CHS Inc. is America's largest agricultural cooperative, headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Operating as a farmer-owned cooperative, CHS serves approximately 100,000 farmer members through a comprehensive value chain encompassing agricultural production, processing, and marketing. With fiscal year 2024 revenue reaching approximately $45 billion, the company stands as a dominant force in the U.S. agricultural sector, combining traditional cooperative values with modern enterprise scale.
Core Business
CHS operates as a vertically integrated agricultural cooperative with diversified business segments. The agricultural business division represents the core of operations, generating 60% of total revenue through grain trading and processing of wheat, corn, and soybeans. The company operates 100+ processing facilities across major U.S. agricultural regions with annual grain processing capacity in the tens of millions of tons. The energy business segment contributes 25% of revenue, encompassing fuel, lubricants, and related products that complement the agricultural supply chain. Additional operations include food ingredients, animal nutrition products, and dairy ingredients serving industrial customers. The cooperative structure enables CHS to return profits to farmer members, with approximately $600 million distributed back to members in 2024, creating a unique alignment between business performance and agricultural community prosperity.
Global Presence
CHS maintains extensive domestic operations as its primary strategic focus, with the United States accounting for 90% of total revenue. The company operates 100+ processing facilities, 400+ storage locations, and 1,500+ retail outlets strategically positioned throughout major agricultural producing states. With approximately 10,000 employees and a network reaching approximately 100,000 farmer members, CHS commands a formidable presence in American agriculture. International operations span 20+ countries, including Canada, Mexico, and key Asian markets, contributing approximately 10% of revenue. While global expansion continues, the cooperative's geographic strategy prioritizes depth of domestic coverage over breadth of international reach, ensuring maximum value creation for its American farmer owners.
Key Strengths
CHS's competitive position rests on three distinct pillars. First, the cooperative ownership model creates an irreplaceable bond with farmer members who receive profit distributions while benefiting from comprehensive agricultural services, generating exceptional loyalty and market penetration. Second, the full-value-chain architecture spanning inputs, processing, storage, and marketing delivers superior cost efficiency and supply chain stability that standalone competitors cannot replicate. Third, the company's commitment to sustainability leadership positions it for long-term resilience, with targets including 15% reduction in carbon emission intensity and 20% improvement in water usage efficiency, meeting growing demands from supply chain partners and regulatory requirements. Net income of approximately $800 million in 2024 reflects the earning power of this integrated cooperative model.
