Can they be succesfully used? While you can eliminate time-decay (of long options), they get you only partially covered in case of a steep fall.
depending on which ag products you trade, options can either be used very effectively, or can just be a pain in the ass. Right now IV is high in the commodities just as it is in the stock market, and has been high since last winter, so I've almost taken the approach of just selling options, either against a futures position, or just as a naked, no way I'm buying options in this environment, unless as a synthetic long or short, but then the margin is so high you might as well just trade the future itself. In my opinion, the only options that are easy to trade in the ag market are the the CBOT grains and cotton. Live cattle and OJ aren't too bad, if you have some time to work your order (and a good guy on the floor), but I hardly even mess with feeder options anymore. Never have traded lean hog options, so I have no opinion, the others all trade so little options its not even worth it.