation
As of March 31, 2024, the company had contracted future purchases of grain, distillers grains and natural gas, valued at approximately $168.6 million and future commitments for storage and transportation, valued at approximately $19.9 million.
Legal
The company is currently involved in litigation that has arisen in the ordinary course of business, but does not believe any pending litigation will have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.