CHS Inc. and MKC to expand grain marketing joint venture

Joint venture will expand market access and create new opportunities for U.S. cooperatives and farmers

ST. PAUL, Minn. and MOUNDRIDGE, Kan., April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Longtime cooperative partners CHS Inc. and Mid-Kansas Cooperative (MKC) today announced their intention to expand their current grain marketing joint venture to maximize the value of an end-to-end cooperative supply chain in the Southern Plains. This development will expand market access and patronage-eligible options to maximize owner value by connecting area farmers and cooperatives with end-use markets and customers. 

"CHS has been successfully partnering with MKC through joint ventures for more than 10 years," said John Griffith, executive vice president, ag business, CHS. "This initiative expands our collaborative presence and maximizes our complementary asset base in the region to create an efficient, integrated supply chain to connect cooperative- and farmer-owners in the Southern Plains with customers around the world while leveraging the TEMCO terminal in Houston, Texas."

This expanded partnership will drive long-term growth through a responsive grain network and reinvestment to expand marketing opportunities and modernize rail infrastructure in this vital growing region. The two companies are currently building a rail-served grain terminal near Sterling, Kansas, that is scheduled to be operational in 2024.

"Expanding our relationship with CHS will open up market access and create new opportunities for our farmers," said Brad Stedman, president and CEO, MKC. "Our track record of successful partnership and shared vision to create value for cooperative-owners and customers makes MKC and CHS the right partners to link farmers with a more defined southern supply chain."

According to the cooperative partners, both companies will continue to independently own and operate assets throughout the region while expanding their grain marketing joint venture designed to more efficiently move grain through a seamless distribution channel. The companies expect to begin to operate the expanded 50/50 joint venture this summer.

About CHS
CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) creates connections to empower agriculture. As a leading global agribusiness and the largest farmer-owned cooperative in the United States, CHS serves customers in 65 countries and employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. We provide critical crop inputs, market access and risk management services that help farmers feed the world. Our diversified agronomy, grains, foods and energy businesses recorded revenues of $47.8 billion in fiscal year 2022. We advance sustainability through our commitment to being stewards of the environment, building economic viability and strengthening community and employee well-being. 

About MKC
MKC, headquartered in Moundridge, Kansas, is a full-service farm cooperative offering a complete line of products, programs, and services for both farm and urban customers throughout Kansas. MKC specializes in grain, agronomy, energy, feed and risk management. The cooperative has more than 11,000 members and 8,000 customers through a wholly owned subsidiary, Mid-West Fertilizer. More than 600 employees play a key role in the growth and success of the cooperative. MKC's mission is to create customer, employee, and partner success to provide a safe and sustainable food supply. Learn more about MKC at mkcoop.com and follow the MKC story on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

This document and other CHS Inc. publicly available documents contain, and CHS officers and representatives may from time to time make, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on CHS current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its businesses, financial condition and results of operations, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of CHS control. CHS actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause CHS actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are discussed or identified in CHS filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" discussion in Item 1A of CHS Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2022. These factors may include: the inability to consummate the transaction described in this press release; changes in commodity prices; the impact of government policies, mandates, regulations and trade agreements; global and regional political, economic, legal and other risks of doing business globally; the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine; the impact of inflation; the impact of epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks of disease and other adverse public health developments, including COVID-19; the impact of market acceptance of alternatives to refined petroleum products; consolidation among our suppliers and customers; nonperformance by contractual counterparties; changes in federal income tax laws or our tax status; the impact of compliance or noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations; the impact of any governmental investigations; the impact of environmental liabilities and litigation; actual or perceived quality, safety or health risks associated with our products; the impact of seasonality; the effectiveness of our risk management strategies; business interruptions, casualty losses and supply chain issues; the impact of workforce factors; our funding needs and financing sources; financial institutions' and other capital sources' policies concerning energy-related businesses; uncertainty regarding the transition away from LIBOR and the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative reference rate; technological improvements that decrease the demand for our agronomy and energy products; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and other nonordinary course-of-business events; security breaches or other disruptions to our information technology systems or assets; the impact of our environmental, social and governance practices, including failures or delays in achieving our strategies or expectations related to climate change or other environmental matters; the impairment of long-lived assets; and other factors affecting our businesses generally. Any forward-looking statements made by CHS in this document are based only on information currently available to CHS and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. CHS undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE CHS Inc.