Minding Ag's Business

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- CHS and Growmark won't pursue new collaborations after undergoing formal discussions into a potential merger or other joint business ventures in early 2024.

A CHS spokesperson told DTN the exploratory conversations have concluded, and "it was determined that no new opportunities will be pursued at this time. CHS and Growmark have had a long-standing relationship. In cooperative spirit, our teams have worked and will continue to work collaboratively on key strategic projects in ways that benefit our farmer-owners and customers across both cooperatives."

CHS and Growmark announced the discussions in January to be fully transparent with the cooperatives' member-owners (https://www.dtnpf.com/…). At the time, it a CHS spokesperson said the organizations were exploring all options from maintaining the status quo to a complete merger.

CHS is the nation's largest farmer-owned cooperative in the U.S., recording revenue of $45.6 billion in 2023. Growmark, which owns the FS trademark that's common at its locations across the country, generated $14.6 billion of revenue in 2022 and is the nation's fourth-largest agricultural cooperative, according to the National Cooperative Bank.

The two companies formed a $50 million venture capital fund called Cooperative Ventures in 2021 to support advancements in breakthrough agricultural technologies (https://www.dtnpf.com/…). The fund has invested in Earth Optics, a soil data measurement and mapping company, and Sabanto, a hardware and software company developing autonomous capabilities in tractors.

Katie Dehlinger can be reached at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com.

Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KatieD_DTN.

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