CHS

What CHS does

CHS Inc. is the largest farmer-owned cooperative in the United States, headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and operating across agronomy, grains and oilseed processing, energy, and a portfolio of producer financial and risk-management services. The cooperative is owned by 750+ member cooperatives representing more than 75,000 producers, supplemented by 20,000+ preferred stockholders, and serves customers in 65 countries. Its three reportable segments — Agriculture (crop nutrients, crop protection, seed, grains, oilseed processing), Energy (Cenex fuels, propane, lubricants, renewable fuels, pipelines and terminals), and Services (CHS Hedging, CHS Capital, CHS Payment Solutions) — are stitched together by a digital layer that includes the MyCHS farmer portal and the CHS Connect wholesale self-service platform, integrated with ag-retail channel AgVend.

Core physical infrastructure includes the Hallock, MN canola plant (~500,000 metric tons annual crush, positioned for biofuels feedstock demand), the Mankato, MN soybean processing facility, and the Othello, WA dry edible bean and pulse crop plant (68 million pounds processed in FY2024). Capital-intensive export assets span the Myrtle Grove, Louisiana terminal (30% capacity uplift from a $105M expansion), the $500M Santos, Brazil terminal JV with Rumo, a Romania terminal, an Australian Geelong partnership with Broadbent Grain, and a new operational agreement on COFCO's Cahokia, Illinois Mississippi River transloading facility. CHS captures downstream demand through its 50% Ventura Foods joint venture with Mitsui & Co. (~$4B in revenues, sourcing ~25% of CHS refined soy oil, 15-20% of high-oleic soy oil, and 15% of canola oil, and serving 70 of the top 100 U.S. restaurant chains).

CHS monetizes through transactional take-rate economics on physical commodity flows and agronomy inputs, with margins and volumes highly sensitive to commodity cycles and policy factors such as Renewable Identification Number (RIN) costs in the Energy segment. The cooperative structure returns value to farmer-owners through patronage distributions, with $120 million planned for 2026. FY2025 net income fell to $597.9M from $1.1B in FY2024, and Q2 FY2026 swung to a $147.1M net loss, prompting a parallel restructuring program (Minnesota elevator closures, Crestline Crop Nutrients divestiture, MKC grain JV termination) alongside offensive moves (West Central AG Services acquisition, Santos JV, Cahokia terminal operation, Rockford seed blender expansion).

Name

CHS

Legal name

CHS Inc.

Website

https://chsinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

CHS Inc. is the largest U.S. farmer-owned cooperative, providing crop nutrients, crop protection, grain marketing, oilseed processing, Cenex energy products, and producer financial services to 750+ member co-ops and 75,000+ producers across 65 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Cooperative Services

NAICS

Soybean and Other Oilseed Processing (311224), Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (324)

SIC

Wholesale-Chemicals & Allied Products (5160), Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172), Wholesale-Petroleum Bulk Stations & Terminals (5171)

akta.pro primary industry

Chlor-Alkali & Derivatives (IMAEAAAC)

Keywords

• Agricultural cooperative services
• Crop input distribution
• Grain marketing and trading
• Energy products supply
• Agribusiness risk management

Headquarters

HQ city

Minnesota City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Energy Segment: Energy segment includes refined fuels (Cenex brand), propane, lubricants, and renewable fuels. This segment experienced significant headwinds with RINs expenses and commodity market fluctuations causing pretax losses. The segment bore the brunt of Q2 FY2026 downturn with $133.6 million pretax loss.
2. Grains and Oilseeds: Grains segment handles grain marketing, oilseed products, and export operations. Reported pretax loss of $17.9 million in Q2 FY2026 due to weaker soy and canola crush margins.
3. Agronomy: Agronomy segment includes crop nutrients, crop protection, precision agriculture, and seed. Reported pretax loss of $11.5 million in Q2 FY2026 due to weaker U.S. farm economy and decreased sales volumes.
4. Ventura Foods Joint Venture: 50% joint venture with Mitsui & Co. manufactures packaged food products for foodservice industry. Ventura Foods is a strong buyer of CHS soybean and canola oil (~25% of refined soy oil, 15-20% of high-oleic soy oil, 15% of canola oil). Revenues ~$4 billion (FY2023).
5. CF Nitrogen Joint Venture: Joint venture with CF Industries provides nitrogen fertilizer supply. Strong performance from this JV partially offset losses in other segments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CHS Inc. is a farmer-owned cooperative that supplies agricultural producers and member cooperatives with crop inputs (fertilizer, crop protection, seed, precision agriculture), grain marketing and oilseed processing services, energy products (Cenex fuels, propane, lubricants, renewable fuels), and financial/risk management services (CHS Hedging, CHS Capital, CHS Payment Solutions). It operates processing facilities including canola crushing in Hallock, MN, soybean processing in Mankato, MN, and pulse crop processing in Othello, WA, plus export terminals in the U.S., Brazil, Romania, and Australia. The company reaches customers in 65 countries.

Product overview

CHS offers a diversified portfolio of products and services organized across three main segments: Agriculture (agronomy, grains), Energy, and Services. Within Agriculture, CHS provides crop nutrients, crop protection, precision agriculture, and seed through brands like N-Edge and Allegiant, along with grains and oilseed products. The Energy segment includes Cenex-branded refined fuels, propane, lubricants, renewable fuels, energy equipment, and pipeline/terminal infrastructure. CHS also provides digital platforms including CHS Connect (wholesale customer self-service) and MyCHS (customer portal for grain and payment management), as well as financial services through CHS Capital and risk management via CHS Hedging. Major branded products include Cenex, Allegiant seed, Payback nutrition, and N-Edge agronomy products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cenex: Fuel brand offering Cenex fuels, lubricants and propane for agriculture and communities
• Allegiant
• Payback
• N-Edge
• Ventura Foods
• Hidden Valley
• LouAna
• Smart Balance

Products and services

• Crop Nutrients

Quantifiable outcome

• Record 4.9 billion pounds U.S. canola crush in 2024-25, with CHS processing ~500,000 metric tons annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Crop DiagnostixminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 11 March 2026Agricultural technology startup Crop Diagnostix distributes its RNA-based crop health early-warning system through CHS Inc. and Wilbur-Ellis. The system detects plant stress weeks before visible symptoms using gene expression pattern analysis.
• Sunrise CooperativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 January 2026CHS sold its 50% ownership stake in Crestline Crop Nutrients LLC to Sunrise Cooperative, with Sunrise gaining full ownership of the Ohio fertilizer blending and storage facility. Entered new long-term agreement expanding CHS's agronomy support role and crop nutrients supply volume through the cooperative system.
• COFCO International Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 9 January 2026CHS will operate COFCO International's Cahokia transloading terminal near St. Louis starting January 31, 2026. The terminal is a key high-speed rail and truck-to-barge loading facility along the Mississippi River, expanding CHS's Midwest grain network capabilities.
• Xiamen C&DcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025Chinese supply chain company signed $5.2 billion in agricultural contracts with trading houses including CHS, covering soybeans, corn, and cotton. Part of broader strategy to build stable global agricultural supply chains.
• Mid-Kansas Cooperative (MKC)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 October 2025CHS and MKC mutually agreed to terminate their grain marketing joint venture focused on Southern Plains but will continue independent operations. Retained joint ownership of three grain rail terminals in Kansas.
• RumocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2024$500 million joint venture with Brazilian railway company Rumo for grain export terminal at Port of Santos, Brazil. CHS's largest international infrastructure investment to capture Brazil's emergence as world's largest soybean exporter.
• Broadbent GrainminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2024Partnership with Broadbent Grain for grain terminal operations at Geelong, Australia, expanding CHS's global grain marketing reach to the Australian market.
• Mitsui & Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 199650% joint venture forming Ventura Foods, a leading food manufacturing company. Ventura Foods manufactures packaged food products for foodservice industry including dressings, sauces, frying oils, and margarines. CHS supplies approximately 25% of Ventura Foods' refined soy oil needs. Joint venture generates nearly $4 billion in annual revenues.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AGCO Corporation: Global agricultural equipment manufacturer serving similar farmer customer base; broad incumbent in precision agriculture ecosystem where CHS provides agronomy services and digital tools (N-Edge, MyCHS).
• Nutrien: World's largest crop inputs provider with potash, nitrogen, phosphate, and retail Loveland Products distribution; broader incumbent competitor to CHS in crop nutrients and crop protection distribution.
• Corteva: Major crop protection and seed company named alongside CHS in the crop loyalty antitrust litigation; overlapping customer base in CHS's crop protection and seed (Allegiant) distribution channels.

Direct peers

• Cargill: Largest privately held global agribusiness with parallel operations in grain trading, oilseed processing, animal nutrition, and food ingredients; competes head-to-head with CHS in origination, processing, and global export logistics.
• Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): Global agribusiness peer with comparable grain origination, oilseed crushing, and food ingredient segments; ADM's publicly traded status offers the most direct benchmark for CHS's commodity-cycle exposure and crush margin economics.
• Bunge Global: Major global grain and oilseed processor with overlapping soybean crushing and export operations; recent merger with Viterra makes Bunge the closest scale and product-mix comparable to CHS's grains and oilseeds segment.
• Louis Dreyfus Company: Privately held global commodity merchant active across grains, oilseeds, and food value chains; competes with CHS in global grain flow origination and export terminal investments in the Americas.
• Land O'Lakes: US farmer-owned cooperative peer with similar member-ownership structure, agronomy and crop input distribution, and dairy/food manufacturing adjacencies (including Truterra sustainability platform).
• CF Industries: Largest North American nitrogen fertilizer producer and CHS's JV partner through CF Nitrogen; directly comparable on nitrogen supply economics and a key supplier to CHS's crop nutrient distribution business.

Others

• Tyson Foods: Major US food processor and protein producer with overlapping commodity feed input demand; comparable scale in food manufacturing and US agricultural supply chain participation though not a direct competitor in CHS's core segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/chsincorporated
• Facebookfacebook.com/CHSInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chs
• Instagraminstagram.com/chs_inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CHS