What ELBURN COOPERATIVE COMPANY does

Elburn Cooperative Company operates as CHS Illinois, a regional farmer-owned agricultural cooperative and subsidiary of CHS Inc., a Fortune 500 farmer-owned cooperative. The company serves agricultural producers across Illinois and Iowa through a network of 17+ physical locations, delivering grain handling and merchandising, agronomy products and services, refined fuels and propane, and input financing. Its primary customers are farmer-members who grow corn, soybeans, and wheat in the two-state region, served via a horizontal segmentation approach where local grain originators and agronomists work directly with each member.

The company's core offerings are anchored by grain storage and handling infrastructure totaling 36+ million bushels of capacity, with individual elevators ranging from 500,000 to 6.5 million bushels (Maple Park). Logistics infrastructure is a defining technical asset: the Cahokia facility provides direct truck-to-barge and rail-to-barge loading connected to all six North American Class I railroads, and additional barge loading exists at Morris, Newark, Peru, and Davenport. Agronomy operations include 14,000+ tons of dry fertilizer storage (Pocahontas), 5,000 tons of liquid fertilizer (Maple Park), NH3, seed sales and treating, custom application, and precision agriculture services. The MyCHS digital platform (iOS and Android) provides self-serve grain offer management, market alerts, and account access, supplemented by cash bids, futures pricing, and a suite of six grain contract types (priced, HTA, basis, minimum price, average price, cash plus).

Revenue is generated through four streams: grain handling and merchandising on a transaction-fee basis; agronomy inputs and services; input financing via the CHS Capital program with dedicated producer financing specialists; and refined fuels and propane distribution. The cooperative model returns profits to farmer-members through patronage earnings, creating a relationship-driven, sales-led go-to-market motion with local expertise at each site. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; grain prices are set via cash bids and futures markets, while input financing terms are negotiated through CHS Capital and local credit applications.

Name

ELBURN COOPERATIVE COMPANY

Legal name

CHS Illinois

Website

https://chselburn.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Elburn Cooperative Company operates as CHS Illinois, a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative serving Illinois and Iowa producers through 17+ locations. It offers grain handling and merchandising (36M+ bushels storage), agronomy products, energy products, input financing, and the MyCHS digital platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Cooperative Services

NAICS

Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (42491), Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers (4246), Fuel Dealers (45721)

SIC

Wholesale-Chemicals & Allied Products (5160), Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172), Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)

akta.pro primary industry

Farmer Cooperatives & Co-op Retail (AFABAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Agronomy Advisory & Field Services (Retailer-Affiliated) (AFABAJAH), Fertilizer & Nutrient Retail (Dry, Liquid, Blends) (AFABAJAF), Bulk Fuel, Propane & Energy Supply for Farms (Retailer-Operated) (AFABAJAL)

Keywords

• Grain marketing services
• Agronomy inputs
• Agricultural energy products
• Farm input financing
• Cooperative ag retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Sycamore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices17 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grain Handling and Merchandising: Grain elevator services receiving corn, soybeans, and wheat with storage, drying, and barge loading capabilities. Grain merchandising through cash bids, futures, and various contract types.
2. Agronomy Products and Services: Crop protection products, crop nutrients, dry and liquid fertilizer, NH3, seed sales and treating, custom application services, and precision agriculture offerings.
3. Input Financing: Crop input loans through CHS Capital providing financing for agricultural inputs with producer financing specialists offering guidance and support.
4. Refined Fuels and Propane: Propane and refined fuels distribution through various locations including Shipman.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ELBURN COOPERATIVE COMPANY is a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative operating as a regional subsidiary of CHS Inc. It sells crop inputs (agronomy products such as fertilizer and crop protection), markets grain on behalf of farmer members, provides input financing, and distributes energy products (fuel and propane) to farms across Illinois and Iowa via 17+ branch locations.

Product overview

CHS Illinois operates as a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative offering a comprehensive portfolio of products and services organized into agronomy (crop protection, crop nutrients, precision agriculture, seed), grain marketing (storage, handling, and multiple contract types including priced, HTA, basis, minimum price, average price, and cash plus contracts), energy products (propane, refined fuels), input financing through CHS Capital, and digital access via the MyCHS customer app. The cooperative provides both physical products (fertilizers, chemicals, seeds, fuels) and financial/marketing tools to support agricultural operations across Illinois and Iowa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agronomy Products Crop input products (fertilizer, crop protection chemicals, seed-adjacent inputs) supplied to row-crop farmers in Illinois and Iowa through local branch delivery and agronomy support.
• Grain Marketing Services Procurement, storage, and marketing of member grain via the cooperative's elevator network, with market access provided through the CHS Inc. regional affiliation.
• Input Financing Financing for crop inputs aligned to the production cycle, enabling farmer members to purchase agronomy and energy products through the cooperative.
• Energy Products Distribution of farm energy products (fuel and propane) to row-crop farmers and rural customers across the cooperative's Illinois and Iowa service territory.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CHS Inc.coreOthersCHS Illinois is a regional operating company of CHS Inc., a Fortune 500 company and farmer-owned cooperative. CHS Inc. provides corporate oversight, CHS Capital financing services, MyCHS digital platform, and aggregated scale benefits. CHS Illinois operates autonomously in local operations while benefiting from the CHS brand, systems, and national reach.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bunge: Global agribusiness focused on grain origination, oilseed processing, and grain marketing; operates facilities competing for Illinois and Iowa grain volumes.
• Cargill: Global agribusiness with major grain origination, crop inputs, and animal nutrition businesses; competes with CHS Illinois for grain origination and farmer relationships in Illinois and Iowa.
• ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): Global agribusiness with extensive grain origination and crop input businesses; operates river terminals and elevators that compete with CHS Illinois for farmer-delivered grain in the Midwest.
• CHS Inc. Fortune 500 farmer-owned cooperative and direct parent of CHS Illinois; operates across the entire US grain belt with energy, agronomy, and grain businesses at national scale.

Direct peers

• GROWMARK: Illinois-headquartered regional farmer cooperative providing grain, agronomy, energy, and crop protection services across the Midwest with a comparable member-owned model and multi-state location network.
• Heartland Co-op: Iowa-based farmer-owned cooperative offering grain handling, agronomy, and feed services in central and western Iowa; comparable regional cooperative model with similar scale of operations.
• Landus Cooperative: Iowa-based farmer-owned cooperative operating grain elevators, agronomy services, and animal feed across Iowa; directly comparable in cooperative structure, geographic footprint, and product/service mix.
• MFA Incorporated: Missouri-based farmer-owned cooperative providing agronomy, grain, livestock, and energy services across Missouri and adjacent Midwestern states; comparable multi-service regional cooperative model.
• Frontier Cooperative: Nebraska-based farmer cooperative providing grain, agronomy, and feed services across Nebraska and northern Kansas; comparable regional cooperative with integrated grain and agronomy offerings.
• Co-Alliance Cooperative: Indiana-based farmer cooperative providing agronomy, grain, energy, and swine production services across Indiana and adjacent states; closely comparable multi-product farmer-owned cooperative.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elburn-cooperative-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about ELBURN COOPERATIVE COMPANY