CHS returning $600 million to cooperative owners

CHS is returning $600 million to its member-owners next year, a second consecutive decrease in annual profit-sharing patronage payments but still well above historic levels.

The Inver Grove Heights-based cooperative’s $300 million in cash payments and $300 million in equity redemptions will be the third-highest payout in company history. An equity redemption returns ownership shares back to the company for cash.

“The cooperative model is based on the concept of building strength by working together. As a leading cooperative, CHS is committed to sharing that financial strength with our owners: the farmers, ranchers and cooperatives who make up rural America,” CHS Board Chair Dan Schurr said in a prepared statement.

CHS paid out a record $1 billion in 2023 and $730 million this year. The company has returned almost $3.5 billion to its owners over the past decade.

Next year’s patronage decline follows a tough year for agribusinesses amid ample global crop supplies and a resulting drop in commodity prices. CHS and Minnetonka-based Cargill have seen profits fall as prices for soybeans, wheat and corn touch their lowest levels since the pandemic started.

CHS, which also owns two oil refineries and the Cenex brand, has also seen its energy profits drop due to higher costs and excess supplies.