I recently sold some corn to a local ethanol plant and along with my contracts I received a call (for this year), which I paid 30 cents for.  The call was just about at the money (3 cents out) and was trading on the board for 59 cents.  How do they protect themselves and offer farmers a call for half of what it's trading for? (I asked and they do cover themselves somehow, it's not just a matter of wanting the corn.  They obviously were not interested in giving me the specifics of how to do this.)  Could I do what they're doing on a smaller scale and still realize the same price?  Please keep the explanations simple if possible, because I'm not nearly as familiar with trading as I'd like.

Thanks,

Mike