EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 823277
Filing Year: 2025
Filename: 823277_10-K_2025_0000823277-25-000038.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
THE COMPANY
CHS Inc. (referred to herein as "CHS," "company," "we," "us" or "our") is the nation's leading integrated agricultural cooperative, providing grain, food, agronomy and energy resources to businesses and consumers on a global basis. As a cooperative, we are owned by farmers and ranchers and member cooperatives (referred to herein as "members") across the United States. We also have preferred shareholders who own shares of our five series of preferred stock, all of which are listed and traded on the Global Select Market of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq"). We buy commodities from and provide products and services to individual agricultural producers, local cooperatives and other companies (including our members and other nonmember customers), both domestically and internationally. We provide a wide variety of products and services, ranging from initial agricultural inputs such as fuels, farm supplies, crop nutrients and crop protection products to agricultural outputs that include grain and oilseed, processed grain and oilseed, renewable fuels and food products. A portion of our operations are conducted through equity investments and joint ventures whose operating results are not fully consolidated with our results; rather, our share of the income or loss from those equity investments and joint ventures is included as a component of our net income using the equity method of accounting. For the year ended August 31, 2025, our total revenues were $35.5 billion and net income attributable to CHS was $597.9 million.
We have aligned our segments based on an assessment of how our businesses operate and the products and services they sell. Our Energy segment derives its revenues through refining, wholesaling and retailing of petroleum products. Our Ag segment derives its revenues through origination and marketing of grain, including service activities conducted at export terminals; through wholesale agronomy sales of crop nutrient and crop protection products; from sales of soybean meal, refined soy oil and soyflour products; through the production and marketing of renewable fuels; and through retail sales of petroleum and agronomy products, processed sunflowers, feed and farm supplies. Our Ag segment also records equity income from our grain export joint venture and other investments. Our Nitrogen Production segment consists of our equity method investment in CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC ("CF Nitrogen"), and allocated expenses. Our other business operations, primarily our financing and hedging businesses, are included in Corporate and Other because of the nature of their products and services, as well as the relative amounts of revenue from those businesses. In addition, our nonconsolidated food production and distribution joint
venture, Ventura Foods, LLC ("Ventura Foods"), and our nonconsolidated wheat milling joint venture, Ardent Mills, LLC
("Ardent Mills"), are included in Corporate and Other.
As required under our bylaws and Minnesota cooperative law, our earnings from cooperative business are allocated to our members and to a limited extent to nonmembers with which we have agreed to do business on a patronage basis based on the volume of business they do with us. We allocate these earnings to our patrons in the form of patronage refunds, which are also called patronage dividends, and which may be in cash, patrons' equities in the form of capital equity certificates or both. Patrons' equities may be redeemed over time solely at the discretion of our Board of Directors. Earnings derived from nonmembers, which are not treated as patronage, are taxed at federal and state statutory corporate rates and are retained by us as unallocated capital reserves. We also receive patronage refunds from the cooperatives in which we are a member, if those cooperatives have earnings to distribute and if we qualify for patronage refunds from them.
Our origins date back to the late 1920s with the founding of our predecessor companies, which became Cenex, Inc., and Harvest States Cooperatives. CHS Inc. emerged as the result of the merger of Cenex and Harvest States Cooperative in 1998 and is headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.
Our website address is www.chsinc.com. Our periodic and current reports on Form 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other filings, including exhibits and supplemental schedules filed therewith, and amendments to those reports, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") are available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information contained on our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC. In addition, the SEC maintains a website that contains reports and other information regarding issuers, where you may obtain a copy of all information we file publicly with the SEC. The SEC website address is www.sec.gov.
ENERGY
Overview
We are the nation's largest cooperative energy company based on revenues and identifiable assets, with operations that include petroleum refining and pipelines; supply, marketing and distribution of refined fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel and other energy products); blending, sale and distribution of lubricants; and wholesale supply of propane and other natural gas liquids. Our Energy segment processes crude oil into refined petroleum products at our refineries in Laurel, Montana, and McPherson, Kansas, and sells those products under the Cenex® brand to member cooperatives and other independent retailers through a network of nearly 1,200 sites, the majority of which are convenience stores marketing Cenex brand fuels and owned by our member cooperatives. For fiscal 2025, our Energy revenues, after elimination of intersegment revenues, were $7.6 billion and were primarily from gasoline, diesel fuel and propane.
Operations
Laurel refinery. Our Laurel, Montana, refinery processes medium- and high-sulfur crude oil into refined petroleum products that primarily include gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt and petroleum coke. Our Laurel refinery sources approximately 96% of its crude oil supply from Canada, with the remaining balance obtained from domestic sources. We have access to Canadian and northwest Montana crude oil through our wholly-owned Front Range Pipeline, LLC, and other common carrier pipelines. Our Laurel refinery also has access to Wyoming crude oil via common carrier pipelines from the south.
Our Laurel refinery processes approximately 65,000 barrels of crude oil per day to produce refined products that consist of approximately 38% gasoline, 43% diesel fuel and other distillates, 12% asphalt, 6% petroleum coke and 1% other products. Refined fuels produced at our Laurel refinery are available via railcars and via the Yellowstone Pipeline to western Montana terminals and to Spokane, Washington; south via common carrier pipelines to Wyoming terminals and Denver, Colorado; and east via our wholly-owned Cenex Pipeline, LLC, to Glendive, Montana, and to Minot, Prosper and Fargo, North Dakota.
McPherson refinery. Our McPherson, Kansas, refinery processes approximately 60% low- and medium-sulfur crude oil and approximately 40% heavy-high-sulfur crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel and other distillates, petroleum coke and other products. The refinery sources its crude oil through its own pipelines, as well as through joint venture and common carrier pipelines. Low- and medium-sulfur crude oil is sourced from Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas, and heavy-high-sulfur crude oil is sourced from Canada and Wyoming.
Our McPherson refinery processes approximately 115,000 barrels of crude oil per day to produce refined products that consist of approximately 50% gasoline, 43% diesel fuel and other distillates, 5% petroleum coke and 2% other products. These products are loaded into trucks at the McPherson refinery or shipped via common carrier pipelines to other markets.
Other energy operations. We operate 10 refined product terminals, nine propane terminals, three asphalt terminals and one lubricants blending and packaging facility. We also own and lease a fleet of liquid and pressure trailers and tractors, which transport refined fuels, propane, anhydrous ammonia and other products.
Products and Services
Our Energy segment produces and sells (primarily wholesale) gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, asphalt, lubricants and other related products, and also provides transportation services. In addition to selling products refined at our Laurel and McPherson refineries, we purchase refined petroleum products from third parties as the need arises. For fiscal 2025, approximately 75% of the refined petroleum products we sold were produced at our Laurel and McPherson refineries and approximately 25% were obtained from third parties. The percentage of refined petroleum products we obtain from third parties is dependent on refinery production volumes and varies from year to year, primarily based on our planned major maintenance schedule.
Sales and Marketing: Customers
We market approximately 75% of our refined fuel products to members, with the balance sold to nonmembers. Sales are made wholesale to member cooperatives and through a network of independent retailers that operate convenience stores under the Cenex brand. We sold approximately 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline and approximately 1.7 billion gallons of diesel fuel in fiscal 2025. We also blend, package and wholesale auto and farm equipment lubricants to members and nonmembers. We are one of the nation's largest propane wholesalers based on revenues. Most of the propane sold in rural areas is for heating and agricultural use. Annual sales volumes of propane vary greatly depending on weather patterns and crop conditions.
Industry: Competition
The petroleum business is highly cyclical. Demand for crude oil and energy products is driven by the condition of local and worldwide economies, local and regional weather patterns and taxation relative to other energy sources, which can significantly affect the price of refined fuel products. Our Energy segment generally experiences higher volumes and revenues in certain operating areas, such as refined fuel products in the spring, summer and early fall when gasoline and diesel fuel use by our agricultural customers is highest and is subject to domestic supply and demand forces. Other energy products, such as propane, generally experience higher volumes and revenues during the winter heating and crop-drying seasons. More fuel-efficient equipment, reduced crop tillage, depressed prices for crops, weather conditions and government programs that encourage idle acres may all reduce demand for our energy products.
Regulation. Governmental regulations and policies, particularly in the areas of taxation, energy and the environment, have a significant impact on our Energy segment. Our Energy segment operations are subject to laws and related regulations and rules designed to protect the environment that are administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and similar government agencies. These laws, regulations and rules govern, among other things, discharge of materials into the environment, including air and water; reporting storage of hazardous wastes and other hazardous materials; transportation, handling and disposal of wastes and other materials; labeling of pesticides and similar substances; and investigation and remediation of the release of hazardous materials. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations and rules could subject us to administrative penalties, injunctive relief, civil remedies and possible product recalls. Our hedging transactions and activities are subject to the rules and regulations of the exchanges we use and to governing bodies, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME"), the New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX") and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC").
Competition. The petroleum refining and wholesale fuels business is highly competitive. Among our competitors are some of the world's largest integrated petroleum companies, which have their own crude oil supplies and distribution and marketing systems. We also compete with smaller domestic refiners and marketers in the midwestern and northwestern United States, with foreign refiners who import products into the United States and with producers and marketers in other industries supplying other forms of energy and fuels to consumers. Given the commodity nature of the end products, profitability in the industry depends largely on margins, operating efficiency, product mix and costs of product distribution and transportation. Our retail gasoline competitors are much larger than CHS and have greater brand recognition and distribution outlets throughout the country and world than we do. We also are experiencing increased competition from regional and unbranded retailers.
We market refined fuel products in five principal geographic regions. The first region includes the Midwest and Northern Plains. Competition at the wholesale level in this area includes major oil companies, as well as independent refiners and wholesale brokers and/or suppliers. This region has a robust spot market and is influenced by the large refinery center along the Gulf Coast. A second unique marketing region centers near Chicago, Illinois, and includes Illinois, Indiana and eastern Wisconsin. In this region, we principally compete with the major oil companies, as well as independent refiners and wholesale brokers and/or suppliers. Another market region includes Arkansas, Missouri and northern Texas. Competition in this region includes the major oil companies and independent refiners. This region is principally supplied by the Gulf Coast refinery center and is also driven by a strong spot market that reacts quickly to changes in the international and national supply balance. The fourth geographic region includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana, western North Dakota, western South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Competition at the wholesale level in this region includes the major oil companies and independent refiners. The fifth region includes much of Oregon and Washington. We compete with the major oil companies in this region, which is known for volatile prices and an active spot market.
AG
Overview
Our Ag segment includes global grain and processing, ag retail and wholesale agronomy businesses. These businesses work together to facilitate production, purchase, sale and eventual use of grain and other agricultural products within the United States and internationally. In fiscal 2025, revenues in our Ag segment were $27.7 billion after elimination of intersegment revenues.
Operations
Global grain and processing. We are the nation's largest cooperative marketer of grain and oilseed based on grain sales. Our global grain marketing operations purchase grain directly from agricultural producers and elevator operators primarily in the midwestern and western United States and indirectly through our ag retail business. Purchased grain is typically
contracted for sale for future delivery at a specified location, and we are responsible for handling the grain and either arranging for or facilitating its transportation to that location. We own and operate export terminals, river terminals and elevators throughout the United States to handle and transport grain and grain products. We also maintain locations in Europe, the Pacific Rim, Latin America and South America for marketing, merchandising and/or sourcing grains and crop nutrients. We primarily conduct our global grain marketing operations directly, but do conduct some of our operations through joint ventures, including TEMCO, LLC ("TEMCO"), a 50%-owned joint venture with Cargill, Incorporated ("Cargill"), that focuses on exports, primarily to Asia.
Our processing business includes our oilseed processing and renewable fuels production businesses. Oilseed processing is conducted at facilities that crush approximately 147 million bushels of soybeans and canola on an annual basis, producing approximately 3.1 million short tons of meal and flour and 1.9 billion pounds of edible and inedible oil annually. We purchase oilseeds to be processed from members, other CHS businesses and third parties that have tightly integrated connections with our global grain marketing operations and ag retail business. Our renewable fuels business annually produces 267 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol, 71 million pounds of inedible corn oil and 645,000 tons of dried distillers grains with solubles ("DDGS"). Renewable fuels produced by our production plants are marketed by our global grain business, along with more than 300 million gallons of ethanol and 5.1 million tons of DDGS annually under marketing agreements with ethanol production plants.
Ag retail. Our ag retail business operates approximately 400 agri-operations locations through 28 business units dispersed throughout the midwestern and western United States. Most of these locations purchase grain from farmers and sell agronomy, energy, feed and seed products to those same producers and others, although not all locations provide every product and service. We also manufacture animal feed through nine owned plants and three limited liability companies.
Wholesale agronomy. Our wholesale agronomy business includes our wholesale crop nutrients and wholesale crop protection businesses. Our wholesale crop nutrients business delivers products directly to our customers and our ag retail business from the manufacturer or through our 11 warehouse terminals and other nonowned storage facilities located throughout the United States. To supplement what is purchased domestically, our Galveston, Texas, deepwater port and terminal receives fertilizer from vessels originating in Europe and Asia where significant volumes of urea are produced. The fertilizer is then shipped by rail to destinations within crop-producing regions of the United States. Our wholesale crop protection business operates out of our network of 28 warehouses from which we deliver products directly to our member cooperatives and independent retailers. We also operate a bulk chemical rail terminal in Brooten, Minnesota, where we handle and store crop protection products for some of the crop protection industry's largest chemical manufacturers. This facility has more than 6 million gallons of chemical storage capacity.
Products and Services
Our Ag segment provides member cooperatives and farmers with the inputs and services they need to produce grain and raise livestock. These include seed, crop nutrients, crop protection products, animal feed, animal health products, refined fuels and propane. We also buy and merchandise grain in both domestic and international markets. With a portion of the grain we purchase, we produce renewable fuels, including ethanol, and DDGS. We also produce refined soy and canola oils, soybean meal, canola meal and soyflour at our processing facilities.
Sales and Marketing: Customers
Our Ag segment provides products and services to a wide range of customers, primarily in the United States. These customers include member and nonmember producers, member cooperatives, elevators, grain dealers, grain processors and crop nutrient and crop protection retailers. We sell our edible soy and canola oils and soyflour to food companies and our inedible oils may be sold to energy companies. The soybean meal and canola meal we produce is sold to integrated livestock producers and feed mills. The ethanol and DDGS we produce are sold throughout the United States and to international customers.
Industry: Competition
Most of the business activities in our Ag segment are highly seasonal and, consequently, the operating results for our Ag segment vary throughout the year. For example, our ag retail business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the spring planting and fall harvest seasons and our agronomy business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the spring planting season. In addition, our Ag segment operations may be adversely affected by relative levels of supply and demand, both domestic and international, commodity price levels and transportation costs and conditions. Supply is affected by weather conditions, plant disease, insect damage, acreage planted, wars and civil unrest, and government regulations and policies. Demand may be affected by foreign governments and their programs, relationships of foreign
countries with the United States, affluence of foreign countries, wars and civil unrest, currency exchange fluctuations and substitution of commodities. Demand may also be affected by changes in eating habits, population growth, per capita consumption of some products, federal and state policies, and renewable fuels production levels and state and federal incentives.
Regulation. Our Ag operations are subject to laws and related regulations and rules designed to protect the environment that are administered by the EPA, DOT and similar government agencies. These laws, regulations and rules govern, among other things, discharge of materials into the environment, including air and water; reporting storage of hazardous wastes and other hazardous materials; transportation, handling and disposal of wastes and other materials; labeling of pesticides and similar substances; and investigation and remediation of the release of hazardous materials. In addition, environmental laws impose a liability on owners and operators for investigation and remediation of contaminated property and on a party that sends hazardous materials to those contaminated properties for treatment, storage, disposal or recycling. In some instances, that liability exists regardless of fault. Our global grain and processing and ag retail businesses are also subject to laws and related regulations and rules administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal, state, local and foreign governmental agencies that govern processing, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, labeling, and quality and safety of feed and grain products. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations and rules could subject us to administrative penalties, injunctive relief, civil remedies and possible product recalls. The hedging transactions and activities of our global grain and processing and ag retail businesses are subject to the rules and regulations of the exchanges we use and to the governing bodies, such as the CME, the Chicago Board of Trade ("CBOT"), the MIAX Futures Exchange ("MIAX") and the CFTC.
Competition. In our Ag segment, we have significant competition in the businesses in which we operate based principally on price, services, quality, patronage and alternative products. Our businesses depend on relationships with member cooperatives and private retailers; proximity to customers and producers; competitive pricing; and safety of food, feed and grain products. We compete with other large distributors of agricultural products, as well as with regional or local distributors, cooperatives, retailers and manufacturers.
NITROGEN PRODUCTION
Overview
Our Nitrogen Production segment consists of our approximate 8.38% membership interest (based on product tons) in CF Nitrogen, our strategic venture with CF Industries Holdings, Inc. ("CF Industries"), and allocated expenses. In connection with our investment in CF Nitrogen, we entered into a supply agreement with CF Nitrogen that entitles us to purchase up to 1.1 million tons of granular urea and 580,000 tons of urea ammonium nitrate ("UAN") annually for ratable delivery through fiscal 2096. We account for our CF Nitrogen investment using the hypothetical liquidation at book value method. On August 31, 2025, our investment was approximately $2.5 billion. See Note 6, Investments, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
We believe our investment in CF Nitrogen positions CHS and our members for long-term, dependable fertilizer supply, supply chain efficiency and production economics. In addition, the ability to source products from CF Nitrogen production facilities under our supply agreement benefits our members and customers through strategically positioned access to essential fertilizer products.
Operations
CF Nitrogen has six production facilities located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana; Port Neal, Iowa; Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada; Yazoo City, Mississippi; and Woodward and Verdigris, Oklahoma. Natural gas is the principal raw material and primary fuel source used in the ammonia production process. CF Nitrogen has access to competitively priced natural gas through a reliable network of pipelines connected to major natural gas trading hubs near its production facilities.
Products and Services
CF Nitrogen produces nitrogen-based products, including methanol, UAN, urea and related products.
Sales and Marketing: Customers
CF Nitrogen has three customers, which are CHS and two consolidated subsidiaries of CF Industries.
Industry: Competition
Regulation. CF Nitrogen is subject to laws and related regulations and rules designed to protect the environment administered by the EPA and similar government agencies. These laws, regulations and rules govern, among other things, discharge of materials into the environment, including air and water; reporting storage of hazardous wastes and other hazardous materials; handling and disposal of wastes and other materials; and investigation and remediation of the release of hazardous materials. In addition, environmental laws impose a liability on owners and operators for investigation and remediation of contaminated property and on a party that sends hazardous materials to those contaminated properties for treatment, storage, disposal or recycling. In some instances, that liability exists regardless of fault.
Competition. CF Nitrogen competes primarily on delivered price and, to a lesser extent, on customer service and product quality. CF Nitrogen competes domestically with large companies in the fertilizer industry. There also is significant competition from products sourced from other regions of the world.
CORPORATE AND OTHER
CHS Capital. Our wholly-owned financing subsidiary, CHS Capital, LLC ("CHS Capital"), provides member cooperatives with loans that meet commercial agriculture needs. These loans include operating, term, revolving and other short- and long-term options. CHS Capital also provides loans to individual producers for crop inputs, feed and hedging-related margin calls. Producer operating loans are also offered in strategic geographic regions.
CHS Hedging. Our wholly-owned commodity brokerage subsidiary, CHS Hedging, LLC ("CHS Hedging"), is a registered, CFTC-regulated futures commission merchant ("FCM") and a clearing member of the CBOT, CME, NYMEX and MIAX. CHS Hedging provides commodity risk management services primarily in the grains, oilseeds, fertilizer, livestock, dairy and energy markets. CHS Hedging is also the FCM for the majority of our commodity futures trading.
CHS Market Advisors. Our wholly-owned commodity trading advisor ("CTA"), CHS Market Advisors, LLC ("CHS Market Advisors"), is registered with the CFTC and a member of the National Futures Association ("NFA"). It provides global research and analysis, fertilizer consulting and energy consulting to agricultural producers and agribusinesses. These services are designed to help customers navigate market volatility and make informed risk management decisions.
Foods. Ventura Foods is a joint venture between CHS and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., with each company owning 50% interest. Ventura Foods produces and distributes edible oil-based products. We account for our investment in Ventura Foods using the equity method of accounting, and the investment balance was equal to $527.2 million on August 31, 2025. See Note 6, Investments, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Wheat milling. Ardent Mills, the largest flour miller in the United States, is a joint venture of CHS, Cargill and Conagra Brands, Inc. ("Conagra"). In connection with the Ardent Mills joint venture, CHS, Cargill and Conagra have various ancillary and noncompete agreements including, among other things, an agreement for us to supply Ardent Mills with certain wheat and durum products. We hold a 12% interest in Ardent Mills and account for our investment as an equity method investment due to our ability to exercise significant influence by appointing a member of the board of shareholders and board of managers of Ardent Mills. On August 31, 2025, our investment in Ardent Mills was $237.1 million. See Note 6, Investments, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our human capital resources objectives include identifying, attracting, retaining, developing, incentivizing and onboarding our current and new employees. We monitor our progress toward these objectives by measuring human capital metrics such as engagement, total and regrettable turnover, hiring statistics and overall cost of human resources delivery. In addition to these objectives, we also promote a culture focused on our value of inclusion, provide learning and development opportunities, help maintain the health and safety of our employees, encourage community involvement and offer competitive pay and benefits. Additional information regarding our employee population and human capital strategies is described below.
Employee population. On August 31, 2025, we had 10,683 full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, primarily in the United States. Of that total, 2,047 were employed in our Energy segment, 5,604 were employed in our Ag segment and 3,032 were employed in Corporate and Other. In addition to those individuals directly employed by us, many individuals work for or support our joint ventures, including CF Nitrogen in our Nitrogen Production segment and Ventura
Foods and Ardent Mills in our Corporate and Other category, and are not included in these totals. As of August 31, 2025, we had 11 collective bargaining agreements with unions covering approximately 8% of our employees in the United States and expiring on various dates through February 29, 2028. We believe our relations with our employees are strong. We value our employees and believe that employee passion for our work and employee engagement are key elements of our operating performance.
Inclusion. The CHS value of inclusion compels us to create a work environment where excellence and growth stem from diverse thinking. Our goal is to foster an inclusive culture where everyone is welcomed, respected and empowered to succeed. We believe different perspectives and experiences enable innovation, collaboration, and drive growth. We live our value of inclusion by empowering both leaders and employees to model inclusive behaviors - creating openness, welcoming differences, and leading with bravery. Engagement is further strengthened through our five Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are voluntary, employee-led groups open to all employees. These groups promote an inclusive and cooperative work environment by creating opportunities to network and build relationships. Externally, we partner with organizations to create awareness about CHS and build a broad talent pipeline for agriculture. We know that we must attract the best new talent to serve global markets effectively.
Learning and development. We are committed to investing in our employees to help them build knowledge, develop skills and achieve their career goals. In addition to regular performance evaluations and annual development plans that provide employees with feedback and growth opportunities, employees at CHS have access to learning tools, programs and other opportunities for growth. These include access to on-demand learning modules; internal and external training programs that cover topics such as continuous improvement, public speaking, professional sales skills and change management; participation in a mentoring program and development coaching; tuition and professional certification reimbursement; as well as other opportunities focused on developing current and future leaders of CHS.
Health and safety. Safety is one of our core values. At CHS, safety is about more than just following the rules; it is about doing things the right way and remembering that no job is so critical that it warrants safety risks. In addition to safety programs designed specifically for individual facilities with operational hazards related to grain, feed, seed, agronomy, petroleum, warehouses and retail operations, we also provide certain employee groups with additional training opportunities such as a defensive driving program. Beyond developing defined safety programs and training opportunities, we monitor our incident rates in comparison to previous years and industry averages, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During fiscal 2025, our Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") incident rate was 2.7 incidents per 100 full-time workers, as compared to an average of 2.9 incidents per 100 full-time workers during the three previous years, a reduction of 8%. Additionally, our lost-time injury rate was 1.0 incidents per 100 full-time workers, in line with our three-year average.
Community involvement. As a cooperative, we are committed to making a measurable impact in our communities through our giving investments. In addition to our charitable foundation and annual giving campaign, which provide financial support to our communities, eligible employees also receive paid time off to make a difference in our communities through volunteer activities. During fiscal 2025, we gave approximately $8.7 million in charitable donations through our charitable foundation, corporate giving activities, and employee volunteer time-off program.
Compensation and benefits. We have designed our compensation and benefits programs to attract and retain qualified employees and to motivate employees to optimize member-owner returns and to achieve our short- and long-term strategies. In addition to offering competitive compensation that includes annual variable pay linked to company and individual employee performance, we also offer a wide array of benefits programs for qualifying employees that include health insurance and wellness benefits; retirement benefits, including a company-matched 401(k) contribution, profit sharing and a pension; paid time off and paid leaves; adoption assistance; and employee assistance programs, including an employee support fund.
CHS AUTHORIZED CAPITAL
We are an agricultural membership cooperative organized under Minnesota cooperative law to do business with member and nonmember patrons.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE SAFE HARBOR PROVISIONS
OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains and our other publicly available documents may contain, and our officers, directors and other representatives may from time to time make, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our businesses, financial condition and results of operations, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are discussed or identified in our public filings made with the SEC, including in this "Risk Factors" discussion. Any forward-looking statements made by us in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based only on information currently available to us and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Reference to this cautionary statement (the "Cautionary Statement") in the context of a forward-looking statement shall be deemed to be a statement that any one or more of the following factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statement.
The following risk factors are in addition to any other cautionary statements, written or oral, which may be made or referred to in connection with any particular forward-looking statement. The following risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently view to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to Operating Our Business
Our revenues, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by changes in commodity prices.
Our revenues, results of operations and cash flows are affected by market prices for commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, ethanol, fertilizer, grain, oilseed, flour, and crude and refined vegetable oils. Commodity prices generally are affected by a wide range of factors beyond our control, including weather, plant disease, insect damage, drought, availability and adequacy of supply, availability of reliable rail and river transportation networks, industry labor availability, outbreaks of disease, inflation, increased or fluctuating tariffs, government regulation and policies, global trade disputes, international conflicts and general political and economic conditions. We are also exposed to fluctuating commodity prices as the result of our inventories of commodities, typically grain, fertilizer and petroleum products, and purchase and sale contracts at fixed or partially fixed prices. At any time, our inventory levels and unfulfilled fixed or partially fixed price contract obligations may be substantial. We have processes in place to monitor exposures to these risks and engage in strategies, such as hedging, to manage these risks. If these controls and strategies are not successful in mitigating our exposure to these fluctuations, we could be materially and adversely affected. For example, fluctuations in commodity prices may result in significant noncash losses being incurred on our commodity-based derivatives, which may in turn materially and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, changes in market prices for commodities that we purchase without a corresponding change in the selling prices of those products can affect revenues and operating earnings. Similarly, increased or decreased sales volumes without a corresponding change in the purchase and/or selling prices of those products can affect revenues and operating earnings.
In our energy operations, profitability depends largely on the margin between the cost of crude oil that we refine and the selling prices we obtain for our refined products. The prices for crude oil and for gasoline, diesel fuel and other refined petroleum products fluctuate widely. Factors influencing these prices, many of which are beyond our control, include:
•levels of worldwide and domestic supplies;
•capacities of domestic and foreign refineries;
•ability of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ("OPEC") and other countries that are significant producers of oil to agree to and maintain oil price and production controls, and the price and level of imports;
•disruption in supply;
•political instability or conflict in oil-producing regions;
•levels of energy conservation efforts;
•level of demand from consumers, agricultural producers and other customers;
•price and availability of alternative fuels;
•availability of pipeline capacity; and
•domestic and foreign governmental regulations and taxes.
Many of these factors have resulted in significant volatility in crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas supplies and prices. We expect that volatility to continue in fiscal 2026. The long-term effects of this volatility and other conditions on the prices of crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas are uncertain and ever-changing. Increases in crude oil prices without a corresponding increase in the prices of our refined petroleum products, and decreases in crude oil prices with larger corresponding decreases in the prices of our refined petroleum products, would reduce our net income. Accordingly, we expect our margins and the profitability of our energy business to fluctuate, possibly significantly, over time. Our renewable fuels business produces ethanol, which is closely related to, or may be substituted for, petroleum products, and may be blended into gasoline to increase octane content. Therefore, the selling price of ethanol can be impacted by the selling prices of gasoline, diesel fuel and other octane enhancers. A significant decrease in the price of gasoline, diesel fuel or other octane enhancers could result in a significant decrease in the selling price of ethanol, which could adversely affect our revenues and operating earnings. In addition, we expect the volume of renewable fuels produced by our competitors to increase going forward. As the market for renewable fuels becomes more competitive, or if there are changes in the regulations, policies or standards affecting the demand for renewable fuels, our renewable fuels business may experience increased volatility in product margins, which could adversely affect our operating earnings.
We are subject to political, economic, legal and other risks of doing business globally.
We are a global business and are exposed to risks associated with having global operations. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks relating to terrorism, war or civil unrest; changes in a country's or region's social, economic or political conditions; changes in local labor conditions and regulations; changes in safety and environmental regulations; changes in regulatory or legal environments; expropriation or impoundment of assets; restrictions on currency exchange activities and currency exchange fluctuations; price and export controls or bans on commodities; taxes; doing business in countries or regions with inadequate infrastructure; and logistics challenges. In addition, some countries where we operate lack well-developed legal systems or have not adopted clear legal and regulatory frameworks. This lack of legal certainty exposes our operations to increased risks, including increased difficulty in enforcing our agreements in those jurisdictions and increased risk of adverse actions by local government authorities, such as unilateral or forced renegotiation, modification or nullification of existing agreements or expropriations.
Ongoing wars and global conflicts may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Red Sea and other regions have resulted in significant uncertainty and instability in the global commodities markets, including agricultural commodities and crude oil. In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization ("NATO") member states, as well as nonmember states, announced economic sanctions targeting Russia and certain Russian citizens and enterprises, including several large banks. Continuation of escalation could lead to additional economic and other sanctions imposed by the United States, NATO member states and other countries. Although we do not maintain operations in Russia, sanctions have caused inflationary pressures and impacted our ability to purchase fertilizer in the global market and put us at increased risk of inadvertently trading with a sanctioned partner.
Global conflicts also increase the risk of cybersecurity incidents. It is possible that these attacks could have collateral effects on additional critical infrastructure and financial institutions globally, which could adversely affect our operations. Proliferation of malware from the war into systems unrelated to the war, or cyberattacks against U.S. companies in retaliation for U.S. sanctions or involvement in global conflicts could adversely affect our operations and heighten the risk of cyberattacks against the U.S. and global companies and infrastructure.
In addition, these global conflicts could also draw military or other intervention from additional countries and/or additional sanctions imposed by governments that restrict business with specific persons, organizations or countries with respect to certain products or services. If such escalation should occur or such sanctions are imposed, supply chains, trade
routes and markets currently served by us could be adversely affected, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Furthermore, the actions undertaken by various nations in response to these conflicts have had, and may continue to have, adverse impacts on global financial markets.
We may also experience negative reactions from our members, shareholders, lenders, employees, customers or other stakeholders as a result of our action or inaction related to global conflicts. Even if the wars and global conflicts moderate or resolutions are reached, we expect that we will continue to experience ongoing financial and operational impacts resulting from these conflicts for the foreseeable future. Additionally, certain of the economic and other sanctions imposed, or that may be imposed, against participants in the wars and global conflicts and their citizens and enterprises may continue for a period of time after any resolution has been reached.
Our business and operations and demand for our products are highly dependent on certain global and regional factors that are outside our control and could adversely impact our business.
Demand for our products is affected by global and regional demographics and macroeconomic conditions, including population growth rates and changes in standards of living. A significant downturn in global economic growth or recessionary conditions in major geographic regions may lead to reduced demand for our products and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects. Weak global economic conditions and adverse conditions in financial and capital markets may adversely impact the financial condition and liquidity of some of our customers, suppliers, the financial institutions that serve as our lenders and other counterparties, which could have a material adverse effect on our customers' abilities to pay for our products and on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.
The economic health of the agricultural industry is influenced by numerous factors, including farm income levels. Farm income is influenced by numerous factors outside our control, including commodity prices, crop yields, input costs, farmland values, government policies and subsidies, debt and financing costs, and weather and climate conditions. Declines in farm income, including those experienced recently as a result of trade policy or other global and regulatory factors, can reduce producers’ cash flows, pressure farmland values, and limit investment in equipment and related products. Downturns in the agricultural industry of this nature have in the past resulted in, and may in the future result in, our members exiting their farming and other agricultural business activities, which could in the future materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Additionally, planted acreage and consequently the volume of crop nutrient and crop protection products applied, is partially dependent on government programs, grain prices and the perception held by producers of demand for production, all of which are outside our control. Moreover, our business and operations may be affected by fluctuations in freight and logistics costs, disruptions in supply channels between parties and locations that include our suppliers, production and storage facilities, tolling and packaging partners, distributors and customers, and weather conditions, including those due to climate change, that are outside our control. The following are examples of factors that could impact our businesses.
•Weather conditions during the spring planting season and early summer crop nutrient and crop protection application season affect agronomy product volumes and profitability.
•Adverse weather conditions, such as drought, heavy snowfall or rainfall and any flooding that results, may cause transportation delays and increased transportation costs or damage physical assets, especially facilities in low-lying areas near coasts and riverbanks or situated in hurricane-prone and/or rain-susceptible regions.
•Changes in weather patterns may shift periods of demand for products or regions in which our products are produced or distributed, which could require us to revise our procurement and distribution processes.
•Significant changes in water levels (up or down, as a result of flooding, drought or otherwise), including recent low water levels in the U.S. river system and in the Panama Canal (which have delayed shipping in these locations resulting in an increase in shipping costs), may cause changes in agricultural activity, which could require changes to our operating and distribution activities, as well as significant capital improvements to our facilities.
•Climate change may cause changes in weather patterns and conditions, including changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities, water shortages, changes in sea levels and changes in temperature levels, all of which could adversely impact our costs and business operations; the location, cost and competitiveness of commodity agricultural production; related storage and processing facilities; dock availability; and demand for agricultural commodities, and may result in incidents of stranded physical assets. The frequency and severity of the effects of climate change and changes in weather patterns have been increasing. These effects could significantly reduce demand for the products we sell to or buy from agricultural producers and local cooperatives, and therefore could adversely impact our results of operations, liquidity or capital resources.
•We may experience increased insurance premiums and deductibles or decreases in available coverage for our assets in areas subject to adverse weather conditions.
Additionally, there will likely be increased strains on and risks to the integrity, reliability and resilience of electrical grids and increased volatility and tightness in natural gas and electricity supplies across the world. These events could negatively affect the cost, reliability, and availability of our natural gas and electricity supplies and may cause sporadic outages disrupting our operations. Growing electrification and rapidly developing and increasing technology use (such as artificial intelligence, computer processing, cryptocurrency mining, cloud storage, data centers and power supplies required to support these activities) will also likely increase the intermittency and decrease the reliability of electricity supplies, particularly for grids highly dependent upon wind and solar power, which would exacerbate the foregoing challenges. Emerging sustainability, new regulations and other environmental priorities outside our control could also affect agricultural practices and future demand for agronomy products applied to crops and the volume of any such application. These priorities could also impact demand for our grain and energy products, and may require us to incur additional costs for increased due diligence and reporting. Accordingly, factors outside our control could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.
Inflation may result in increased costs, which could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations.
We have experienced and anticipate continued effects of inflation on costs such as labor, freight, natural gas and materials. In response to global inflationary pressures, the U.S. Federal Reserve and foreign equivalents have maintained higher interest rates, which has resulted in continued uncertainty and volatility in global financial markets and increased borrowing costs under certain of our credit facilities. Inflation and its impacts, many of which are beyond our control, could escalate in the future. To mitigate commodity cost increases, we have implemented various strategies that include, among other things, entering into contracted pricing with certain vendors, procuring commodities in periods of favorable market conditions and entering into various derivative instruments. These actions may, in part, mitigate these increased costs, but even by increasing our product prices and passing some or all of our increased costs to customers or implementing cost saving efforts, we may not be able to fully offset these increased costs. Additionally, increased prices may not be sustainable over time and may result in reduced sales volumes. Accordingly, inflationary pressures could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations. There can be no guarantee that our efforts to mitigate commodity cost increases due to inflationary pressures will be effective or, if they are effective, that they will have a material impact on maintaining or reducing costs.
We participate in highly competitive business markets and we may not be able to continue to compete successfully, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We operate in highly competitive business segments and our competitors may succeed in developing new or enhanced products that are better than ours, may be more successful in marketing and selling their products than we are, or may have more effective supply chain capabilities than we have. Competitive factors include price, service level, proximity to markets, access to transportation, product quality, marketing and risk management. In particular, competitive pressures may restrict our ability to increase prices and maintain those price increases, including price increases made in response to commodity and other cost increases. We may experience delays between the time that we take inflation-related pricing actions and the time that we realize the impact of those actions on our margins and results of operations. In our business segments, we compete with companies that are larger and better known than we are and have greater marketing, financial, personnel and other resources than we do. For example, in conjunction with the recent increase in demand for renewable diesel feedstocks, we have experienced added competition for soybean oil refining capacity from traditional petroleum companies. As a result, we may not be able to continue to compete successfully, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.
Our revenues, margins, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected if our members were to do business with other companies rather than with us.
We do not have an exclusive relationship with our members, and our members are not obligated to supply us with their products or purchase products from us. Our members often have a variety of distribution outlets and product sources available to them. If our members were to sell their products to other purchasers or purchase products from other sellers, our revenues, margins, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
If our customers choose alternatives to our refined petroleum products, our revenues, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Numerous energy sources could serve as alternatives to our gasoline, diesel fuel and other refined petroleum products. If any of these alternative products become more economically viable or preferable to our customers for environmental or other reasons, demand for our energy products would decline. In addition, many governments have imposed, and in the future may impose, policies and regulations aimed at decreasing reliance on petroleum-based products, which could reduce demand for our energy products. In addition, a number of companies have announced their intention to phase out production of gasoline- and diesel-powered light-duty vehicles by the mid-2030s. While these phaseouts primarily impact light-duty vehicles outside our primary markets, they are expected to accelerate the decline in demand for gasoline, diesel fuel and other refined petroleum products. Declining demand for our energy products, particularly diesel fuel sold for farming and other heavy-duty equipment applications, could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.
Consolidation among producers of products we purchase and customers for products we sell could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.
Consolidation has occurred among the producers and manufacturers of products we sell and purchase, including crude oil, crop nutrients and grain, and it is highly likely this consolidation will continue in the future. Consolidation could allow producers to negotiate pricing, supply availability and other contract terms that are less favorable to us. In addition, consolidation may increase the likelihood that consumers or end users of these products enter into supply relationships with a smaller number of producers, resulting in potentially higher prices for the products we purchase.
Consolidation has occurred among member cooperatives that are the primary wholesale customers of our products, which has resulted in a smaller wholesale and retail customer base for our products and has intensified the competition for these customers. It is highly likely this consolidation will continue in the future. Ongoing consolidation among distributors and brokers of food products and food retailers has altered the buying patterns of those businesses, as they have increasingly elected to work with product suppliers who can meet their needs nationwide or globally, rather than just regionally or locally. If these cooperatives, distributors, brokers and retailers elect to not purchase our products, our revenues, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
In seed, crop nutrient and crop protection markets, consolidation at both the producer and wholesale customer levels has increased potential for direct sales from input manufacturers to cooperative customers and/or individual agricultural producers, which would remove us from the supply chain and could have a material and adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.
We are exposed to risk of nonperformance and nonpayment by counterparties.
We are exposed to risk of nonperformance and nonpayment by counterparties, whether pursuant to contracts or otherwise. Risk of nonperformance and nonpayment by counterparties includes the inability or refusal of a counterparty to pay us; the inability or refusal to perform because of a counterparty's financial condition and liquidity, operational failures, labor issues, cybersecurity events, outbreaks of disease or for any other reason; and risk that the counterparty will refuse to perform a contract during a period of price fluctuations where contract prices are significantly different than current market prices. In the event we experience significant nonperformance or nonpayment by counterparties, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. For example, we store inventory in third-party warehouses, and the operators of these warehouses may not adequately store or secure our inventory, or they may improperly sell that inventory to someone else, which could expose us to loss of the value of that inventory. In the event we experience any such nonperformance by a third-party warehouse operator, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. As another example, if any of our counterparties experience a cybersecurity breach or system failure or does not respond or perform effectively in connection with such cybersecurity breach or system failure, their businesses could be negatively impacted, and it may result in disruption to our supply chain or distribution channels, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our business, profitability and liquidity may be adversely affected by deterioration in the credit quality of, or defaults by, third parties who owe us money.
We extend credit to, make loans to and engage in other financing arrangements with individual producers, local cooperatives and other third parties around the world. We incur credit risk and the risk of losses if our borrowers and others to which we extend credit do not repay their loans or perform their obligations to pay us the money they owe. These parties may default on their obligations to us due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure or for other reasons. If these
counterparties do not pay us back and we experience significant defaults on their payment obligations to us, our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
We are also subject to the risk that our rights against borrowers and other third parties that owe us money may not be enforceable in all circumstances. For example, a borrower or third-party may declare bankruptcy. In addition, the credit quality of borrowers and other third parties whose obligations we hold could deteriorate due to a number of factors, including deterioration in the value of collateral posted by those parties to secure their obligations to us pursuant to purchase contracts, loan agreements or other contracts. If deterioration occurs, the material adverse effects of third parties not performing their repayment obligations may be exacerbated if the collateral held by us cannot be realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount owed to us. For example, certain loans and other financing arrangements we undertake with agricultural producers are typically secured by the counterparty's crops planted in the current year. There is a risk that the value of the crop will not be sufficient to satisfy the counterparty's repayment obligations under the financing arrangement as a result of weather; crop-growing conditions; other factors that influence the price, supply and demand for agricultural commodities; or for other reasons.
In addition, disputes may arise as to the amount of collateral we are entitled to receive and the value of pledged assets. Termination of contracts and foreclosure on collateral may subject us to claims for improper exercise of our rights. Default rates, downgrades and disputes with counterparties as to the valuation of collateral increase significantly in times of market stress and illiquidity.
With respect to our lending activity, we evaluate the collectability of commercial and producer loans on a specific identification basis based on the amount and quality of the collateral obtained and record specific loan loss reserves when appropriate. Consistent with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"), we maintain a general reserve based on our best estimate of expected credit losses. For other forms of credit, we establish reserves as appropriate and consistent with U.S. GAAP. The reserves represent our best estimate based on current facts and circumstances. Future developments or changes in assumptions may cause us to record adjustments to the reserves that could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our risk management strategies may not be effective.
Our business is affected by fluctuations in commodity prices, transportation costs, energy prices, foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. We monitor position limits, accounts receivables and other exposures and engage in other strategies and controls to manage these risks. Our monitoring efforts may not be effective at detecting a significant risk exposure and our controls and strategies may not be effective in adequately managing against occurrence of a significant loss relating to a risk exposure. If our controls and strategies are not successful in mitigating or preventing our financial exposure to losses due to the fluctuations or failures mentioned above, it could significantly and adversely affect our operating results.
Actual or perceived quality, safety or health risks associated with our products could subject us to significant liability and damage our business and reputation.
If any of our food or animal feed products were to become adulterated or misbranded, we may need to recall those items and could experience product liability claims if either consumers or customers' livestock or pets were injured or were claimed to be injured as a result. A widespread product recall or a significant product liability judgment could cause our products to be unavailable for a period of time or could cause a loss of consumer or customer confidence in our products. Even if a product liability claim were unsuccessful or were not fully pursued, the negative publicity surrounding any assertion that our products caused illness or injury could adversely affect our business and reputation with existing and potential consumers and customers and our corporate and brand image. The growing use of social and digital media by consumers has greatly increased the speed and extent that information or misinformation and opinions can be shared. Negative posts or comments about us, our brands or our products on social or digital media could seriously damage our brands and reputation. Moreover, product liability claims or liabilities might not be covered by our insurance or by any rights of indemnity or contribution that we may have against others. In addition, general public perceptions regarding the quality, safety or health risks associated with particular food or animal feed products, such as concerns regarding genetically modified crops, could reduce demand and prices for some of the products associated with our businesses. To the extent that consumer preferences evolve away from products produced by CHS or our members for health or other reasons, such as the growing demand for organic food products and products that are sustainably grown and made, including low-carbon grain and oilseed, and we are unable to develop or procure products that satisfy new consumer preferences, there will be decreased demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.
Our operations are subject to business interruptions, casualty losses and supply chain issues. We do not insure against all potential losses and could be seriously harmed by unanticipated liabilities.
Our operations are subject to business interruptions due to unanticipated events such as explosions, fires, other natural disasters, war, terrorism, cyberattacks, industrial accidents, pipeline interruptions, transportation delays, equipment failures, crude oil or refined product spills, adverse weather conditions and labor disputes. The following statements are examples of potential interruptions or losses.
•Our oil refineries and other facilities are potential targets for terrorist attacks that could halt or discontinue production.
•Our inability to negotiate acceptable contracts with unionized workers in our operations could result in strikes or work stoppages.
•Our corporate headquarters, the facilities we own and the inventories we carry could be damaged or destroyed by catastrophic events, adverse weather conditions or contamination.
•Our transportation operations, equipment and services could experience disruptions such as adverse operating conditions on the inland waterway system or on the seas with respect to oceangoing vessels, including risks from piracy and other maritime security threats.
•Someone may accidentally or intentionally introduce malware to our information technology systems or breach our computer systems or other cybersecurity resources.
•Occurrence of a pandemic or epidemic disease could affect a substantial part of our workforce or our customers and interrupt our business operations.
The effects of any of these events could be significant. We maintain insurance coverage against many, but not all, potential losses or liabilities arising from these operating hazards, but uninsured losses or losses above our coverage limits are possible. Uninsured losses and liabilities arising from operating hazards could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, our insurance premiums could increase or insurance coverage may become unavailable to us, particularly if we experience insurable events.
We may also be impacted by supply chain issues, due to factors largely beyond our control, which could escalate in future periods. Any such issues could result in higher costs or operational disruptions, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business and operations have been, and may in the future, be adversely affected by epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks of disease and other adverse public health developments.
Epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks of novel diseases and other adverse public health developments in countries and states where we operate may arise at any time. Such developments could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, restrictions on or disruptions of transportation, port closures or increased border controls or closures, or other impacts on domestic and global supply chains or distribution channels could increase our costs for raw materials and commodity costs, increase demand for raw materials and commodities from competing purchasers, limit our ability to meet customer demand or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations or cash flows. Precautionary measures we may take in the future intended to limit the impact of any epidemic, pandemic, disease outbreak or other public health development, may result in additional costs. In addition, such epidemics, pandemics, disease outbreaks or other public health developments may adversely affect economies and financial markets throughout the world, which may affect our ability to obtain additional financing for our businesses and demand for our products and services. The impact of such developments may also exacerbate the other risks discussed in this Item 1A, any of which could have a material effect on us.
We are subject to workforce factors that could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Like most companies in the agricultural industry, we are continuously challenged to hire, develop and retain a sufficient number of employees to operate our businesses throughout our operating geographies. We may have difficulty recruiting and retaining employees with adequate qualifications and experience. The challenge of hiring new employees is exacerbated by the rural nature of our business, which provides a smaller pool of skilled employable candidates. A number of other factors may adversely affect the labor force available to us, including socioeconomic and demographic changes, high employment levels, federal unemployment subsidies and other government regulations, unemployment programs and volatility in macroeconomic factors impacting the labor market. Increases in remote work opportunities have also amplified the competition for employees and contractors. To hire new employees, we may be forced to pay higher wages or offer other benefits that might impact our cost of labor. Furthermore, when we hire new employees, lengthy training and orientation periods might be required before they are able to achieve necessary productivity levels, and we may be unable to successfully
transfer our other employees' institutional knowledge and skills to them or fail to execute on internal succession plans. In addition, a competitive labor market may lead to increased turnover rates within our employee base. Increased employee turnover results in significant time and expense relating to identifying recruiting, hiring, relocating and integrating qualified individuals. High employee turnover of key personnel may further deplete our institutional knowledge base and erode our competitiveness. These or other workforce factors could negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Technological improvements and sustainability initiatives could decrease demand for our agronomy and energy products.
Technological advances in agriculture, as well as sustainability initiatives and practices, could decrease the demand for crop nutrients, energy and other crop input products and services we provide. Genetically engineered seeds that resist disease and insects, or that meet certain nutritional requirements, could affect the demand for our seed, crop nutrients and crop protection products. Demand for fuel we sell could decline as technology allows for more efficient usage of equipment or should alternative energy sources become more viable due to technological advances. Declining demand for our products could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), including generative AI, advancements are progressing at an unprecedented pace, which brings risks that could subject us to loss through various technical, legal, and opportunistic-related risks.
We continue to advance in the development and integration of AI systems across our operations. AI systems may fail to perform as expected under certain conditions or become vulnerable to adversarial attacks that manipulate the AI’s output. As AI becomes more integrated into our operations, the risks of system failure or malfunction increase, potentially disrupting our business processes. Additionally, use of AI may further expose computer systems to the risk of cyberattacks, and may create the need for rapid modifications to our cybersecurity program.
AI systems rely heavily on vast amounts of data, which could include sensitive personal or proprietary information. If not managed and protected properly, AI systems could become targets for data breaches, exposing critical information to unauthorized access. Additionally, our service providers and vendors are also increasingly using and offering platforms powered by AI. While we advise our employees and contractors to refrain from providing confidential or sensitive information to any AI models or AI-powered platforms and limit our vendors’ processing of any confidential or sensitive information in an AI model, we cannot predict how an AI model will process our data or if it will inadvertently provide our data to a third-party in its outputs. Any input of our confidential or sensitive data into an AI model for development or use purposes could result in inadvertent disclosure of this data at any time to an unknown third-party, which could subject us to litigation or regulatory actions or cause us to breach our contractual obligations. Additionally, datasets can inadvertently introduce bias if the data is not sufficiently diverse or representative leading to AI-driven decisions that may be unfair or discriminatory, potentially harming both individuals and our reputation.
We utilize information technology systems to support our business. The ongoing multiyear implementation of an enterprisewide resource planning system, reliance on multiple legacy business systems as well as third-party data management providers and other vendors, security breaches or other disruptions to our information technology systems or assets could interfere with our operations, compromise the security of our customers' or suppliers' information and expose us to liability that could adversely impact our business and reputation.
Our operations rely on certain key information technology ("IT") systems, many of which are legacy in nature or may depend on third-party services to provide critical connections of data, information and services for internal and external users.
Over the past several years, we have been implementing a new enterprise resource planning system ("ERP"), and we expect this ERP implementation to continue for the next several years. This ERP implementation has required and will continue to require significant capital and human resources to deploy. Changes we have experienced in the implementation timeline and scope likely have impacted the capital and operating expense amounts required to complete the implementation, and there can be no assurance that the actual costs for completing the ERP implementation will not exceed our current estimates or that the ERP will not take longer to implement than we currently expect. In addition, potential flaws in implementing the ERP or in the failure of any portion/module of the ERP to meet our needs or provide appropriate controls may pose risks to our ability to operate successfully and efficiently and with an effective system of internal controls.
There may be other challenges and risks to both our aging and current IT systems over time due to any number of causes, such as catastrophic events, availability of resources, power outages, security breaches or social engineering and
cyberattacks. These challenges and risks could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or penalties, disruption in operations, loss of valuable data, increased costs and damage to our reputation, all of which could adversely affect our business. In addition, IT investments in new technology that could result in greater operational efficiency may further expose our IT systems to the risk of cyberattacks, especially as use of AI increases sophistication and effectiveness of social engineering and cyberattacks.
The third-party data management providers and other vendors we rely on and cloud-based services we utilize may have or may develop security problems or security vulnerabilities which may also affect our systems or data. We cannot guarantee a data security or privacy breach of their systems or other form of cyber-based attack will not occur in the future. The increase in hybrid working situations, where employees, including third-party employees, access technology infrastructure remotely, increases information technology and data security risks. Like many companies, we continue to experience an increase sophisticated attempts by external parties to access and/or disrupt our networks without authorization, such as denial of service attacks, attempted malware infections, scanning activity and phishing e-mails. We and vendors on our behalf monitor our information technology systems on a 24/7 basis in an effort to detect cyberattacks, security breaches or unauthorized access. There is no assurance the measures we have taken to protect our information systems will prevent or limit the impact of a future cybersecurity incident. We may incur significant costs protecting against or remediating cyber-based attacks or other cybersecurity incidents and may suffer representational harm. While we maintain a cybersecurity insurance policy that provides coverage for security incidents, we cannot be certain our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on financially reasonable terms or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
In addition, we are subject to laws and regulations in the United States and other jurisdictions regarding privacy, data protection and data security, including those related to collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer and security of personal data. These laws and regulations pose increasingly complex compliance challenges and will require us to incur costs to achieve and maintain compliance; some of those costs may be significant. Any violation of such laws and regulations, including as a result of a security or privacy breach or adoption of emerging technologies, such as AI, could subject us to legal claims, regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Furthermore, the requirement to report material cybersecurity incidents within such a short time frame could mean there will be insufficient time to halt a breach before having to report it, potentially giving hackers an advantage, and failure to promptly disclose such material incidents as required by law may result in additional financial or regulatory consequences.
Increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to our environmental, social and governance practices may expose us to new or additional risks.
Companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from stakeholders related to their environmental, social and governance ("ESG") practices and disclosures, including practices and disclosures related to climate change, human capital management, diversity and inclusion, social and community impact, corporate culture and governance standards. At the same time, our stakeholders have evolving, varied and sometimes conflicting expectations regarding many aspects of our business, including our operations and ESG-related matters. If we fail or are perceived to fail, in any number of ESG matters, or to effectively respond to changes in, or new, legal, regulatory or reporting requirements concerning climate change or other sustainability concerns, we may be subject to regulatory fines and penalties, and our reputation may suffer.
If we do not adapt or comply with evolving ESG expectations and standards, which are evolving, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately to the growing focus on ESG issues and opposition to ESG issues, regardless of whether there is a legal requirement to do so, we may suffer reputational damage and our business or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. Conversely, if we comply with evolving stakeholder ESG expectations and standards, doing so could result in higher costs, disruption and diversion of management attention, increased strain on our resources and heightened legal and regulatory risk, and could also threaten our credibility with other stakeholders. This may result in increased scrutiny, protests and negative publicity with respect to our business and operations, which in turn could adversely affect our reputation, business and financial performance.
Failures or delays in achieving our strategies or expectations related to climate change and other environmental matters could adversely affect our business, operations and reputation, and increase risk of litigation.
Our ability to achieve any of our strategies or expectations related to climate change and other environmental matters is subject to numerous factors and conditions, many of which are outside our control. Examples of such factors include, but are not limited to, evolving regulatory and other standards, processes and assumptions; the pace of scientific and technological developments; increased costs and the availability of requisite financing; market trends that may alter business opportunities;
conduct of third-party counterparties; constraint or disruptions to our supply chain; and changes in carbon markets or carbon taxes. We may be required to expend significant resources to achieve these strategies and expectations, which could significantly increase our operational costs. There can be no assurance of the extent to which any of our strategies or expectations will be achieved or that any future investments we make in furtherance of achieving these strategies or expectations will meet customer or investor expectations.
While we continue to take steps toward mitigation of climate risk and impact on climate change, transitioning our business to adapt to and comply with evolving policy, legal, and regulatory changes may impose substantial operational and compliance burdens. As a result, climate change could negatively affect our business and operations. Collecting, measuring and analyzing information relating to such matters can be costly, time-consuming, dependent on third-party cooperation and unreliable. Furthermore, methodologies for measuring, tracking and reporting on such matters continue to change over time, which requires our processes and controls for such data to evolve. Additionally, we may face increased pressure from customers, consumers, investors, activists, lenders and other stakeholders to modify our products or operations away from ingredients or activities that are considered to have greater negative impact on climate change.
Such changes to methodologies or lack of progress and failures or delays in our strategies, whether actual or perceived, in achieving our strategies or expectations related to climate change and other environmental matters could adversely affect our business, operations and reputation, and increase risk of litigation.
Acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, mergers, divestitures and other nonordinary course-of-business events resulting from portfolio management actions and other evolving business strategies could affect future results.
We monitor our business portfolio and organizational structure and have made and may continue to make acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, mergers, divestitures and changes to our organizational structure. With respect to acquisitions or mergers, future results will be affected by our ability to identify suitable acquisition or merger candidates, to adequately finance any acquisitions or mergers and to integrate acquired or merged businesses quickly and obtain the anticipated financial returns, including synergies. Our ability to successfully complete a divestiture will depend on, among other things, our ability to identify buyers that are prepared to acquire such assets or businesses on acceptable terms and to adjust and optimize our retained businesses following the divestiture. Additionally, we may fail to consummate proposed acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, joint ventures or strategic alliances after incurring expenses and devoting substantial resources, including management time, to such transactions or foregoing other strategic opportunities.
Several parts of our business, including our nitrogen production business, our foods business and portions of our global grain marketing and wheat milling operations, are operated through joint ventures with third parties where we do not have majority control of the venture. By operating a business through a joint venture, we have less control over business decisions than we have in our subsidiaries and limited liability companies in which we have a controlling interest. In particular, we generally cannot act on major business initiatives in our joint ventures without the consent of the other party or parties in those ventures. Investments in joint ventures may, under certain circumstances, involve risks not present when a third-party is not involved, including the possibility that co-venturers might experience business or financial stresses that impact their ability to effectively operate the joint venture or might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of the business; in which case the joint venture may be unable to access needed growth capital without funding from us and/or any other remaining co-venturers. Co-venturers may have economic, tax or other business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests or goals and may be in a position to take actions contrary to our policies or objectives. Our co-venturers may take actions that are not within our control and that may expose our investments in joint ventures to the risk of lower values or returns. Disputes between us and co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and/or directors from focusing their time and efforts on our day-to-day business. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our co-venturers. Each of these matters could have a material adverse effect on us.
We have made certain assumptions and projections regarding the future of the markets served by our joint venture investments that include projected raw materiality availability and pricing, production costs, market pricing and demand for the joint venture's products. These assumptions were an integral part of the economics used to evaluate these joint venture investment opportunities prior to consummation. To the extent that actual market performance varies from our models, our ability to achieve projected returns on our joint venture investments may be impacted in a materially adverse manner. For example, assumptions we made in connection with our investment in CF Nitrogen may not align with future demand for nitrogen-based products or the cost or availability of natural gas, the primary feedstock utilized for CF Nitrogen's nitrogen-based products. Supply of nitrogen products is affected primarily by available production capacity and operating rates, raw material costs and availability, energy prices, government policies and global trade. Demand for nitrogen products is affected by planted acreage, crop selection and fertilizer application rates, driven by population changes, economic growth, changes in dietary habits and non-food use of crops, such as production of ethanol and other biofuels. Demand also includes industrial uses
of nitrogen, for example chemical manufacturing and emissions reductants such as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Many factors affecting supply and demand of global nitrogen products are out of our control and could significantly impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Government policies, mandates, regulations, trade agreements, domestic and foreign trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, and other factors beyond our control could adversely affect our operations and profitability.
Our business is subject to numerous government policies, mandates and regulations that may impact our operations or profitability. For example, those related to genetically modified organisms, traceability standards, sustainable practices, product safety and labeling, and renewable and low-carbon fuels may influence crop planting, production levels and location, trade flows, feedstock availability and competitiveness, volumes and types of imports and exports, and product viability. In our Energy segment, government policies, mandates and regulations designed to stop or impede development or production of petroleum-based products, such as those limiting or banning use of hydraulic fracturing, drilling or oilsands production or restricting the sale of new combustion-engine vehicles, could adversely affect our operations and profitability.
We could be the target of claims of false or deceptive advertising under U.S. federal and state laws, as well as foreign laws, including consumer protection statutes of some states. The food industry has experienced heightened scrutiny and an increasing number of claims related to labeling and marketing practices. Changes in legal or regulatory requirements (such as new food safety requirements and revised nutrition facts labeling, including front-of-pack labeling and serving size regulations) or evolving interpretations of existing legal or regulatory requirements may result in increased compliance costs, capital expenditures and other financial obligations that could adversely affect our business or financial results. If we are found to be out of compliance with applicable laws and regulations in these areas, we could be subject to civil remedies, including fines, injunctions, termination of necessary licenses or permits, or recalls, as well as potential criminal sanctions, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The EU deforestation-free regulation ("EUDR"), which is to become effective in December 2025, will require companies trading in certain commodities, including soybeans, as well as products derived from these commodities, to ensure these commodities and related products do not result from deforestation, forest degradation or breaches of local laws after December 31, 2020, to qualify for sale in the European Union. Failure to comply could have serious consequences, including civil, administrative and criminal penalties, as well as negative impacts on our reputation, business, cash flows and results of operations.
In addition, changes in international trade agreements and trade disputes can adversely affect commodity trade flows by limiting or disrupting trade between countries or regions. In many countries around the world, historical free trade relationships are being challenged, and it is unclear what changes, if any, will be made to international trade agreements affecting our operations. Resulting volatility in commodity prices, historical trade flows planting patterns, particularly in the United States and South America, has reduced grain export volumes and increased business uncertainty. Changes in trade policy, withdrawals from or material modifications to relevant international trade agreements and continued uncertainty could depress economic activity and restrict our access to suppliers and customers, and we cannot predict the effects of future trade policies, disputes or agreements on our business. Tariffs and trade restrictions on products that we buy and/or sell could increase the cost of those products or adversely affect market access. These cost increases and market changes could adversely affect demand for our products and reduce margins, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our earnings. In addition, the U.S. government can prevent or restrict us from doing business in or with other countries, such as the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on Russia and certain of its citizens and enterprises in connection with Russia's war with Ukraine. These restrictions and those of other governments could limit our ability to gain access to business opportunities in various countries.
The U.S. government recently implemented changes to its trade policies, including significant tariff increases on imports and potential changes to existing trade agreements, creating a dynamic and uncertain trade environment. Such measures can be adopted with little or no notice, and retaliatory actions by other countries may further increase costs and disrupt global supply chains. Higher tariffs or trade restrictions may raise the cost of inventory and products sold by our customers, vendors, partners, and suppliers, reducing demand, compressing margins, and impairing their financial performance and ability to meet obligations. This, in turn, could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. Tariffs or other trade restrictions may lead to continuing uncertainty and volatility in U.S. and global financial markets and economic conditions. Disruptions and volatility in the financial markets may lead to adverse changes in the availability, terms and cost of capital, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In particular, the changes in trade policies have had significant impacts on our sales into China. The Chinese government is currently limiting imports through a variety of measures. For example, in May 2025, China’s General Administration of Customers suspended soybean imports from us and certain other U.S. companies in connection with the broader trade policy changes between the U.S. and China. A number of factors could encourage China to increase product capacity utilization or expand exports of nitrogen fertilizers, including changes in Chinese government policy, devaluation of the Chinese renminbi, the relaxation of Chinese environmental standards or decreases in Chinese producers’ underlying costs such as the price of Chinese coal. Any inability to sell our products into China, including soybeans, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in federal income tax laws or in our tax status, or changes to tax rules in jurisdictions in which we operate, could increase our tax liability and reduce our net income significantly.
Current federal income tax laws, regulations and interpretations, including those specific to taxation of cooperatives, provide us certain income tax benefits such as allowing us to exclude income generated through business with or for a member (patronage-sourced income) from our taxable income to the extent it is distributed back to our members. We continue to monitor potential changes to federal income tax laws, regulations or interpretations to evaluate their potential impact on our business, tax position and financial results. The change in administration and regulatory leadership has created additional uncertainty with respect to federal tax policy. The current administration has proposed, and may propose further, changes that could alter, narrow or repeal provisions of federal tax law relevant to cooperatives. These changes, and any administrative or judicial challenges to them or further changes by future administrations, create uncertainty for our business and may affect our ability to receive anticipated tax credits or other benefits, which in turn could reduce the profitability of certain projects and increase our overall tax burden. If in the future, for example, we were to be subject to a corporate alternative minimum tax, or we were not eligible to be taxed as a cooperative, our tax liability would significantly increase and our net income would significantly decrease.
We incur significant costs in complying with applicable laws and regulations. Any failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or to make capital or other investments necessary to comply with these laws and regulations, could expose us to unanticipated expenditures and liabilities.
We are subject to numerous federal, state and local provisions regulating our business and operations. We incur and expect to incur significant capital and operating expenses to comply with these laws and regulations. We may be unable to pass on those expenses to customers without experiencing volume and margin losses. Ongoing changes in financial-market regulation have subjected derivatives users, such as CHS to increased CFTC oversight and compliance obligations, raising operating costs and potential exposure to fines or penalties for noncompliance. In addition, new laws and regulations or shifts in government policy may increase the likelihood of such legal and regulatory developments. If new laws or regulations become applicable to us or our businesses, our compliance costs could increase. Any of the above matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.
We establish reserves for the future cost of known compliance obligations, such as remediation of identified environmental issues. However, these reserves may prove inadequate to meet our actual liability. Moreover, amended, new or more stringent requirements, stricter interpretations of existing requirements or discovery of currently unknown compliance issues may require us to make material expenditures or subject us to liabilities that we currently do not anticipate. Furthermore, our failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could subject us to administrative penalties and injunctive relief, civil remedies, including fines and injunctions, criminal fines and penalties, and recalls of our products. For example, we regularly maintain hedges to manage price risks associated with our commercial operations. These transactions typically take place on exchanges such as the CME. Our hedging transactions and activities are subject to the rules and regulations of the exchanges we use and governing bodies, including the CME, NYMEX, CBOT, MIAX and CFTC. All exchanges have broad powers to review required records, to investigate and enforce compliance and to punish noncompliance by entities subject to their jurisdiction. Failure to comply with such rules and regulations could lead to restrictions on our trading activities or subject us to enforcement action by the CFTC or a disciplinary action by the exchanges, which could lead to substantial fines or penalties or limitations on our related operations. In addition, any investigation or proceeding by an exchange or the CFTC, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs, diversion of resources, including management time, and potential harm to our reputation, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.
We are subject to extensive anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-kickback and trade laws and regulations, and any noncompliance with those laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate on a global basis and are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 as amended ("FCPA"). The FCPA and other similar anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries or agents from making improper payments to government officials or any other persons for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We operate and sell our products in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree, and in certain circumstances strict compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations may conflict with local customs and practices. In addition, in certain countries, we engage third-party agents or intermediaries to act on our behalf and/or conduct all or a portion of our operations through joint venture partners, including in those countries with a high risk of corruption. If any of these third parties violate applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery or anti-kickback laws or regulations, we may be liable for those violations. We have policies in place prohibiting employees from making or authorizing improper payments; we train our employees regarding compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations; and we utilize procedures to identify and mitigate risks of such misconduct by our employees, third-party agents, intermediaries and joint venture partners. However, we cannot provide assurances that our employees, third-party agents, intermediaries or joint venture partners will comply with those policies, laws and regulations. If we are found liable for violations of the FCPA or other similar anti-corruption, anti-bribery or anti-kickback laws or regulations, either due to our own acts or out of inadvertence or due to the acts or inadvertence of others, we could suffer criminal or civil fines or penalties or other repercussions, including reputational harm, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Due to the international scope of our operations, we are subject to a complex system of import- and export-related laws and regulations, including U.S. regulations issued by Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Antiboycott Compliance, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as the counterparts of these agencies in other countries. Any alleged or actual violation of these laws or regulations by us or our employees may subject us to government scrutiny, investigation, and civil and criminal penalties, and may limit our import and export abilities. Furthermore, embargoes and sanctions imposed by the United States and other governments restricting or prohibiting sales to specific persons or countries or based on product classification may expose us to potential criminal or civil sanctions. We cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our operations might be subject or the way existing laws and regulations might be administered or interpreted.
Environmental and energy laws and regulations may result in increased operating costs and capital expenditures, and may have a material and adverse effect on us.
New and current environmental and energy laws and regulations, including relating to alternative energy sources and the risk of global climate change, new interpretations of existing laws and regulations, increased governmental enforcement, or other developments could require us to make additional unforeseen expenditures on technologies and/or other assets to continue our operations or cause unforeseen changes to our operations, either of which could adversely affect us. For example, in December 2015, 195 countries adopted a new international agreement known as the Paris Agreement. U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement and other greenhouse gas (“GHG”) commitments may vary by administration.
Accordingly, future emission reduction targets and other provisions of legislative or regulatory initiatives could be reintroduced by future administrations. In the absence of federal action, states and other jurisdictions may also continue to take legislative or regulatory steps aimed at climate change and minimizing GHG emissions. This creates ongoing uncertainty for our operations, compliance obligations, and potential costs.
In addition, new legislation, regulatory programs, reporting requirements or customer or other stakeholder expectations could require substantial expenditures for installation and operation of systems and equipment or for substantial modifications to existing equipment, as well as increased compliance costs. We are or may be obligated to comply with new climate-related reporting requirements under SEC rules, laws of member states of the European Union implementing the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ("CSRD") and other laws and regulations, which may require us to provide, at least annually, detailed public disclosures about the greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related effects our activities produce, the climate-related operating and financial risks we face and the strategies we pursue to reduce and adapt to the impacts of climate change. If we fail to compile, assess and report the required operating and accounting information in a timely manner and in accordance with mandatory reporting standards, we could be exposed to fines and other sanctions and sustain harm to our reputation. Pursuant to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the EPA has promulgated the Renewable Fuel
Standard ("RFS"), which requires refiners to blend renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, with their petroleum fuels or purchase renewable energy credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers ("RINs"), in lieu of blending. The EPA generally establishes new annual renewable fuel percentage standards for each compliance year, which affects the domestic market for ethanol. In June 2025, the EPA proposed standards for compliance years 2026 and 2027, which as of the date of this Report have not yet been adopted. The proposal includes a sizable increase in renewable fuel percentage standards from those in 2025 and, if implemented as proposed, could result in a significant increase in our compliance costs for these periods. We generate RINs through our blending activities, but we cannot generate enough RINs to meet the needs of our refining capacity, and RINs must be purchased on the open market. In recent years, the price of RINs has been extremely volatile. Continued RIN volatility could have a negative impact on our future refined fuels margins. In addition, certain states have established proposed laws around low-carbon fuel standards that require refiners to sell fuel with carbon intensity values at certain established benchmarks or purchase a sufficient number of credits on the open market to meet the benchmark.
Federal, state and international authorities continue to adopt or propose new environmental, health, safety and climate-related requirements that could materially increase our compliance costs and operational burdens, including emerging contaminant regulation (such as PFAS), more stringent refinery and process safety rules, the EPA’s “Good Neighbor Plan” for ozone emissions, new vehicle and fuel efficiency standards, and expanded reporting obligations under U.S. and EU climate disclosure regimes. At the same time, reductions in staffing or funding at regulatory agencies may delay the review of submissions and re-registrations, further prolonging the time to commercialize products or implement compliance measures. Many of these rules and initiatives are subject to ongoing litigation or could be revised or rescinded by future administrations, creating significant uncertainty. Compliance with these evolving standards could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Environmental liabilities and litigation could have a material adverse effect on us.
Many of our current and former facilities have been in operation for many years. Over that time, we and other operators of those facilities have generated, used, stored and disposed of substances or wastes, including liquid fertilizers, chemicals and fuels stored in underground and aboveground tanks, that are or might be considered hazardous under applicable or future environmental laws. Any past or future actions in violation of applicable environmental laws could subject us to administrative penalties, fines, injunctions or other costs, such as capital expenditures. In addition, an owner or operator of contaminated property and a party that sends hazardous materials to such a site for treatment, storage, disposal or recycling can be liable for the cost of investigation and remediation under environmental laws. In some instances, such liability exists regardless of fault. Moreover, future or unknown past releases of hazardous substances could subject us to private lawsuits claiming damages, including for bodily injury or property damage, and to adverse publicity, which could have a material adverse effect on us. Liabilities, including legal costs, related to remediation of contaminated properties are not recognized by us until the related costs are considered probable and can be reasonably estimated.
We have noted a trend in public and private lawsuits filed on behalf of states, counties, cities and utilities alleging harm to the general public and the environment, including waterways and watersheds, as a result of the use of agricultural chemicals, such as fertilizers. If we become a party to any such lawsuits, we could be required to pay damages or penalties or have other remedies imposed upon us, which could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We face increased climate-change-related litigation risk with respect to our operations. In particular, governmental and other entities in various U.S. states have filed lawsuits against companies in the coal, oil and gas industries, alleging damages as a result of climate change, with the plaintiffs in such lawsuits seeking damages and abatement under various tort theories. Additionally, governmental and other entities are increasingly filing lawsuits or initiating regulatory action based on allegations that certain public statements regarding ESG-related matters and practices by companies are false or misleading greenwashing that violate deceptive trade practices and consumer protection statutes. Similar issues can also arise relating to aspirational statements such as net-zero or carbon reduction targets that are made without adequate basis to support such statements. Although we are not currently a party to any of these lawsuits, they present a high degree of uncertainty regarding the extent to which we face increased risk of liability stemming from climate change or ESG disclosures and practices.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Financing Our Business
Our financial results are susceptible to seasonality.
Many of our business activities are highly seasonal and operating results vary throughout the year. Our revenues generally trend lower during the second and fourth fiscal quarters and are highest during the first and third fiscal quarters. For
example, in our Ag segment, our ag retail business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the fall harvest and spring planting seasons and our agronomy business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the spring planting season. Our global grain and processing operations are subject to fluctuations in volume and revenues based on producer harvests, world grain prices and demand, and international trade relationships. Our Energy segment generally experiences higher volumes and revenues in certain operating areas, such as refined products, in the spring, summer and early fall when gasoline and diesel fuel use by agricultural producers is highest and is subject to global supply and demand forces. Other energy products, such as propane, generally experience higher volumes and revenues during the winter-heating and crop-drying seasons.
If any of our long-lived assets become impaired, we could be required to record a significant impairment charge, which would negatively impact our results of operations.
All our long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment, goodwill, investments in unconsolidated affiliates and other identifiable intangibles, are evaluated for impairment in accordance with U.S. GAAP at least annually for goodwill and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of a long-lived asset or asset group may not be recoverable. The process of evaluating for impairment involves a number of judgments and estimates. If the judgments and estimates used in our analyses are not realized or change due to external factors, then actual results may not be consistent with these judgments and estimates, and our long-lived assets may become impaired in future periods. We have in the past, and may in the future, be required to write down the value of our long-lived assets. Any future impairment of our long-lived assets could require us to record a significant impairment charge, which would negatively impact our results of operations.
Our business is capital-intensive and we rely on cash generated from our operations and external financing to fund our strategies and ongoing capital needs.
We require significant capital, including access to credit markets from time to time, to operate our businesses and fund our strategies. Our working capital requirements are directly affected by the price of commodities, which may fluctuate significantly and quickly. We also require substantial capital to maintain and upgrade our extensive network of facilities to keep pace with competitive developments, technological advances, regulatory changes and changing safety standards. In addition, the expansion of our business and pursuit of acquisitions or other business opportunities has required, and may in the future require, significant amounts of capital. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow or maintain access to adequate external financing, including as a result of significant disruptions in the global credit markets, it could restrict our current operations and our growth opportunities, which could adversely affect our operating results and restrict our ability to repay our existing debts.
Our access to capital could be affected by financial institutions' and other capital sources' policies concerning energy-related businesses.
Public concern regarding the potential effects of climate change have directed increased attention toward the funding sources of energy-related businesses. As a result, some financial institutions, funds and other sources of capital have reduced or restricted lending to, or investing in, companies that operate in the energy industry. Limiting energy-related businesses' access to capital could make it more difficult for us to secure external financing, which could in turn restrict our current operations and growth opportunities, adversely affect our operating results and restrict our ability to repay our existing debts.
Our cooperative structure limits our ability to access equity capital.
As a cooperative, we may not sell common stock in our company. In addition, existing laws and our articles of incorporation and bylaws limit dividends on any preferred stock we may issue to 8% per annum. These limitations may restrict our ability to raise equity capital and may adversely affect our ability to compete with enterprises that do not face similar restrictions.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We own or lease energy, agronomy, grain-handling and processing facilities and other real estate throughout the United States and internationally. Below is a summary of these locations by segment and related business, the majority of which are owned.
Description Location(s)
Energy
Refineries Laurel, Montana, and McPherson, Kansas
Propane terminals 9 locations in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin
Transportation terminals/repair facilities 12 locations in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin
Petroleum and asphalt terminals/storage facilities 12 locations in Kansas, Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin
Pipelines:
Cenex Pipeline, LLC Laurel, Montana, to Fargo, North Dakota
Front Range Pipeline, LLC Canadian border to Laurel, Montana
Jayhawk Pipeline, LLC Throughout Kansas, with branches in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas
Conway Pipeline McPherson, Kansas, to Conway, Kansas
Kaw Pipe Line Company Locations throughout Kansas
Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC Oklahoma to Kansas (50% owned by CHS)
Cenex Zip Trip® corporate headquarters
Spokane, Washington
Convenience stores/gas stations 39 locations in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming
Lubricant plants/warehouses 2 locations in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and Kenton, Ohio
Ag
Global Grain and Processing
Grain terminals 13 locations in the United States in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas
5 locations in Brazil
3 locations in Europe in Hungary and Romania
Fertilizer terminal Argentina
Grain marketing offices 2 locations in the United States in Minnesota and Nebraska
17 locations in Latin and South America in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay
8 locations in Europe in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine
4 locations in Asia in China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan
Oilseed processing facilities Fairmont, Hallock and Mankato, Minnesota
Sunflower processing facilities Fargo and Grandin, North Dakota
Storage and warehouse facility Joliette, North Dakota
Ethanol plants Annawan and Rochelle, Illinois
Ag Retail
Agri-operations facilities Approximately 400 community locations in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin
Feed manufacturing facilities 9 locations in Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota
Wholesale Agronomy
Deepwater port Galveston, Texas
Terminals 11 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas
Bulk chemical rail terminal facility Brooten, Minnesota
Distribution warehouses 28 locations in Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin
Research and development center Randolph, Minnesota
Description Location(s)
Corporate and Other
Corporate headquarters 33-acre campus in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, consisting of a building with approximately 320,000 square feet of office space and two smaller buildings with approximately 13,400 and 9,000 square feet of space
Office facilities Washington, District of Columbia, and Kansas City, Missouri

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
For a description of our material pending legal proceedings, please see Note 17, Commitments and Contingencies, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
As a cooperative, we do not have common stock that is traded or otherwise outstanding. We did not sell any equity securities during the three years ended August 31, 2025, that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("MD&A") is intended to provide a reader of our financial statements with a narrative from the perspective of our management regarding our financial condition and results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect our future results. Our MD&A is presented in the following sections:
•Overview
•Business Strategy
•Fiscal 2025 Highlights
•Fiscal 2026 Outlook
•Operating Metrics
•Results of Operations
•Liquidity and Capital Resources
•Critical Accounting Policies
•Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Our MD&A should be read in conjunction with the accompanying audited financial statements and notes to those financial statements and the Cautionary Statement regarding forward-looking statements found in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
CHS Inc. is a diversified company that provides grain, food, agronomy and energy resources to businesses and consumers on a global scale. As a cooperative, we are owned by farmers, ranchers and member cooperatives across the United States. We also have preferred shareholders who own our five series of preferred stock, all of which are listed and traded on Nasdaq. We operate in the following three reportable segments:
•Energy. Produces and provides petroleum products primarily for wholesale distribution and transportation.
•Ag. Purchases and further processes or resells grain and oilseed originated by our ag retail and global grain and processing businesses, by our member cooperatives and by third parties. This segment also includes our renewable fuels business and serves as a wholesaler and retailer of agronomy products.
•Nitrogen Production. Produces and distributes nitrogen fertilizer. This segment consists of our equity method investment in CF Nitrogen and allocated expenses.
In addition, our financing and hedging businesses, along with our nonconsolidated food production and distribution and wheat milling joint ventures, have been aggregated within our Corporate and Other category.
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of CHS and all subsidiaries and limited liability companies in which we have control. The effects of all significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated.
Corporate administrative expenses and interest are allocated to each reportable segment and Corporate and Other, based on direct use of services, such as information technology and legal, and other factors or considerations relevant to the costs incurred.
Management's Focus. When evaluating our operating performance, management focuses on income before income taxes ("IBIT"). As a company that operates heavily in global commodities, there is significant unpredictability and volatility in pricing, costs and global trade volumes. Consequently, we focus on managing the margin we can earn and the resulting IBIT. We also focus on ensuring balance sheet strength through appropriate management of financial liquidity, leverage, capital allocation and cash flow optimization.
Seasonality. Many of our business activities are highly seasonal and our operating results vary throughout the year. Our revenues and IBIT generally trend lower during the second fiscal quarter and increase in the third fiscal quarter. For example, in our Ag segment, our ag retail business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the fall harvest and spring planting seasons, which generally correspond to our first and third fiscal quarters, respectively. Additionally, our agronomy business generally experiences higher volumes and revenues during the spring planting season. Our global grain and processing operations are subject to fluctuations in volumes and revenues based on producer harvests, world grain prices, global demand and international trade relationships. Our Energy segment generally experiences higher volumes and revenues in
certain operating areas, such as refined fuel products, in the spring, summer and early fall when gasoline and diesel fuel use by agricultural producers is highest and is subject to global supply and demand forces. Other energy products, such as propane, generally experience higher volumes and revenues during the winter heating and fall crop-drying seasons. The graphs below depict the seasonality inherent in our businesses.
Pricing and Volumes. Our revenues, assets and cash flows can be significantly affected by global market prices and sales volumes of commodities such as petroleum products, natural gas, grain, oilseed products and agronomy products. Changes in market prices for commodities we purchase without a corresponding change in the selling prices of those products can affect revenues and operating earnings. Similarly, increased or decreased sales volumes without a corresponding change in the purchase and selling prices of those products can affect revenues and operating earnings. Commodity prices and sales volumes are affected by a wide range of factors beyond our control, including weather; crop damage due to plant disease or insects; drought; availability/adequacy of supply of a commodity; availability of reliable rail, river, truck and ocean transportation networks; disease outbreaks; government regulations and policies; global trade disputes; wars and civil unrest; and general political and/or economic conditions.
Business Strategy
Our business strategies focus on an enterprisewide effort to create an experience that empowers customers to make CHS their first choice, expand market access to add value for our owners and transform and evolve our core businesses by capitalizing on changing market dynamics. To execute these strategies, we are focused on implementing agile, efficient and sustainable technology platforms; building robust and efficient supply chains; hiring, developing and retaining high-performing, diverse and passionate teams; achieving operational excellence and continuous improvement; and maintaining a strong balance sheet.
Fiscal 2025 Highlights
•Our Ag segment performed well, although down from strong results in the prior year. This was mainly due to softening grain and oilseed product margins, lower oilseed crush margins, declining commodity prices and global market conditions.
•Despite strong volumes, our Energy segment results declined significantly from the prior year. This was driven by decreased Western Canadian Select crude oil discounts, unfavorable crack spreads and expected lower sales of produced, higher-margin refined products as a result of our planned major maintenance at our McPherson, Kansas refinery in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025.
•Equity method investments continued to provide solid contributions to CHS income, including strong results from our investments in CF Nitrogen and Ventura Foods.
Fiscal 2026 Outlook
Our segments operate in cyclical environments in which market conditions can change rapidly with significant positive or negative impacts on our results. We anticipate various macroeconomic factors will continue to drive uncertainty and instability in global energy and agricultural commodity markets, as well as global financial markets, which could have a significant impact on each of our segments during fiscal 2026. These factors include, among others, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and further conflict in the Middle East, shifts in global trade flows for commodities, including global competitiveness giving rise to a weak export market for U.S.-sourced agricultural products, potential changes in U.S. trade policy, increased or fluctuating tariffs, a changing interest rate environment, and continued pricing pressures impacting costs of labor, freight and materials. These factors, or any form of them, could cause significant margin pressure and lower profitability. In addition to these broad macroeconomic factors, other factors could impact demand and pricing for agricultural inputs and outputs, as well as our ability to supply those inputs and outputs while remaining profitable. These include regional factors, such as unpredictable weather conditions, including those due to climate change. We currently expect global supply and demand factors impacting energy and agricultural commodities to be unfavorable for us in fiscal 2026. Further, in light of increasing uncertainty in the markets we serve, we are unable to predict how long the current environment will last or the significance of the financial and operational impacts to us; however, we currently expect the trend of reduced margins for energy and agricultural commodities to persist in fiscal 2026. Refer to Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional consideration these risks may have on our business operations and financial performance.
We will continue to execute our enterprise priorities for fiscal 2026, including maximizing our platforms through our integrated supply chains and capitalizing on domestic and global opportunities, as we navigate less favorable market conditions for energy and agricultural commodities.
Operating Metrics
Energy
Our Energy segment operations primarily include our refineries in Laurel, Montana, and McPherson, Kansas, which process crude oil to produce refined products, including gasolines, distillates and other products. To ensure the reliability of our refineries, we perform major maintenance activities every two to five years, which require a temporary shutdown of operations. These planned shutdowns allow us to extend the life, increase the capacity and improve the safety and efficiency of our refinery processing assets. They also minimize unplanned business interruptions and are essential to the long-term reliability and profitability of our Energy segment.
During periods of maintenance, utilization rates, throughput volumes and refined fuel yields are lower, and we may purchase refined petroleum products from third parties to meet the needs of our customers. These third-party purchases may result in lower margins than for products produced by our refineries, which reduces our profitability. The following table provides information about our consolidated refinery operations:
Years Ended August 31,
2025 2024
Refinery throughput volumes* (Barrels per day)
Heavy, high-sulfur crude oil 100,029 108,713
All other crude oil 61,776 69,137
Other feedstocks and blendstocks 13,032 11,574
Total refinery throughput volumes 174,837 189,424
Refined fuel yields
Gasolines 81,030 85,210
Distillates 76,297 84,739
*Lower refinery throughput volumes and refined fuel yields experienced during fiscal 2025 were primarily due to a planned shutdown to perform major
maintenance at our McPherson, Kansas, refinery during the third quarter of fiscal 2025.
We are subject to the Renewable Fuel Standard that requires refiners to blend renewable fuels (e.g., ethanol and biodiesel) into their finished transportation fuels or purchase renewable energy credits, known as renewable identification numbers ("RINs"), in lieu of blending. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") generally establishes new annual renewable fuel percentage standards for each compliance year in the preceding year. We generate RINs through our blending activities, but we cannot generate enough RINs to meet the needs of our refining capacity; therefore, RINs must be purchased on the open market. The price of RINs can be volatile, with prices for D6 ethanol RINs and D4 biodiesel RINs increasing by 24% and 29%, respectively, during fiscal 2025, compared to the prior year, which negatively impacted our earnings. Estimates of our RIN expenses are calculated using an average RIN price each month.
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we received notice from the EPA that our petitions seeking an extension of the small refinery exemption ("SRE") under the Renewable Fuels Standard for our Laurel, Montana, refinery were granted in full or in part for compliance years 2019 through 2024. This action by the EPA reduced our renewable volume obligation ("RVO") for production at our Laurel, Montana, refinery for those specific years and resulted in a benefit of approximately $90 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. We may be eligible for exemptions for compliance years 2025 and beyond, but this is highly dependent on volumes of crude oil average throughput at that time and the EPA's evaluation of those potential future petitions. Further, we may incur future liabilities that partially or fully offset those benefits if the EPA reallocates the RVOs waived through the SRE process by increasing the blending requirements for larger refineries, including our McPherson, Kansas, refinery, in future years.
In addition to our internal operational reliability, the profitability of our Energy segment is largely driven by crack spreads (i.e., the price differential between refined products and crude oil inputs) and Western Canadian Select ("WCS") crude oil discounts (i.e., the price discount for WCS crude oil relative to West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") crude oil), which are driven by supply and demand of refined products. Crack spreads and WCS crude oil discounts both decreased in fiscal 2025, compared to the prior year, contributing to significantly decreased IBIT for the Energy segment. The table below provides
information about average market reference prices and differentials that impacted our Energy segment:
Years Ended August 31,
2025 2024
Market indicators
WTI crude oil (dollars per barrel) $ 68.08 $ 79.41
WTI - WCS crude oil discount (dollars per barrel) $ 11.57 $ 17.24
Group 3 2:1:1 crack spread (dollars per barrel)* $ 19.91 $ 21.97
Group 3 5:3:2 crack spread (dollars per barrel)* $ 19.12 $ 20.60
D6 ethanol RIN (dollars per RIN) $ 0.8428 $ 0.6801
D4 biodiesel RIN (dollars per RIN) $ 0.8823 $ 0.6829
*Group 3 refers to the oil refining and distribution system serving the Midwest markets from the Gulf Coast through the Plains states.
Ag
Our Ag segment operations work together to facilitate the production, purchase, sale and eventual use of grain and other agricultural commodities within the United States and internationally. Profitability in our Ag segment is mostly driven by throughput and production volumes, as well as commodity price spreads; however, revenues and cost of goods sold ("COGS") are largely affected by market-driven commodity prices outside our control. The table below provides information about average market prices for agricultural commodities, as well as sales and throughput volumes that impacted our Ag segment for the years ended August 31, 2025 and 2024:
Years Ended August 31,
Market Source* 2025 2024
Commodity prices
Corn (dollars per bushel) Chicago Board of Trade $ 4.36 $ 4.37
Soybeans (dollars per bushel) Chicago Board of Trade $ 10.16 $ 11.88
Wheat (dollars per bushel) Chicago Board of Trade $ 5.40 $ 5.76
Urea (dollars per ton) Green Markets NOLA $ 368.95 $ 332.46
Urea ammonium nitrate (dollars per ton) Green Markets NOLA $ 285.44 $ 238.84
Ethanol (dollars per gallon) Chicago Platts $ 1.70 $ 1.83
Volumes
Grain and oilseed (thousands of bushels) 2,433,258 2,382,219
North American grain and oilseed port throughput (thousands of bushels) 770,867 664,025
Wholesale crop nutrients (thousands of tons) 7,311 7,245
Ethanol (thousands of gallons) 565,835 711,451
*Market source information represents the average week-end or month-end price during the period.
Results of Operations
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Years Ended August 31,
2025 2024
Dollars % of Revenues* Dollars % of Revenues*
(In thousands) (In thousands)
Revenues $ 35,462,608 100.0 % $ 39,261,229 100.0 %
Cost of goods sold 34,325,794 96.8 37,509,902 95.5
Gross profit 1,136,814 3.2 1,751,327 4.5
Marketing, general and administrative expenses 1,046,059 2.9 1,166,969 3.0
Operating earnings 90,755 0.3 584,358 1.5
Interest expense 146,079 0.4 104,064 0.3
Other income (100,431) (0.3) (137,630) (0.4)
Equity income from investments (569,665) (1.6) (479,863) (1.2)
Income before income taxes 614,772 1.7 1,097,787 2.8
Income tax (benefit) expense 16,777 - (4,872) -
Net income 597,995 1.7 1,102,659 2.8
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 78 - 340 -
Net income attributable to CHS Inc. $ 597,917 1.7 % $ 1,102,319 2.8 %
*Amounts less than 0.1% are shown as zero percent. Percentage subtotals may not sum due to rounding.
The charts below detail revenues, net of intersegment revenues, and IBIT by segment for fiscal 2025. Our Nitrogen Production segment represents an equity method investment that records earnings and allocated expenses, but not revenues.
(Loss) Income Before Income Taxes by Segment
Energy
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
(Loss) Income before income taxes $ (7,042) $ 429,053 $ (436,095) (101.6) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Energy segment IBIT for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
*See commentary related to these changes in the marketing, general and administrative expenses, interest expense, other income and equity income from investments sections of this Results of Operations.
The change in Energy segment IBIT for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Significantly lower WCS crude oil discounts and crack spreads compared to the prior fiscal year, due to less favorable global market conditions, including higher U.S. refinery capacity utilization and global production, as well as additional export opportunities for Canadian crude oil, contributed to a $308.1 million decrease of IBIT.
• Decreased refined fuels production volumes contributed to a $88.5 million decrease in IBIT, primarily due to planned major maintenance at our McPherson refinery which reduced the sales mix of higher-margin, produced refined fuels products relative to lower-margin, purchased refined fuels products.
•The overall IBIT decrease was partially offset by an approximately $90 million favorable impact due to the small refinery exemption. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we received notice from the EPA that our petitions seeking an extension of the small refinery exemption under the Renewable Fuels Standard for our Laurel, Montana, refinery were granted in full or in part for compliance years 2019 through 2024. This action by the EPA reduced our renewable volume obligation for production at our Laurel, Montana, refinery for those specific years and resulted in a benefit during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
• Higher costs for RINs, exclusive of the small refinery exemption, contributed to a $45.7 million decrease of IBIT.
Ag
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Income before income taxes $ 245,660 $ 342,677 $ (97,017) (28.3) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Ag segment IBIT for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
*See commentary related to these changes in the marketing, general and administrative expenses, interest expense, other income and equity income from investments sections of this Results of Operations.
The change in Ag segment IBIT for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Decreased margins for our grain and oilseed product category are primarily a result of unfavorable market conditions in North America, South America and Europe, costs associated with closing our Superior, Wisconsin, grain facility and the timing impact of mark-to-market adjustments, collectively contributed to a $118.8 million decrease in IBIT.
•Decreased margins for our oilseed processing product category, due to a higher global supply of soybean and canola meal and oil, resulted in lower crush margins compared to the prior fiscal year and contributed to a $105.3 million decrease in IBIT.
All Other Segments
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Nitrogen Production IBIT* $ 159,541 $ 151,235 $ 8,306 5.5 %
Corporate and Other IBIT $ 216,613 $ 174,822 $ 41,791 23.9 %
*See Note 6, Investments, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Our Nitrogen Production segment IBIT increased slightly from the prior fiscal year due to higher equity income primarily attributed to favorable market conditions associated with urea. Corporate and Other IBIT increased largely as a result of a gain on the sale of a business, recognized by our equity investment Ventura Foods, during the year ended August 31, 2025.
Revenues by Segment
Energy
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Revenues $ 7,635,033 $ 8,766,495 $ (1,131,462) (12.9) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Energy segment revenues for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
The change in Energy segment revenues for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Global market conditions contributed to decreased selling prices for refined fuels that resulted in a $1.1 billion decrease in revenues.
Ag
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Revenues $ 27,748,481 $ 30,416,859 $ (2,668,378) (8.8) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Ag segment revenues for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
The change in Ag segment revenues for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Decreased selling prices across most of our Ag segment product categories due to global market conditions were experienced during fiscal 2025, including:
◦$2.7 billion decrease for grain and oilseed;
◦ $453.5 million decrease for oilseed processing; and
◦ $111.3 million decrease associated with renewable fuels.
•Increased volumes were realized across most of our Ag segment product categories, including:
◦$590.7 million for wholesale and retail agronomy products as a result of more favorable weather conditions and strategic initiatives to grow the business and;
◦$446.7 million for grain and oilseed as a result of higher demand due to lower prices.
◦These increases were partially offset by decreased volumes of renewable fuels as a result of unfavorable global market conditions, which contributed to decreased revenues of $272.6 million.
All Other Segments*
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Corporate and Other revenues $ 79,094 $ 77,875 $ 1,219 1.6 %
*Our Nitrogen Production reportable segment represents an equity method investment that records earnings and allocated expenses, but not revenues.
There were no significant changes to Corporate and Other revenues during fiscal 2025 compared to the prior year.
Cost of Goods Sold by Segment
Energy
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Cost of goods sold $ 7,339,336 $ 8,041,588 $ (702,252) (8.7) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Energy segment COGS for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
The change in Energy segment COGS for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Decreased costs for refined fuels, due to global market conditions, contributed to a $618.7 million decrease in COGS.
•COGS was further decreased by an approximately $90 million favorable impact due to the small refinery exemption. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we received notice from the EPA that our petitions seeking an extension of the small refinery exemption under the Renewable Fuels Standard for our Laurel, Montana, refinery were granted in full or in part for compliance years 2019 through 2024. This action by the EPA reduced our renewable volume obligation for production at our Laurel, Montana, refinery for those specific years and resulted in a benefit during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
• The overall COGS decrease was partially offset by increased costs for propane of $36.9 million, which were a result of higher product volumes and hedging impacts.
Ag
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Cost of goods sold $ 26,985,759 $ 29,478,231 $ (2,492,472) (8.5) %
The following waterfall analysis and commentary presents the changes in our Ag segment COGS for the year ended August 31, 2025, compared to the prior year:
The change in Ag segment COGS for fiscal 2025 reflects the following:
•Decreased costs across most of our Ag segment product categories due to global market conditions were experienced during fiscal 2025, including:
◦$2.5 billion decrease for grain and oilseed;
◦ $348.2 million decrease for oilseed processing; and
◦ $101.0 million decrease associated with renewable fuels.
•Increased volumes were realized across most of our Ag segment product categories, including:
◦$493.5 million for wholesale and retail agronomy products as a result of more favorable weather conditions and strategic initiatives to grow the business and;
◦$441.6 million for grain and oilseed as a result of higher demand due to lower prices.
◦These increases were partially offset by decreased volumes of renewable fuels as a result of unfavorable global market conditions, which contributed to decreased COGS of $258.3 million.
All Other Segments
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Nitrogen Production COGS $ 1,673 $ 138 $ 1,535 1,112.3%
Corporate and Other COGS $ (974) $ (10,055) $ 9,081 90.3%
There were no significant changes on a dollar basis to COGS for our Nitrogen Production segment or Corporate and Other during fiscal 2025 compared to the prior year.
Marketing, General and Administrative Expenses
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Marketing, general and administrative expenses $ 1,046,059 $ 1,166,969 $ (120,910) (10.4) %
Marketing, general and administrative expenses decreased during fiscal 2025 primarily due to lower expenses for performance-based incentive compensation associated with our lower profitability during the current fiscal year.
Interest Expense
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Interest expense $ 146,079 $ 104,064 $ 42,015 40.4 %
Interest expense increased during fiscal 2025, as a result of a higher short-term notes payable balance, along with higher weighted-average interest rates, compared to the prior fiscal year.
Other Income
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Other income $ 100,431 $ 137,630 $ (37,199) (27.0) %
Other income decreased during fiscal 2025 primarily due to decreased interest income as a result of a smaller cash balance compared to the prior fiscal year.
Equity Income from Investments
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Equity income from investments* $ 569,665 $ 479,863 $ 89,802 18.7 %
*See Note 6, Investments, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Equity income from investments increased during fiscal 2025 compared to the prior year, primarily due to a gain on the sale of a business recognized by our equity investment Ventura Foods.
Income Tax (Benefit) Expense
Years Ended August 31, Change
2025 2024 Dollars Percent
(Dollars in thousands)
Income tax (benefit) expense $ 16,777 $ (4,872) $ 21,649 (444.4) %
Increased income tax expense during fiscal 2025 resulted primarily from lower research and development tax credits, a change in a state law and a fluctuation between taxable and nontaxable patronage income. Effective tax rates for the years ended August 31, 2025 and 2024, were 2.7% and (0.4)%, respectively. Federal and state statutory rates of 24.3% and 24.5% were applied to nonpatronage business activity for the years ended August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Income taxes and effective tax rates vary each year based on profitability and nonpatronage business activity.
Comparison of Results of Operations for the Years Ended August 31, 2024 and 2023
For a discussion of results of operations for fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023, please refer to Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on November 6, 2024.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
In assessing our financial condition, we consider factors such as working capital, internal benchmarking related to our applicable covenants and other financial information. The following financial information is used when assessing our liquidity and capital resources to meet our capital allocation priorities, which include maintaining the safety and compliance of our operations, paying interest on debt and preferred stock dividends, returning cash to our member-owners in the form of cash patronage and equity redemptions, and taking advantage of strategic opportunities that benefit our member-owners:
August 31,
2025 2024
(Dollars in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents $ 327,826 $ 794,865
Notes payable 1,152,457 306,831
Long-term debt including current maturities 1,835,833 2,161,460
Total equities 11,080,174 10,761,924
Working capital 2,803,865 3,307,969
Current ratio* 1.5 1.6
*Current ratio is defined as current assets divided by current liabilities.
Summary of Our Major Sources of Cash and Cash Equivalents
We fund our current operations primarily through our cash flows from operations and with short-term borrowings through our committed and uncommitted revolving credit facilities, including our securitization facility with certain unaffiliated financial institutions ("Securitization Facility"). We fund certain of our long-term capital needs, primarily those related to acquisitions of property, plant and equipment, with cash flows from operations, our revolving term loan facility and by issuing long-term debt. See Note 9, Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on our short-term borrowings and long-term debt, including tables with summarized long-term debt outstanding. We will continue to consider opportunities to further diversify and enhance our sources and amounts of liquidity.
Summary of Our Major Uses of Cash and Cash Equivalents
Annually, our Board of Directors approves our capital expenditure budget. Our fiscal 2026 capital expenditure priorities include maintaining our assets through repairs and maintenance; complying with environmental, health and safety requirements; enhancing information technology capabilities; improving productivity; and growth. Our refining business requires continued investment in our refining process to maintain its safety, operational reliability and profitability. In addition, our Board of Directors approved our cash patronage and equity redemptions to be paid in fiscal 2026, based on fiscal 2025 financial performance. The following is a summary of our primary expected cash requirements for fiscal 2026:
•Capital expenditures. We expect total capital expenditures for fiscal 2026 to be approximately $575.1 million, compared to capital expenditures of $728.6 million in fiscal 2025, as we continue to invest in capital expenditures projects to meet the evolving needs of our owners and customers and enhance value for the cooperative system during fiscal 2026.
•Major maintenance. We expect total major maintenance for fiscal 2026 to be approximately $53.3 million, compared to major maintenance of $271.4 million in fiscal 2025. Decreased major maintenance expectation for fiscal 2026 is due to significantly reduced turnaround activities at our refineries compared to the turnaround at our McPherson refinery during fiscal 2025.
•Preferred stock dividends. We had approximately $2.3 billion of preferred stock outstanding as of August 31, 2025. We expect to pay dividends on our preferred stock of approximately $168.7 million during fiscal 2026.
•Patronage. Our Board of Directors authorized approximately $30.0 million of our fiscal 2025 patronage-sourced earnings to be paid to our member-owners during fiscal 2026.
•Equity redemptions. Our Board of Directors authorized approximately $90.0 million of equity redemptions to be distributed in fiscal 2026 in the form of redemptions of qualified and nonqualified equity owned by individual producer-members and association members. The Board of Directors will continue to periodically evaluate the level of equity redemption activity throughout fiscal 2026 with respect to the amounts it has authorized for redemption during the fiscal year.
We believe cash generated by operating and investing activities, along with available borrowing capacity under our credit facilities, will be sufficient to support our short-term (the next 12 months) and long-term (beyond the next 12 months) operations. Our notes payable and long-term debt are subject to various restrictive requirements for maintenance of minimum consolidated net worth and other financial ratios. We were in compliance with all our debt covenants and restrictions as of August 31, 2025. Based on our current 2026 projections, we expect continued covenant compliance.
Working Capital
We measure working capital as current assets less current liabilities as each amount appears on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We believe this information is meaningful to investors as a measure of operational efficiency and short-term financial health. Working capital is not defined under U.S. GAAP and may not be computed the same as similarly titled measures used by other companies. Working capital as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, was as follows:
2025 2024 Change
(Dollars in thousands)
Current assets $ 8,086,351 $ 8,708,783 $ (622,432)
Less current liabilities 5,282,486 5,400,814 (118,328)
Working capital $ 2,803,865 $ 3,307,969 $ (504,104)
As of August 31, 2025, working capital decreased by $504.1 million compared with August 31, 2024. Current asset balance changes decreased working capital by $622.4 million, primarily driven by a lower cash balance due to a decline in cash provided by operations during fiscal year 2025. Current liabilities balance changes increased working capital by $118.3 million, primarily due to a decrease in dividends and equity payable for lower cash patronage and equity redemptions expected to be distributed during fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal year 2025.
We finance our working capital needs through committed and uncommitted lines of credit with domestic and international banks. We believe our current cash balances and available capacity on our committed and uncommitted lines of credit will provide adequate liquidity to meet our working capital needs.
Contractual Obligations
Below is a summary of our estimated future contractual obligations as of August 31, 2025 that are expected to be paid within the next year (short-term) and thereafter (long-term).
Payments Due by Period
Short-Term Long-Term Total
(Dollars in thousands)
Long-term debt $ 80,778 $ 1,703,751 $ 1,784,529
Interest payments related to long-term debt (1)
91,232 656,054 747,286
Finance lease (2)
10,984 54,763 65,747
Operating lease (2)
75,886 190,573 266,459
Purchase obligations (3)
4,694,972 1,154,109 5,849,081
Total $ 4,953,852 $ 3,759,250 $ 8,713,102
(1) Based on interest rates and long-term debt balances as of August 31, 2025.
(2) Finance and operating lease obligations are described in Note 19, Leases, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Operating and finance lease obligations reflected in this table include related interest expense.
(3) Purchase obligations are legally binding and enforceable agreements to purchase goods or services that specify all significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased and fixed or estimated prices to be paid at the time of settlement.
Cash Flows
Years Ended August 31,
2025 2024 Change
(Dollars in thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 635,787 $ 1,272,880 $ (637,093)
Net cash used in investing activities (880,595) (1,431,588) 550,993
Net cash used in financing activities (230,567) (814,253) 583,686
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 773 2,236 (1,463)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash $ (474,602) $ (970,725) $ 496,123
Cash flows from operating activities can fluctuate significantly from period to period as a result of various factors, including seasonality and timing differences associated with purchases, sales, taxes and other business decisions. The $637.1 million decrease in cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2025 primarily reflects decreased net income, as well as decreased cash provided by inventories during fiscal 2025.
The $551.0 million decrease in cash used in investing activities in fiscal 2025 reflects increased proceeds from the sale and maturity of investments and lower expenditures for property, plant and equipment during fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024.
The $583.7 million decrease in cash used in financing activities in fiscal 2025 primarily reflects increased net proceeds from long-term debt and decreased cash outflows for patronage paid and equity redemptions during fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024.
Critical Accounting Policies
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires use of estimates, as well as management's judgments and assumptions regarding matters that are subjective, uncertain or involve a high degree of complexity, all of which affect the results of operations and financial condition for the periods presented. We believe the following accounting policies are critical to our consolidated financial statements and may involve a higher degree of estimates, judgments and complexity.
Inventory Valuation and Reserves
Grain, processed grain, oilseed, processed oilseed and other minimally processed soy-based inventories are stated at net realizable value. All other inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The costs of certain energy inventories (wholesale refined products, crude oil and asphalt) are determined on the last-in, first-out ("LIFO") method; all other inventories of nongrain products purchased for resale are valued on the first-in, first-out ("FIFO") and average cost methods. Estimates are used in determining the net realizable values of grain and oilseed and processed grain and oilseed inventories. These estimates include using inputs that are generally based on exchange-traded prices and/or recent market bids and offers, including location-specific adjustments. If estimates regarding the valuation of inventories are less favorable than management's assumptions, write-downs of inventories may be required.
Derivative Financial Instruments
We enter into exchange-traded commodity futures and options contracts to hedge our exposure to price fluctuations on energy, grain and oilseed transactions to the extent considered practicable for minimizing risk. Futures and options contracts used for hedging are purchased and sold through regulated commodity exchanges. We also use over-the-counter instruments to hedge our exposure on fixed-price contracts. Fluctuations in inventory valuations, however, may not be completely hedged due in part to the absence of satisfactory hedging facilities for certain commodities and geographical areas and in part to our assessment of our exposure from expected price fluctuations. We also manage our risks by entering into fixed-price purchase contracts with preapproved producers and establishing appropriate limits for individual suppliers. Fixed-price sales contracts are entered into with customers of acceptable creditworthiness, as internally evaluated. The fair values of futures and options contracts are determined primarily from quotes listed on regulated commodity exchanges. Fixed-price purchase and sales contracts are with various counterparties, and the fair values of such contracts are determined from the market price of the underlying product. We are exposed to loss in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to the contracts and, therefore, contract values are reviewed and adjusted to reflect potential nonperformance. Risk of nonperformance by counterparties includes the inability to perform because of a counterparty's financial condition and a risk that the counterparty will refuse to
perform on a contract during periods of price fluctuations where contract prices are significantly different from current market prices.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
Pension and other postretirement benefits costs and obligations depend on assumptions used in calculating such amounts. These assumptions include discount rates, health care cost trend rates, benefits earned, interest costs, expected return on plan assets, mortality rates and other factors. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and therefore generally affect recognized expenses and the recorded obligations in future periods. While our management believes the assumptions used are appropriate, differences in actual experience or changes in assumptions may affect our pension and other postretirement obligations and future expenses.
Deferred Tax Assets and Uncertain Tax Positions
We assess whether a valuation allowance is necessary to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount we believe is more likely than not to be realized. While we have considered future taxable income, as well as other factors, in assessing the need for the valuation allowance, in the event that we were to determine that we would not be able to realize all or part of our net deferred tax assets in the future, an adjustment to our deferred tax assets would be charged to income in the period such determination was made. We are also significantly impacted by utilization of tax credits, some of which were passed to us from the McPherson refinery, related to refinery upgrades that enable us to produce ultra-low-sulfur fuels. Our tax credit carryforwards are available to offset future federal and state tax liabilities with the tax credits becoming unavailable to us if not used by their expiration date. Our net operating loss carryforwards for tax purposes are available to offset future taxable income. If our loss carryforwards are not used, they will expire.
Tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions are recognized in our financial statements if it is more likely than not the position would be sustained upon examination by a tax authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. The benefits are measured using a cumulative probability approach. Under this approach, we record in our financial statements the greatest amount of tax benefits that have a more than 50% probability of being realized upon final settlement with the tax authorities. In determining these tax benefits, we assign probabilities to a range of outcomes that we feel we could ultimately settle on with the tax authorities using all relevant facts and information available at the reporting date. Due to the complexity of these uncertainties, the ultimate resolution may result in a benefit that is materially different than our current estimate.
Long-Lived Assets
Property, plant and equipment is depreciated or amortized over the expected useful lives of individual or groups of assets based on the straight-line method. Economic circumstances or other factors may cause management's estimates of expected useful lives to differ from actual useful lives.
All long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment, goodwill, investments in unconsolidated affiliates and other identifiable intangibles, are evaluated for impairment in accordance with U.S. GAAP, at least annually for goodwill, and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of a long-lived asset or asset group may not be recoverable. For goodwill, our annual impairment testing occurs in our fourth quarter. An impaired asset is written down to its estimated fair value based on the best information available. Fair value is generally measured by discounting estimated future cash flows. Considerable management judgment is necessary to estimate discounted future cash flows and our estimates may differ from actual results.
We have other assets that we may be obligated to dismantle at the end of the corresponding lease terms subject to the lessor's discretion for which we have recorded an asset retirement obligation. Based on our estimates of the timing, cost and probability of removal, this obligation is not material.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 1, Organization, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information concerning new accounting standards and the impact of implementation of those standards on our financial statements.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Commodity Price Risk
When we enter into a commodity purchase or sales commitment, we incur risks related to price changes and performance including delivery, quality, quantity and shipment period. In the event that market prices decrease, we are exposed to risk of loss for the market value of inventory and purchase contracts with fixed or partially fixed prices. Conversely, we are exposed to risk of loss on our fixed- or partially fixed-price sales contracts in the event that market prices increase.
Our use of hedging reduces exposure to price volatility by protecting against adverse short-term price movements, but also limits the benefits of favorable short-term price movements. To reduce the price risk associated with fixed-price commitments, we generally enter into commodity derivative contracts, to the extent practical, to achieve a net commodity position within the formal position limits we have established and deemed prudent for each commodity. These contracts are primarily transacted through our FCM on regulated commodity futures exchanges, but may include over-the-counter derivative instruments when deemed appropriate. These contracts are recorded at fair values based on quotes listed on regulated commodity exchanges or the market prices of the underlying products listed on the exchanges, except that certain contracts are accounted for as normal purchase and normal sales transactions. For commodities where there is no liquid derivative contract, risk is managed through use of forward sales contracts, other pricing arrangements and, to some extent, futures contracts in highly correlated commodities. These contracts are economic hedges of price risk, but are not designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes. Unrealized gains and losses on these contracts are recognized in cost of goods sold in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
When a futures position is established, the initial margin must be deposited with the applicable exchange or broker. The amount of margin required varies by commodity and is set by the applicable exchange at its sole discretion. If the market price relative to a short futures position increases, an additional margin deposit would be required. Similarly, a margin deposit would be required if the market price relative to a long futures position decreases. Conversely, if the market price increases relative to a long futures position or decreases relative to a short futures position, margin deposits may be returned by the applicable exchange or broker.
Our policy is to manage our commodity price risk exposure according to internal policies and in alignment with our tolerance for risk. It is our policy that our profitability should come from operations, primarily derived from margins on products sold and grain merchandised, not from hedging transactions. At any one time, inventory and purchase contracts for delivery to us may be substantial. We have risk management policies and procedures that include established net physical position limits. These limits are defined for each commodity and business unit, and business units may include both trader and management limits as appropriate. The limits policy is overseen at a high level by our corporate middle office and compliance team, with day-to-day monitoring procedures being implemented within each individual business unit to ensure any limits overages are explained and exposures reduced, or a temporary limit increase is established if needed. The position limits are reviewed at least annually with our senior leadership and Board of Directors. We monitor current market conditions and may expand or reduce our net position limits or procedures in response to changes in those conditions.
The use of hedging instruments does not protect against nonperformance by counterparties to cash contracts. We evaluate counterparty exposure by reviewing contracts and adjusting the values to reflect potential nonperformance. Risk of nonperformance by counterparties includes the inability to perform because of a counterparty's financial condition and the risk that the counterparty will refuse to perform on a contract during periods of price fluctuations where contract prices are significantly different from current market prices. We manage these risks by entering into fixed-price purchase and sales contracts with preapproved producers and by establishing appropriate limits for individual suppliers. Fixed-price contracts are entered into with customers of acceptable creditworthiness, as internally evaluated. Regarding our use of derivatives, we transact in exchange traded instruments or enter into over-the-counter derivatives that primarily clear through our FCM, which limits our counterparty exposure relative to hedging activities. Historically, we have not experienced significant events of nonperformance on open contracts. Accordingly, we only adjust the estimated fair values of specifically identified contracts for nonperformance. Although we have established policies and procedures, we make no assurances that historical nonperformance experience will carry forward to future periods.
Based on our net fair market value calculation as of August 31, 2025, a 10% adverse change in market prices would not materially affect our results of operations. While we use commodity futures and forward contracts as economic hedges of price risk, and our operations have effective economic hedging requirements as a general practice, we cannot ensure that these risk management activities will offset all financial impact resulting from an adverse change in market prices. Factors that could impact the effectiveness of our hedging activities include the accuracy of our forecasts, volatility of the commodity markets and availability of hedging instruments. Utilization of derivatives and hedging activities is described more fully in Note 15,
Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities, and Note 16, Fair Value Measurements, of the notes to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Interest Rate Risk
Debt used to finance our working capital needs is represented by short-term notes payable, so our blended interest rate for all such notes approximates current market rates. The table below provides information about our outstanding debt that is sensitive to changes in interest rates. The table presents scheduled contractual principal payments and related weighted average interest rates for the fiscal years presented.
Expected Maturity Date Total Fair Value
Liability
2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Thereafter
(Dollars in thousands)
Liabilities:
Variable rate miscellaneous
short-term notes payable $ 584,226 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 584,226 $ 584,226
Average interest rate 5.0 % - - - - - 5.0 % -
Variable rate CHS Capital short-term notes payable $ 568,231 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 568,231 $ 568,231
Average interest rate 4.8 % - - - - - 4.8 % -
Fixed rate long-term debt $ 80,778 $ 58,601 $ 190,150 $ - $ 150,000 $ 1,305,000 $ 1,784,529 $ 1,848,616
Average interest rate 4.8 % 4.7 % 4.0 % - 5.7 % 5.2 % 5.1 % -
Foreign Currency Risk
We were exposed to risk regarding foreign currency fluctuations during fiscal 2025 and in prior years even though a substantial amount of our international sales were denominated in U.S. dollars. In addition to specific transactional exposure, foreign currency fluctuations can impact the ability of foreign buyers to purchase U.S. agricultural products and competitiveness of U.S. agricultural products compared to the same products offered by alternative sources of world supply. From time to time, we enter into foreign currency hedge contracts to minimize the impact of currency fluctuations on our transactional exposures. The notional amount of our foreign exchange derivative contracts was $1.7 billion and $1.5 billion as of August 31, 2025 and 2024.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
The financial statements listed in Item 15(a)(1) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K are set forth beginning on page. Financial statement schedules are included in Schedule II in Item 15(a)(2) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act")), as of August 31, 2025. Based on that evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that, as of that date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting.
Our internal control system is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.
Also, projecting any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based on management's assessment using this framework, management concluded that, as of August 31, 2025, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management's report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to the Financial Reform Bill passed in July 2010 that permits us to provide only management's report in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended August 31, 2025, that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
During the three months ended August 31, 2025, no director or officer of the company adopted, modified or terminated a "Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement" or "non-rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement," as each term is defined in Item 408(a) or Regulation S-K.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The table below provides certain information regarding each of our directors, as of August 31, 2025:
Name Age Director
Region Director Since
David Beckman 65 8 2018
Clinton J. Blew 48 8 2010
Hal Clemensen 65 4 2019
Scott Cordes 64 1 2017
Christopher Edgington 63 7 2024
Jon Erickson 65 3 2011
Mark Farrell 66 5 2016
Alan Holm 65 1 2013
Tracy Jones 62 5 2017
David Kayser 66 4 2006
Russell Kehl 50 6 2017
Anthony Rossman 53 1 2023
Daniel Schurr 60 7 2006
Trent Sherven 40 3 2024
Jerrad Stroh 55 8 2022
Kevin Throener 53 3 2019
Cortney Wagner 47 2 2020
As a cooperative, members of our Board of Directors are nominated and elected by our members as required by our bylaws. As described below under "Director Elections and Voting," to ensure geographic representation of our members, the Board of Directors represents eight regions in which our members are located. The members in each region nominate and elect the number of directors for that region as set forth in our bylaws.
In April 2025, the Board of Directors approved the formation of a Nominating Committee effective as of the date of the annual meeting of members, which is currently scheduled for December 5, 2025. Thereafter, the Nominating Committee will nominate one or two candidates for each seat up for election at the annual meeting, which may be in addition to any candidates nominated by petition or from the floor. The initial members of the Nominating Committee will be elected by members at the 2025 annual meeting of members, who will vote on the committee member candidates selected by the Board of Directors. Each member of the Nominating Committee must be a Class A individual member of CHS or a member of a cooperative association member and cannot be an employee of any CHS member cooperative or current CHS director or employee. Accordingly, except for the Board's selection of Nominating Committee member candidates, neither management nor the incumbent directors have any control over the nominating process for directors.
As described below under "Director Elections and Voting," to be eligible for service as a director, a nominee must, among other things, (i) be an active farmer or rancher, (ii) be a Class A individual member of CHS or a member of a cooperative association member and (iii) reside in the geographic region from which he or she is nominated. In general, our directors operate large commercial agricultural enterprises, which require expertise in all areas of management, including financial oversight. Nearly all directors also have experience serving on local cooperative association boards and all participate in a variety of agricultural and community organizations. Our directors complete a robust new director orientation and the National Association of Corporate Directors comprehensive Director Professionalism course and earn the Certificate of Director Education. In addition, our Board of Directors has adopted a Director Continuing Education Program, which encourages directors to participate in ongoing continuing education to further strengthen their knowledge and effectiveness. We provide learning opportunities during board meetings and other scheduled sessions, with prioritized topics of interest covered by management or outside experts. We also support directors in attending programs provided by third parties. We believe that each of our directors meets the aforementioned eligibility requirements and qualifications described under "Director Elections and Voting" to serve on the Board of Directors.
David Beckman has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2018. He is chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Capital Committee. He is a former secretary of the Nebraska Cooperative Council and former board chair for Central Valley Ag Cooperative in York, Nebraska. He holds a bachelor's degree in agronomy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Mr. Beckman's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. In partnership with his family, he raises irrigated corn and soybeans and operates a custom hog-feeding operation in Nebraska.
Clinton J. Blew, First Vice Chair, has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2010. He serves on the Governance and Corporate Risk committees. Mr. Blew has also served as second vice chair of the Executive Committee of the Board. He is a former member of the board of directors of Mid Kansas Coop, Moundridge, Kansas, and is a member of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center Advisory Council, CoBank board restructuring committee, Hutchinson Community College Ag Advisory Board, Kansas Livestock Association and Red Angus Association of America. He holds an applied science degree in farm and ranch management from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College. Mr. Blew's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years, and he farms and ranches in a family partnership in Kansas.
Hal Clemensen has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2019. He is chair of the Government Relations Committee and vice chair of the Capital Committee. He is a former member of the Agtegra Cooperative board and previously served as a director of the South Dakota Value Added Agriculture Development Center, South Dakota Soybean Association and Redfield Farmers Union Oil Company and has served on the Avera Rural Cancer Advisory Board. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics and agricultural business from South Dakota State University. Mr. Clemensen's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He and his wife raise corn, soybeans and wheat in South Dakota.
Scott Cordes, Second Vice Chair, has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2017. He is a member of the Corporate Risk and Governance committees. He serves as a director and past chair of Security State Bank of Wanamingo. Previously, he served as a director of Cooperative Network, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and National Futures Association. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Cordes' principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. Prior to his current occupation, he was a CHS employee from 1995 to 2016, serving as president of CHS Hedging, LLC, a commodities brokerage subsidiary of CHS from 2000 to 2016. He co-owns and operates a Minnesota corn and soybean farm.
Christopher Edgington has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2024. He is a member of the Capital and Government Relations committees. He chairs Rural Development Partners and is former president of the National Corn Growers Association, former president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and former chair of Golden Oval Eggs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Iowa State University and is a graduate of the Iowa Corn I-Lead program. Mr. Edgington’s principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He and his family operate a multi-generational farm in Iowa, where they raise corn and soybeans and have a custom cattle-feeding enterprise.
Jon Erickson has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2011. He is a member of the Audit and Corporate Risk committees and previously served as second vice chair of the Executive Committee of the Board. He is an advisory board member for the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, a member of the Grand Farm board of directors, a board member of the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, a council member of Rural Leadership North Dakota and a member of the North Dakota Farmers Union and North Dakota Stockmen's Association. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University. Mr. Erickson's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He raises grain and oilseed and operates a commercial Hereford-Angus cow-calf business in North Dakota.
Mark Farrell has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2016. He is vice chair of the CHS Foundation Board of Trustees and a member of the Governance Committee. Previously, he served as a director and president of the Premier Cooperative board and as a director of Mount Horeb Farmers Co-op and United Ethanol. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Agricultural & Life Sciences Farm & Industry Short Course. Mr. Farrell's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He raises corn and soybeans in Wisconsin.
Alan Holm, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2013. Since 2021, he has been assistant secretary-treasurer of the Executive Committee of the Board. He is chair of the Capital Committee and vice chair of the Government Relations Committee. He also serves on the board for Citizens Bank of Minnesota and is former board chair of River Region Cooperative. He holds an associate degree in machine tool technology from Mankato (Minnesota) Technical College. Mr. Holm's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He raises corn, soybeans, sweet corn, peas and hay and owns and manages a cow-calf operation in Minnesota.
Tracy Jones has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2017. He is chair of the Governance Committee and a member of the Capital Committee. He has served on the DeKalb County Board and on the boards of CHS Elburn, the former Elburn Co-op, DeKalb County Farm Bureau, DeKalb Kane Cattlemen's Association and DeKalb County Corn Growers. He earned an associate degree in farm management from Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois. Mr. Jones' principal occupation
has been farming for more than five years. He operates a fourth-generation Illinois family farm, that raises corn, soybeans and wheat and feeds cattle.
David Kayser has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2006. He serves as chair of the Corporate Risk Committee and is a member of the Governance Committee. Mr. Kayser is a previous director and chair of CHS Farmers Alliance and South Dakota Association of Cooperatives and former chair of the Mitchell (South Dakota) Technical College Foundation Board. Mr. Kayser's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He raises corn, soybeans and hay and operates a cow-calf and feeder-calf business in South Dakota.
Russell Kehl, Secretary-Treasurer, has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2017. Since 2019, Mr. Kehl has served as secretary-treasurer of the Executive Committee of the Board. He is vice chair of the Governance Committee and a member of the Capital Committee. He previously was a director of CHS SunBasin Growers and vice chair of the Columbia Basin Seed Association. Mr. Kehl's primary occupation has been farming for more than five years. He and his family operate a Washington farm that produces crops, primarily potatoes and dry beans, and includes a cow-calf herd. His family also owns and operates dry bean processing facilities that serve international and domestic customers, a custom farming business and a trucking and logistics company.
Anthony Rossman has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2023. He is a member of the Audit Committee and the CHS Foundation Board of Trustees. Mr. Rossman previously served as president of the CHS ag retail producer board based in Rochester, Minnesota. He is active in emerging technology and sustainability initiatives for production agriculture and is a member of state corn and soybean growers associations. He holds a bachelor's degree in animal science from North Dakota State University. Mr. Rossman's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He operates and manages a crop and livestock operation in Minnesota and manages genetic alliances in the beef industry.
Daniel Schurr, Chair, has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2006. Since 2017, Mr. Schurr has served as chair of the Executive Committee of the Board. He serves on the Blackhawk Bank and Trust board and audit and loan committees and previously served on the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area board. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural business with a minor in economics from Iowa State University. Mr. Schurr's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He raises corn and soybeans and operates a commercial trucking business in Iowa.
Trent Sherven has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2024. He is a member of the Audit Committee and the CHS Foundation Board of Trustees. He is a former member of the CHS SunPrairie producer board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math education from Minot State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Arizona State University. Mr. Sherven’s principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He operates family farms in North Dakota, producing flax, peas and spring wheat.
Jerrad Stroh has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2022. He is vice chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Corporate Risk Committee. He serves on the board of Cooperative Producers, Inc., and has completed the Nebraska Cooperative Council Director Certification Program. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Hastings College and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University. Mr. Stroh’s principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He and his family raise corn and soybeans in Nebraska.
Kevin Throener has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2019. He chairs the CHS Foundation Board of Trustees and is a member of the Audit Committee. He has served on the board of directors of CHS Dakota Plains and has been a member of Full Circle Ag, James Valley Ag and Agtegra cooperatives. He is an advisory board member for the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives and a member of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association. He attended North Dakota State University, majoring in agricultural systems management. Mr. Throener's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. He and his wife and family raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa and cattle and operate a beef backgrounding and finishing business in North Dakota.
Cortney Wagner has been a member of the CHS Board of Directors since 2020. She is vice chair of the Corporate Risk Committee and a member of the Government Relations Committee. She has served on the board of the Montana Council of Cooperatives. She holds a real estate license and previously worked in commercial investment and risk management. She earned an associate of arts degree from Williston State College and attended the University of North Dakota, majoring in business finance and psychology. Ms. Wagner's principal occupation has been farming for more than five years. She is a first-generation cattle and hay producer based in Montana.
Director Elections and Voting
Director elections are for three-year terms and are open to any qualified candidate. Qualifications for the office of director are as follows:
•At the time of declaration of candidacy, the individual (except in the case of an incumbent) must have the written endorsement of a locally elected producer board that is part of the CHS system and located within the region from which the individual is to be a candidate.
•At the time of the election, the individual must be less than 68 years old.
The remaining qualifications set forth below must be met at all times commencing six months prior to the time of election and while the individual holds office:
•The individual must be a Class A individual member of CHS or a member of a cooperative association member.
•The individual must reside in the region from which he or she is to be elected.
•The individual must be an active farmer or rancher. "Active farmer or rancher" means an individual whose primary occupation is that of a farmer or rancher, excluding anyone who is an employee of CHS or of a cooperative association member.
The following positions on the Board of Directors will be up for election at the 2025 Annual Meeting of Members:
Region Incumbent
Region 1 (Minnesota) Al Holm
Region 3 (North Dakota) Kevin Throener
Region 4 (South Dakota) Hal Clemensen
Region 5 (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin) Mark Farrell
Region 8 (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas) Jerrad Stroh
Voting rights, including those in regard to director elections, arise by virtue of membership in CHS, not because of ownership of any equity or debt instruments; therefore, our preferred shareholders cannot recommend nominees to our Board of Directors nor vote in regard to director elections unless they are also Class A or Class C members of CHS.
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The table below lists our executive officers as appointed by the CHS Board of Directors as of August 31, 2025:
Name Age Position
Jay Debertin 65 President and Chief Executive Officer
David Black 59 Executive Vice President, Enterprise Transformation, and Chief Information Officer
Richard Dusek 61 Executive Vice President, Ag Retail, Distribution and Transportation
John Griffith 56 Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging
Gary Halvorson 52 Executive Vice President, Enterprise Customer Development
Darin Hunhoff 55 Executive Vice President, Energy
Mary Kaul-Hottinger 61 Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
Olivia Nelligan 50 Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
Brandon Smith 45 Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Jay Debertin has been president and chief executive officer ("CEO") of CHS since 2017. Mr. Debertin joined CHS in 1984 in the energy division and held a variety of positions in its energy marketing operations before being named vice president of crude oil supply in 1998. In 2001, his responsibilities expanded to include crude oil supply, refining, pipelines and terminals, trading and risk management, and transportation. From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Debertin was executive vice president and chief operating officer for processing at CHS. From 2010 to 2017, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of energy and foods, where he led energy, transportation and processing at CHS. Mr. Debertin serves as chair of the board for Ventura Foods, LLC, and also serves on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Securian Financial and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Dakota and a master of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
David Black has been executive vice president, enterprise transformation, and chief information officer for CHS since December 2022. He is responsible for enterprise transformation, marketing, communications, innovation, facilities and CHS global information technology. Mr. Black leads enterprise transformation efforts, driving ongoing companywide efficiency and opportunities for profitable growth, as well as strategy, implementation, delivery and operation of information technology for all CHS businesses worldwide. He also oversees our owner and employee communications, advertising and public relations. Mr. Black serves on the boards of Ventura Foods and Cooperative Ventures, a venture capital fund joint venture between CHS and Growmark that focuses on innovative solutions and emerging technologies that positively impact farming. He is former board chair of Ag Gateway, a nonprofit consortium of 300-plus businesses, which strives to promote, enable and expand e-business in agriculture. Mr. Black joined CHS in 2014 and previously worked at Monsanto Company, where he served as vice president, information technology, overseeing all aspects of information technology for its global commercial businesses. During his 20 years with Monsanto, he also served as vice president, corporate strategy, and president, Monsanto Agro-Services, LLC, and was responsible for new business development. Mr. Black earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Tarkio College.
Richard Dusek has been executive vice president, ag retail, distribution and transportation, since November 2017. He leads CHS ag retail operations and wholesale distribution assets that serve as a critical channel for our core businesses, aligning an enterprise supply chain for energy, agronomy, animal nutrition and grain product lines to serve our owners, and driving growth and efficiency through a customer-focused solutions platform. Mr. Dusek also oversees the enterprise transportation function, which includes all modes serving our product lines. He is a former board member of The Fertilizer Institute and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. He joined CHS in 1988 as a wheat trader. Prior to leading our ag retail business, Mr. Dusek held roles as vice president in our grain marketing and agronomy divisions. He earned a bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
John Griffith has been executive vice president, ag business and CHS Hedging, since January 2021. He leads CHS trading and risk management for global grain, oilseeds, crop nutrients and crop protection. Mr. Griffith also serves as board chair for CHS Hedging, a commodities brokerage subsidiary of CHS, and represents CHS on the CF Nitrogen Board of Managers. He also serves on the board of Producer Ag, LLC, a grain marketing joint venture between CHS and MKC, and on the board of CHS/MKC, LLC. He previously chaired the North American Export Grain Association board and served on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange board of directors. Mr. Griffith worked for CHS early in his career as a grain merchandiser and rejoined CHS at a leadership level in January 2013. Since that time, he has held various leadership roles within global grain marketing, including senior vice president, CHS global grain marketing and CHS Hedging, and vice president, grain marketing North America. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. John's University and a master of business administration degree from Rockhurst University.
Gary Halvorson has been executive vice president, enterprise customer development, since December 2022. He is responsible for efforts across all product lines to deliver a focused and coordinated customer experience for owners and customers. Mr. Halvorson serves on the board of Cooperative Ventures, a venture capital fund joint venture between CHS and Growmark that focuses on innovative solutions and emerging technologies that positively impact farming. Mr. Halvorson has served on the National FFA Sponsors Board, the Agricultural Retailers Association board of directors and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) board of directors. He joined CHS more than 20 years ago. Most recently, he led the CHS agronomy business. Prior to that, Mr. Halvorson held various leadership roles with CHS at locations in North Dakota before becoming general manager for CHS Ag Services in Warren, Minnesota. Mr. Halvorson also served as vice president of farm supply for the CHS ag retail business. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Concordia University.
Darin Hunhoff has been executive vice president, energy, since May 2017. He leads CHS energy operations including refineries, pipelines and terminals, as well as refined fuels, propane and lubricants product lines. In addition, he oversees sustainability at CHS, which is focused on a long-term view on people, communities, economic viability and environmental success, as well as the CHS strategic sourcing function. Mr. Hunhoff serves on the board for Ventura Foods, LLC, and Together for Good, a nonprofit organization focused on stabilizing families in crisis. He previously served on the board of directors for Ardent Mills. He has also been chief strategy officer for CHS and spent several years in energy leadership roles, including time as senior vice president of refined fuels and vice president of propane. He joined CHS more than 30 years ago as a petroleum specialist. Mr. Hunhoff earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and business management from Southwest Minnesota State University.
Mary Kaul-Hottinger has been executive vice president, chief human resources officer, for CHS since January 2023, joining the organization in 2018. Ms. Kaul-Hottinger sets direction and strategy to help CHS achieve key priorities with a focus on helping the organization attract, develop and retain high-performing and diverse talent to drive business growth and the company’s strategies. She also has responsibility for the company’s community giving and employee volunteerism. Ms. Kaul-Hottinger has nearly four decades of experience in human resources. Before joining CHS, she served 11 years at Ecolab as vice president of human resources for Ecolab’s global businesses, where she and her team supported multiple business units with more than 30,000 employees in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Ecolab in 2007, she served in human resources leadership roles supporting operating divisions at General Mills and Pillsbury. She also
held human resources roles at Securian Financial, formerly Minnesota Life. Ms. Kaul-Hottinger serves as board co-chair of Together We Grow, a consortium of major agribusiness and food interests building the workforce of tomorrow, and on the board of directors for the Greater Twin Cities United Way. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of St. Thomas.
Olivia Nelligan is executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer for CHS, joining the organization in January 2020. She leads all finance and strategic planning activities across CHS, being a key advisor to the CEO and the CHS Board of Directors. Before joining CHS, Ms. Nelligan held executive positions in multiple organizations. Her past experience includes serving as chief executive officer of Nasco, LLC, a private equity-owned company. Ms. Nelligan spent more than a decade with Kerry Group plc, serving as global chief financial and strategic planning officer of its Taste and Nutrition division. Ms. Nelligan serves on the board of directors for Ardent Mills, a strategic joint venture of CHS and a leading flour milling and food ingredient manufacturer, and for Dana Incorporated, a leader in the design and manufacture of propulsion and energy-management solutions that power vehicles and machines in mobility markets across the globe. She holds a bachelor's degree in civil law and a higher diploma in business and financial information systems from University College Cork, Ireland, and a master of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and an associate member of the Institute of Taxation in Ireland.
Brandon Smith has been executive vice president, general counsel for CHS since March 2021. He provides counsel to CHS leadership and the Board of Directors on company strategy, government affairs, corporate governance, corporate compliance, federal securities reporting and compliance, and disclosure and investor communications. In addition to overseeing the legal, compliance and government affairs departments, Mr. Smith oversees the CHS corporate security, internal audit, corporate environment, health and safety, and enterprise risk management functions. He previously worked at Tenneco Inc., a multinational industrial company based in Lake Forest, Illinois, for more than 12 years in various legal and leadership roles, most recently as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Prior to joining Tenneco, Mr. Smith worked for the Kirkland & Ellis LLP law firm in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a juris doctor degree from Cornell Law School and a bachelor's degree in business management from Hiram College.
None of our directors, executive officers or control persons has been involved in any of the legal proceedings required to be disclosed in Item 401 of Regulation S-K, during the past five years.
DELINQUENT SECTION 16(a) REPORTS
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of any class of our preferred stock to file initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership with the SEC. Such executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by the regulations of the SEC to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) reports they file.
Based solely on a review of copies of reports on Forms 3 and 4 and amendments thereto filed electronically with the SEC during, and reports on Form 5 and amendments thereto filed electronically with the SEC with respect to the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025, and based further upon written representations received by us with respect to the need to file reports on Form 5, no persons filed late reports required by Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act during fiscal 2025.
CODE OF ETHICS
We have adopted a code of ethics within the meaning of Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC. This code of ethics applies to all our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. It is part of our broader CHS Code of Conduct, which is posted on our website, www.chsinc.com. We intend to disclose any amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of the code of ethics that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer or principal accounting officer on our website. The information contained on our website is not part of, and is not incorporated in, this report or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC.
AUDIT COMMITTEE MATTERS
The Board of Directors has a separately designated standing Audit Committee for the purpose of overseeing our accounting and financial reporting processes and audits of our financial statements. In fiscal 2025, the Audit Committee was comprised of Mr. Beckman (Chair), Mr. Stroh (Vice Chair), Mr. Erickson, Mr. Throener, Mr. Rossman, Mr. Sherven (from December 6, 2024, to present) and Mr. Fritel (from September 1, 2024, to December 5, 2024), each of whom was an independent director during service on the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has oversight responsibility to our member-owners relating to our financial statements and the financial reporting process, preparation of the financial reports and other financial information provided by us to any governmental or regulatory body, the systems of internal accounting and financial
controls, the internal audit function and the annual independent audit of our financial statements. The Audit Committee assures that the corporate information gathering and reporting systems developed by management represent a good faith attempt to provide senior management and the Board of Directors with information regarding material acts, events and conditions within CHS. In addition, the Audit Committee is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the independent registered public accounting firm.
We do not believe any member of the Audit Committee is an "audit committee financial expert" as defined in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations thereunder. As a cooperative, members of our Board of Directors are nominated and elected by our members. To ensure geographic representation of our members, the Board of Directors represents eight regions in which our members are located. The voting members in each region nominate and elect the number of directors for that region as set forth in our bylaws. To be eligible for service as a director, a nominee must among other things, (i) be an active farmer or rancher, (ii) be a Class A individual member of CHS or member of a cooperative association and (iii) reside in the geographic region from which he or she is nominated. Neither management nor the incumbent directors have any control over the nominating process for directors. Because of the nomination procedure and the election process, we cannot ensure that an elected director serving on our Audit Committee will be an audit committee financial expert. However, many of our directors, including all Audit Committee members, are financially sophisticated and have experience or background in which they have had significant financial management or oversight responsibilities. The current Audit Committee includes directors who have served as presidents or chairs of local cooperative association boards. Members of the Board of Directors, including the Audit Committee, also operate large commercial enterprises requiring expertise in all areas of management, including financial oversight.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
Executive Compensation
Overview
This Compensation Discussion and Analysis describes the material elements of compensation awarded to each of the following executive officers ("Named Executive Officers") during the year ended August 31, 2025:
Name Position
Jay Debertin President and Chief Executive Officer
Olivia Nelligan Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
Brandon Smith Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Darin Hunhoff Executive Vice President, Energy
John Griffith Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging
CHS creates connections to empower agriculture for our producer and member cooperative owners and the communities in which we and our owners live and operate. Our executive compensation program is intentionally aligned with both operational objectives and long-term business strategy. The following discussion and analysis outlines the objectives and principles underlying our executive compensation and benefit programs and explains the compensation decisions impacting the CEO and other Named Executive Officers in fiscal 2025.
Compensation Philosophy and Objectives
The CHS executive compensation philosophy focuses on these key objectives:
•Attract and retain exceptional talent who demonstrate the CHS capabilities and values and are engaged and committed to the long-term success of CHS by providing market-competitive compensation and benefit programs;
•Align executive rewards to quantifiable annual and long-term performance goals that drive enterprise results and provide competitive returns to our member-owners;
•Emphasize a culture of performance and accountability by linking executive performance goals to business strategy and differentiating rewards based on company and individual performance; and
•Ensure compliance with government mandates and regulations.
Our overall compensation philosophy and practices are grounded in our commitment to fair and equitable pay. This includes a regular review of employee compensation as well as compensation practices.
Governance of Executive Compensation
The Governance Committee and the Executive Committee of our Board of Directors have engaged a third-party consultant, Pay Governance LLC ("Pay Governance"), to advise on the executive compensation program applicable to our executives, including our Named Executive Officers.
The Executive Committee oversees the design and administration of the CEO's compensation. Pay Governance provides guidance to the Executive Committee regarding market-competitive levels of base pay, short-term incentive, long-term incentive and the overall compensation package for our CEO. The data and analysis are shared with the Executive Committee, who consider these elements as part of the CEO pay review. The Executive Committee recommends to our Board of Directors pay actions relative to our CEO and approves annual and long-term incentive awards for our CEO based on individual performance and company performance against the preestablished financial goals. The Board of Directors makes final decisions regarding our CEO's base pay, short-term incentive pay and long-term incentive pay, as well as allocation of these components. There are no formal policies for allocation between long-term and short-term compensation other than the intention to be competitive with the external market for comparable positions and to be consistent with our compensation philosophy and objectives. Our CEO is not involved with selection of the third-party consultant and does not participate in or observe Executive Committee meetings that concern CEO compensation matters.
The Governance Committee assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its responsibilities regarding matters that relate to governing the organization, including reviewing and making recommendations to the Board with respect to establishment,
material modification to, or amendment of incentive, bonus or other similar compensation plans in which Named Executive Officers are eligible participants. Annually, the Governance Committee recommends incentive plan goals applicable to the Named Executive Officers under the incentive compensation plans to which they and other employees are eligible. The Board of Directors makes final decisions regarding these incentive plan goals.
Based on compensation market data provided by our human resources department (survey sources and methodology are explained below under "Components of Executive Compensation and Benefits") and with input from the third-party consultant if necessary, our CEO makes compensation decisions for the other Named Executive Officers and communicates them accordingly. The day-to-day design and administration of compensation and benefit plans are managed by our human resources, finance and legal departments.
Components of Executive Compensation and Benefits
Our executive compensation and benefit program consists of five components.
Pay Component Description Objective
Base Pay Competitive salary considering market benchmarks and internal pay structure and relative to individual skills, experience, knowledge and contributions
Provide the fixed element of compensation for the core duties, scope and level of responsibilities of the job
Short-Term Incentive Short-term performance-based variable pay incentive for achieving predetermined annual financial and individual performance goals
Provide a direct link between pay and annual performance, including company financial performance, achievement of business goals, individual goals and CHS capabilities
Long-Term Incentive Long-term performance-based variable pay incentive for achieving predetermined three-year Return on Invested Capital ("ROIC") goals
Provide a direct link between executive pay and long-term business performance to align management and member-owner interests, while driving executive retention
Profit Sharing
Performance-based annual award for achieving predetermined enterprise-level financial goals
Reward employees for company profitability
Benefits
Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability and long-term disability, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, and other benefits
Provide competitive total rewards program to attract and retain executives
Market Competitiveness of Executive Compensation
Each component is designed to be competitive with the external market. In determining competitive compensation levels, we analyze independent compensation survey information, including comparable industries, markets, revenues and companies that compete with us for executive talent. In fiscal 2025, information from the following sources was considered:
•Willis Towers Watson General Industry Executive (U.S.)
•Willis Towers Watson Custom Peer Comparator Group Executive (U.S.; includes the portion of the 17 peer companies that elected to participate in the survey)
•US Mercer Benchmark Database/Total Remuneration Survey (Executive)
•Radford/Aon Global Compensation Database (Executive)
The survey and database data include a range of competitive pay levels, including median market rates for base salary, short-term incentive, total cash compensation, long-term incentive and total direct compensation. Companies included in the surveys and databases vary by industry, revenue and number of employees and represent both public and private ownership, as well as nonprofit, government and mutual organizations.
In determining competitive compensation levels for the CEO, various factors were considered including market data from surveys and publicly available proxy compensation data from a specific comparator group of peer companies. The comparator group consists of 17 public companies in the agriculture, energy, food and transportation industries. Our Board annually reviews the peer group comparator companies and adjusts as needed to ensure the comparator group represents a reasonable external perspective for pay benchmarking. After a thorough review and consultation with Pay Governance, the Board determined the peer group continues to be appropriate for executive compensation benchmarking and approved the same comparator group for 2025:
2025 Comparator Group
ADM C.H. Robinson
HF Sinclair Corporation
Marathon Petroleum
Valero Energy
Bayer Conagra Brands
Hormel Foods
Mosaic
Bunge Corteva
Ingredion Incorporated
Nutrien
CF Industries General Mills
Kinder Morgan
Phillips 66
The objective is to provide our executives with an overall total compensation package that is competitive in comparable industries, companies and markets. We target around market median compensation levels for base pay, target total cash and target total direct compensation, and around the 75th percentile for actual total direct compensation when our performance is well above target goals and below market median levels if performance is below target goals.
For the Named Executive Officers excluding the CEO in 2025, target total compensation was, on average, aligned to the desired competitive range around the market median. Actual total cash compensation, on average, was below market median due to actual earned short-term incentive awards achieved just above threshold and significantly below target. Actual total direct compensation was above market median, on average, due to high performance in the long-term incentive awards for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period.
For the CEO in 2025, target total cash compensation and target total direct compensation were aligned to the desired competitive range. From an actual pay perspective, company financial performance in fiscal 2025 was below target, resulting in actual total cash compensation below market median. Actual total direct compensation was near market median due to high performance in the long-term incentive awards for the three-year performance period ended in fiscal 2025.
Target Pay Mix
The objectives of our executive compensation program require a suitable mix of base pay, short-term incentive and long-term incentive that will engage the executive officers to achieve both short-term results as well as strategic results that benefit our member-owners' interests over the long term while maintaining alignment with the competitive talent market.
The charts below illustrate the target pay mix of base salary, short-term incentive target pay and long-term incentive target pay based on the 2025 Grants of Plan-Based Awards values (see the Summary Compensation Table) for our CEO and the other Named Executive Officers as a group. The CEO has a proportionately higher target award opportunity for the long-term incentive resulting in target total compensation that is weighted more toward long-term business performance, which aligns with our overall executive compensation objectives and market practices.
Base Pay
Base pay of our Named Executive Officers represents a fixed element of compensation paid as a salary on a semimonthly basis. Salaries are generally set around the median level of market data collected through our benchmarking
process against other equivalent positions of comparable companies. The individual's actual salary relative to the market median is based on a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, scope and level of responsibilities, individual skills, experience and performance.
Salaries for our Named Executive Officers are reviewed on an annual basis or at the time of significant changes in scope and level of responsibilities. Changes in salaries are determined through review of competitive market data, as well as individual performance and contribution, internal equity and other factors. Changes are not governed by preestablished weighting factors. Our CEO is responsible for the annual salary review process for the other Named Executive Officers. The Board of Directors Executive Committee is responsible for the annual salary review process for our CEO.
Due to increasingly challenging conditions in our primary markets and market benchmarking indicating the Named Executive Officers are within our desired competitive range for base salary, the Board decided not to make any changes to the CEO’s base salary for fiscal 2025, and the CEO decided the same for the other Named Executive Officers.
Overview of Performance-Based Incentive Plans
We operate our diversified global businesses to maximize value, in the near term and long term, for our member cooperatives, farmer-owners and customers. Our executive compensation program reflects this key objective by emphasizing performance-based incentive opportunities through the short-term and long-term incentive plans that are discussed in detail below, with awards earned commensurate with financial results. Actual payouts for the incentive cycles ended in fiscal 2025 reflect the team’s ability to manage costs, maintain a strong balance sheet, and capitalize on opportunities when markets were advantageous, while navigating through a challenging commodity downturn, which are, collectively, captured in our primary financial measure of ROIC.
Short-Term Incentive Pay
Named Executive Officers participate in the same CHS Annual Variable Pay Plan ("Annual Variable Pay Plan" or "AVP") as other management and professional employees. Each Named Executive Officer was eligible to participate in the AVP for the entirety of fiscal 2025. Target AVP award levels are set with reference to various factors including internal equity and competitive market compensation levels and are intended to motivate our executives by providing short-term incentive awards for the achievement of annual goals. The target AVP award is 1.15x base salary for Named Executive Officers other than Mr. Debertin, who has a target AVP award of 1.5x base salary.
For fiscal 2025, the AVP incentive was weighted 70% on enterprise-level financial performance and 30% on individual performance, and participants could earn a payout ranging from 50% of target for performance at the threshold level to 200% of target for performance at or above the maximum level. For a Named Executive Officer to earn any portion of the award, including any payout based on individual performance, CHS must achieve at least the predetermined threshold level of ROIC performance.
•The financial performance component was based on preestablished ROIC goals at the enterprise level. The threshold, target and maximum ROIC goals approved by the Board of Directors for fiscal 2025 are set forth in the table below.
•The individual performance component was based on demonstration of CHS capabilities and achievement of specific goals relating to areas such as business profitability, execution of strategic initiatives and/or talent management. In conjunction with the annual performance review process for our CEO, the Board of Directors reviews the individual goals and, in turn, determines and approves this portion of the short-term incentive award based upon completion or partial completion of the previously specified goals and principal job accountabilities. Likewise, our CEO uses a similar process for determining individual performance for the other Named Executive Officers.
CHS financial performance goals and award opportunities under our fiscal 2025 AVP were as follows:
Performance Level CHS ROIC Goal Target Award Multiple
Maximum 8.0% 2.0x
Target 6.5% 1.0x
Threshold 5.7% 0.5x
Below threshold <5.7% 0.0x
ROIC is not defined under U.S. GAAP. Therefore, it should not be considered a substitute for other measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.
ROIC is a measurement of how efficiently we use capital and the level of return on that capital. It is calculated by dividing adjusted net operating profit after tax by average funded debt plus beginning equity. We define adjusted net operating profit after tax as earnings before taxes excluding the impact of certain nonrecurring business events, plus net interest generated from investing and financing activities, and the result is multiplied by the effective tax rate. For purposes of the fiscal 2025 AVP, we defined funded debt as the sum of the average of beginning and end of year long-term debt, including the current portion thereof, plus any guarantees thereof, using balances as of July 31, 2024 and 2025, respectively, and the total beginning of year equity as of July 31, 2024, respectively. Further, for purposes of the fiscal 2025 AVP, we excluded the impacts of a location exit and a severance accrual as nonrecurring events.
ROIC results for fiscal 2025 were 5.7%, resulting in award payouts at 0.5x target for the financial performance component. Although adjusted net operating profit after tax decreased in fiscal 2025 from the strong results in the previous year due to the commodity cycle downturn, profitability was elevated compared to similar historical down cycles. The less favorable market conditions negatively impacted refining margins in our Energy segment, oilseed crush margins and grain margins in our Ag segment. Mr. Debertin, the other Named Executive Officers, and our other CHS employees were able to consistently execute to meet the needs of our customers and member-owners, including record or near record volumes in a number of our product lines. 
The CEO and each Named Executive Officer's individual performance was determined by the Board of Directors or the CEO, respectively, to have been successful against their individual goals; therefore, each Named Executive Officer achieved at least target payout for the 30% individual performance component. However, in light of the challenging operating environment that pressured financial results for fiscal 2025, the Board approved payouts with the individual performance component adjusted downward to yield overall achievement at threshold.
As a result, short-term incentive awards that were earned under the AVP for fiscal 2025 for the Named Executive Officers are as follows:
Name Position 2025 AVP Payouts
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin President and Chief Executive Officer $ 1,506,965
Olivia Nelligan Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer 531,680
Brandon Smith Executive Vice President, General Counsel 491,087
Darin Hunhoff Executive Vice President, Energy 476,160
John Griffith Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging 460,290
Long-Term Incentive Pay
Each Named Executive Officer was eligible to participate in the CHS Inc. Executive Long-Term Incentive Plan ("ELTIP"). The purpose of the ELTIP is to align executive pay with long-term business performance, maximize long-term value for our member-owners and retain key executives. The ELTIP consists of three-year performance periods to ensure consideration is made for our long-term financial performance and strategic execution, with a new performance period beginning every fiscal year. Our Board of Directors approves the ELTIP goals for each three-year period.
Like the AVP, target award levels for the ELTIP are set with regard to various factors including internal equity and market competitive considerations. The target ELTIP award is 1.25x base salary for Named Executive Officers other than Mr. Debertin. Mr. Debertin's target ELTIP award is 3.0x his base salary for performance periods beginning on or after September 1, 2021 (including the three-year ELTIP performance period ended in fiscal 2025) and increased to 5.0x his base salary for performance periods beginning on or after September 1, 2023.
Changes to ELTIP awards granted in fiscal 2025 and beyond
The Board approved changes to deferral, vesting, timing of grant and pro-ration provisions of the ELTIP to better align with competitive market practices, enhance plan agility and talent mobility, and reduce complexity, supporting a primary executive compensation program objective to attract and retain exceptional talent. The changes are summarized below:
Provision For awards granted prior to fiscal 2025 For awards granted in fiscal 2025 and beyond
Deferral Earned awards are contributed to the Deferred Compensation Plan after the end of each performance period. Earned awards from the ELTIP are paid in cash unless the participant elects to defer all or a portion of the award.
Vesting Awards vest over an additional 28-month period following the performance period end date. No additional vesting is required after completion of the three-year performance period.
Timing of grant Participant must be eligible pursuant to the terms of the plan for a minimum of six months of the three-year performance period and on the date the performance period ends. Participant must be eligible pursuant to the terms of the plan on or before August 31 of the first year of the three-year performance period and on the date the performance period ends.
Pro-ration of awards Award opportunity is pro-rated based upon full months of participation out of the three-year performance period. Award opportunity is determined as of August 31 of the first year of the three-year performance period; any earned award is paid in full.
ELTIP awards granted before fiscal 2025
For the three-year ELTIP period ended in fiscal 2025, the ELTIP performance measure was ROIC. As stated above in the AVP section, ROIC is a measurement of how efficiently we use capital and the level of return on that capital. It is calculated by dividing the adjusted net operating profit after tax by average funded debt plus total equity at the beginning of the year. We define adjusted net operating profit after tax as earnings before taxes excluding the impact of certain nonrecurring business events, plus net interest generated from investing and financing activities, and the result is multiplied by the effective tax rate. For purposes of the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period, we define funded debt as the sum of the average of long-term debt at the beginning and end of the year, including the current portion thereof, plus any guarantees thereof, using balances as of July 31, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively, and the total beginning of year equity as of July 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively. Further, for purposes of calculating adjusted net operating profit for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period, we excluded the impacts of a location exit and a severance accrual as nonrecurring events.
Award opportunities for the fiscal 2023-2025 ELTIP performance period are expressed as a multiple of a participant's average base salary as of August 31 for each of the three years in the performance period. We must meet a three-year period threshold level of ROIC performance for any participant to earn an award. As indicated in the table below, the threshold, target, maximum and superior maximum ROIC goals for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period are as follows:
Performance Level CHS Three-Year ROIC Goal Target Award Multiple
Superior Maximum (1)
12.0% 4.0x (1)
Maximum 10.0% 2.0x
Target 8.5% 1.0x
Threshold 7.0% 0.5x
Below threshold <7.0% 0.0x
(1) The Superior Maximum performance level and target award multiple do not apply to the CEO; his maximum award is capped at 2.0x target.
Business conditions in the agriculture and energy industries were favorable during the early years of the 2023-2025 performance period. Our ability to execute with strong operational performance in both the favorable and challenging environments resulted in ROIC of 16.4%, 9.5% and 5.7% in fiscal 2023, fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025, respectively. Overall ROIC performance for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period was 10.35%, resulting in above maximum performance level awards equal to approximately 2.35x the target for Named Executive Officers other than the CEO and a maximum performance level award equivalent to 2.0x the target for the CEO. ELTIP payments for the fiscal 2023-2025 ELTIP for the Named Executive Officers are as follows:
Name Position 2023-2025 ELTIP Awards
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin President and Chief Executive Officer $ 8,531,200
Olivia Nelligan Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer 2,003,461
Brandon Smith Executive Vice President, General Counsel 1,835,568
Darin Hunhoff Executive Vice President, Energy 1,828,989
John Griffith Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging 1,809,577
The fiscal 2025 award grant values associated with the fiscal 2025-2027 ELTIP performance period, which continue to measure three-year ROIC, are provided in the "2025 Grants of Plan-Based Awards" table.
Profit-Sharing
Each Named Executive Officer was eligible to participate in our Profit-Sharing Plan, which is also available to other employees. The purpose of the Profit-Sharing Plan is to reward employees for our profitability. Annual profit-sharing contributions for executives are calculated as a percent of base pay and annual variable pay (total calendar year earnings) and are made to the CHS Inc. 401(k) Plan ("401(k) Plan") account and CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan ("Deferred Compensation Plan") account of each Named Executive Officer. The profit-sharing amount varies in relation to CHS ROIC performance. The fiscal 2025 Profit-Sharing Plan ROIC goals and contribution as a percent of total earnings are displayed in the following table:
Performance Level CHS ROIC Goal Profit-Sharing Award
Maximum 8.0% 5%
7.3% 4%
Target 6.5% 3%
6.1% 2%
Threshold 5.7% 1%
ROIC results for fiscal 2025 were 5.7%. Accordingly, each Named Executive Officer earned a 1% Profit-Sharing award.
Retirement Benefits
We provide the following retirement and deferral programs to Named Executive Officers:
•CHS Inc. Pension Plan
•CHS Inc. 401(k) Plan
•CHS Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan
•CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan
CHS Inc. Pension Plan
The CHS Inc. Pension Plan ("Pension Plan") is a tax-qualified defined benefit pension plan. All Named Executive Officers participate in the Pension Plan. A Named Executive Officer is fully vested in the Pension Plan after three years of vesting service. The Pension Plan provides for a lump sum payment of the Named Executive Officer's account balance (or, alternatively, for a monthly annuity for the Named Executive Officer's lifetime if elected by the Named Executive Officer). The normal form of benefit for a single Named Executive Officer is a life annuity, and for a married Named Executive Officer, the normal form of benefit is a 50% joint and survivor annuity. Other annuity forms are also available on an actuarial equivalent basis. Compensation and benefits are governed by limits imposed by the Internal Revenue Code.
A Named Executive Officer's benefit under the Pension Plan depends on pay credits to his or her account, which are based on the Named Executive Officer's total salary and annual variable pay for each year of employment, date of hire, age at date of hire, length of service, and investment credits, which are computed using the interest crediting rate and the Named Executive Officer's account balance at the beginning of the plan year.
The amount of pay credits added to a Named Executive Officer's account each year is a percentage of the Named Executive Officer’s eligible compensation, primarily consisting of base salary and annual variable. The pay credits percentage received is determined on a yearly basis, based on the years of benefit service completed as of December 31 of each year. A Named Executive Officer receives one year of benefit service for every calendar year of employment in which the Named Executive Officer completed at least 1,000 hours of service.
Pay credits are earned according to the following schedules:
Regular Pay Credits
Regular Pay Credit
Years of Benefit Service Pay Below Social Security Taxable Wage Base Pay Above Social Security Taxable Wage Base
1-3 years 3% 6%
4-7 years 4% 8%
8-11 years 5% 10%
12-15 years 6% 12%
16 years or more 7% 14%
Mid-Career Pay Credits
Employees hired after age 40 qualify for the following minimum pay credit:
Minimum Pay Credit
Age at Date of Hire Pay Below Social Security Taxable Wage Base Pay Above Social Security Taxable Wage Base
Age 40-44 4% 8%
Age 45-49 5% 10%
Age 50 or higher 6% 12%
Investment Credits
We credit a Named Executive Officer's account at the end of the calendar year with an investment credit based on the balance at the beginning of the year. The investment credit is based on the average return for one-year Treasury bills for the four-month period from August 1 through November 30 of the prior year. For fiscal 2025, the minimum interest rate under the Pension Plan was 4.65%, and the maximum was 10%.
CHS Inc. 401(k) Plan
The 401(k) Plan is a tax-qualified, defined contribution retirement plan. The Named Executive Officers are eligible to participate in the 401(k) Plan on the same basis as other eligible employees. Participants may contribute between 1% and 50% of their pay on a pretax and/or Roth basis. We match 100% of the first 1% and 50% of the next 5% of pay contributed each year (maximum 3.5%). Our Board of Directors may elect to reduce or eliminate matching contributions for any year or any portion thereof.
CHS Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan
Because the Internal Revenue Code limits the benefits that may be paid from the Pension Plan and the 401(k) Plan, the CHS Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan ("SERP") and the Deferred Compensation Plan ("DCP") were established to provide certain employees participating in the qualified plans with supplemental benefits such that, in the aggregate, they equal the benefits they would have been entitled to receive under the qualified plan had these limits not been in effect. The SERP also includes compensation deferred under the DCP that is excluded under the qualified retirement plan. All Named Executive Officers are eligible to participate in the SERP.
Compensation includes total salary and annual variable pay without regard to limitations on compensation imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Company contributions under the Pension Plan and 401(k) Plan are not eligible for pay credits.
Certain Named Executive Officers may have accumulated nonqualified plan balances or benefits that have been carried over from predecessor companies as a result of past mergers and acquisitions. Benefits from the SERP are primarily funded in a rabbi trust, with a balance as of August 31, 2025, of $39.2 million. Benefits from the plan do not qualify for special tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code.
The DCP allows eligible Named Executive Officers to voluntarily defer receipt of up to 75% of their base salary and up to 100% of their annual variable pay. The election must occur prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which the
compensation will be paid. During the year ended August 31, 2025, all Named Executive Officers were eligible to participate in the DCP. Mr. Debertin and Ms. Nelligan participated in the elective portion of the DCP.
Benefits from the DCP are primarily funded in a rabbi trust, with a balance as of August 31, 2025, of $176.1 million. Benefits from the plan do not qualify for special tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code.
Health and Welfare Benefits
The Named Executive Officers are eligible to participate in benefits under our comprehensive health and welfare program on the same basis as other eligible full-time employees. The health and welfare program includes benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, spending accounts, travel accident and identity theft protection. Like nonexecutive full-time employees, participation in some of these benefit plans varies based on each Named Executive Officer's annual benefit elections.
Additional Benefits
Additional benefits such as executive long-term disability, executive physical examinations, limited financial and tax planning assistance and identity theft protection and cybersecurity services are also available to our Named Executive Officers. Named Executive Officers’ spouses are also entitled to executive physical examinations, for which we only pay the $1,500 per person participation fee. In addition, commencing in fiscal 2025 with consideration to rising threats of personal security for corporate executives, we began covering certain physical security costs for our CEO. These additional benefits are provided as part of an overall executive rewards package that strives to be competitive and retain executive talent. More details can be found in the "All Other Compensation" section of the Summary Compensation Table.
Incentive Compensation Recovery Policy
The Incentive Compensation Recovery Policy ("Recovery Policy") effective as of December 1, 2023, complies with listing rule 5608 by Nasdaq and reflects what we believe are best practices. Specifically, the Recovery Policy applies to our current and former directors, employees and employees who are or were identified by us as an "officer," which for purposes of the Recovery Policy includes any person that performs policymaking functions for CHS or any subsidiary of CHS ("Recovery Party").
The Recovery Policy provides that, in the event of a required restatement of our previously issued financial statements to reflect the correction of one or more errors that are material to those financial statements, we will require reimbursement or forfeiture of any excess incentive compensation received by any Covered Employee during the three completed fiscal years immediately preceding the earlier of (i) the date our Board of Directors (including a committee of our Board of Directors) concludes or reasonably should have concluded, that CHS is required to prepare an accounting restatement or (ii) the date a court, regulator or other legally authorized body directs CHS to prepare an accounting restatement. The amount of excess incentive compensation will be equal to the amount by which the Covered Recovery Party's incentive compensation for the relevant period exceeded the amount that would have been earned or awarded based on the restated financial results, as determined by our Board of Directors. The method used to recover the applicable excess incentive compensation will be determined by our Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, and may include requiring reimbursement of cash incentive compensation that was previously paid, forfeiting any incentive compensation contribution made under the Deferred Compensation Plan, offsetting the recovered amount from any compensation or incentive compensation that may be earned or awarded in the future or taking any other remedial or recovery action permitted by law.
Detrimental Conduct Policy
The Detrimental Conduct Policy effective as of December 1, 2023, applies to current and former officers and employees of CHS and its affiliated companies (each a "Covered Person").
The Detrimental Conduct Policy also provides that, in the event our Board of Directors determines in good faith that a Covered Person has engaged in detrimental conduct, we may, (i) require the Covered Person to reimburse or forfeit all or a portion of the Covered Person's incentive compensation with such forfeited amounts to be determined by our Board of Directors, (ii) conduct disciplinary action up to and including termination and (iii) report such Covered Person to applicable governmental authorities for possible criminal prosecution. For purposes of the Detrimental Conduct Policy, detrimental conduct includes:
•Deliberate and continued failure, after delivery of notice to such Covered Person by us, by a Covered Person to substantially perform his or her duties and responsibilities in a manner that has an adverse effect on us;
•Knowing and willful violation of any law, government regulation or company code of conduct or policy;
•Knowingly encouraging or directing others to violate any law, government regulation or company code of conduct or policy;
•Fraud or dishonesty resulting or intended to result in personal enrichment at our expense;
•Commission of any felony or gross misconduct in the performance of duties that results in economic harm to us;
•Violation of any company policies regarding substance abuse and/or illegal drug use;
•Knowingly encouraging or directing others to violate safety measures resulting, or intended to result, in harm to any person or destruction or damage to any property of ours or other parties;
•Knowing and willful engagement in discrimination or harassment (whether sexual or otherwise) in violation of any of our policies prohibiting discrimination and/or harassment;
•Knowingly encouraging or directing others to violate any CHS policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment (whether sexual or otherwise); and
•Failing to cooperate with CHS in the investigation of any potential violations of the Code of Conduct or other applicable policies.
Agreements With Named Executive Officers
Mr. Debertin
On May 22, 2017, Mr. Debertin was elected as our President and CEO, and in connection therewith entered into an employment agreement with us on that date (the "Employment Agreement"). The Employment Agreement, as amended, has a term expiring August 31, 2026, provided that the Employment Agreement will thereafter automatically renew for an additional one-year period, unless either party notifies the other in writing, at least 120 days in advance of the relevant renewal date, of its intent not to renew the agreement for the additional one-year period.
Pursuant to the terms of the amended Employment Agreement Mr. Debertin is entitled to, among other things:
•Annual base salary of $1,150,000, which has subsequently been increased by our Board of Directors to $1,450,000 and which is subject to further increase by our Board of Directors from time to time;
•Target annual incentive compensation opportunity of 1.5x his annual base salary with a maximum opportunity equal to twice the target opportunity, based on achievement of performance goals set by our Board of Directors;
•Target ELTIP award opportunity of 3x his average annual base salary over each three-year performance period applicable to that award opportunity, with a threshold opportunity equal to one-half of the target opportunity and a maximum opportunity equal to twice the target opportunity. Prior to the execution of Employment Agreement Amendment No. 2, the Employment Agreement provided Mr. Debertin with a target long-term incentive compensation award opportunity of 1.5x his average annual base salary over each three-year performance period applicable to that award opportunity with a maximum opportunity equal to three and one-third times his target award opportunity; and
•Welfare benefit continuation for two years following the termination of his employment, if Mr. Debertin chooses to retire from the Company on or after August 31, 2025.
Pursuant to an amendment in November 2023, in order to, among other things, recognize his outstanding performance and long tenure and to further emphasize performance-based incentive award opportunities that can be earned for long-term strategy execution as reflected in our results relative to goals set at the start of the multi-year performance period, we agreed to provide Mr. Debertin the following for ELTIP awards for the 2024-2026 performance period (and any ELTIP performance period thereafter):
•Target ELTIP award opportunity of 5x his average annual base salary over each three-year performance period applicable to that award opportunity, with a threshold ELTIP award opportunity equal to one-half of the target ELTIP award opportunity and a maximum ELTIP award opportunity equal to twice the target ELTIP award opportunity; and
•If Mr. Debertin's employment ends due to death or permanent disability (as defined in our ELTIP) or if he is employed for at least six months of such a performance period and his employment ends due to retirement approved (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld) by our Board of Directors, then upon completion and certification of performance results for such performance period, he will be eligible for a vested full grant participation in the applicable ELTIP award with the payout factor calculated at the same time as other participants.
The Employment Agreement and the compensation payable thereunder is subject to the Recovery Policy and the Detrimental Conduct Policy, each of which is described above.
The severance pay and benefits to which Mr. Debertin would be entitled under the Employment Agreement if we terminated his employment without cause or if he terminated his employment for "good reason" are described below under "Post Employment."
Ms. Nelligan
Ms. Nelligan's compensation is set forth in a letter agreement we entered into with her on January 7, 2020 (the "Nelligan Letter Agreement"). The Nelligan Letter Agreement provides that Ms. Nelligan's target award for purposes of the Annual Variable Pay Plan will be no less than 1.15x her annual base salary on August 31 of each year. The Nelligan Letter Agreement and the compensation payable thereunder is subject to the Recovery Policy and the Detrimental Conduct Policy, each of which is described above.
The severance pay and benefits to which Ms. Nelligan would be entitled under the Nelligan Letter Agreement if we terminated her employment without cause or if she terminated her employment for "good reason" are described below under "Post Employment."
Mr. Smith
Mr. Smith's compensation is set forth in a letter agreement we entered into with him on January 1, 2021 (the "Smith Letter Agreement"). The Smith Letter Agreement provides Mr. Smith with an initial annual base salary of $570,000 and a hiring bonus in the gross amount of $1,500,000 ("Hiring Bonus"). The Smith Letter Agreement provides for the payment of the Hiring Bonus in three installments of $400,000 paid in previous years and a final installment of $300,000 paid in 2024.
The Smith Letter Agreement provides that Mr. Smith's target award for purposes of the Annual Variable Pay Plan will be no less than 1.15x his annual base salary on August 31 of each year. The Smith Letter Agreement provides that Mr. Smith's initial target award for purposes of the ELTIP will be equal to 1.15x the average of his annual base salary on August 31 of each year in the applicable three-year performance period, and that any award he receives under the ELTIP will be prorated by the number of full months (credited to September 1, 2020) he is eligible for participation in the ELTIP during the respective three-year performance period.
The Smith Letter Agreement and the compensation payable thereunder is subject to the Recovery Policy and the Detrimental Conduct Policy, each of which is described above.
The severance pay and benefits to which Mr. Smith would be entitled under the Smith Letter Agreement if we terminated his employment without cause or if he terminated his employment for "good reason" are described below under "Post Employment."
Tax Considerations
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code ("Section 162(m)") generally limits us to a deduction for federal income tax purposes of no more than $1 million of compensation paid to certain current and former executive officers in a taxable year.
We believe that Section 162(m) is only one of several relevant considerations in setting compensation. We also believe that Section 162(m) should not be permitted to compromise our ability to design and maintain executive compensation arrangements that, among other things, are intended to attract and retain highly qualified executives in a competitive environment. As a result, we retain the flexibility to provide compensation that we determine to be in our best interests and the best interests of our member-owners, even if that compensation ultimately is not deductible for tax purposes.
Insider Trading Policy
CHS is committed to promoting high standards of ethical business conduct and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. As part of this commitment, we have an Insider Trading Policy governing the purchase, sale and/or other dispositions of our securities by our directors, officers, employees and third-party contractors, that we believe is reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules and regulations, and the exchange listing standards applicable to us. A copy of our Insider Trading Policy is filed as Exhibit 19.1 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation
Because we are not subject to Section 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we are not required to, and do not, conduct shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation.
Summary Compensation Table
Name and Principal Position Year Salary Bonus (1)
Nonequity Incentive Plan Compensation (2)
Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings (3) All Other Compensation (4-10) Total
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin President and Chief Executive Officer 2025 $ 1,450,000 $ - $ 10,038,165 $ 1,283,605 $ 570,196 $ 13,341,966
2024 1,428,900 - 12,607,328 1,255,762 483,074 15,775,064
2023 1,348,088 - 10,685,281 1,109,326 458,759 13,601,454
Olivia Nelligan Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer 2025 693,000 - 2,535,141 142,660 211,051 3,581,852
2024 684,750 - 4,824,992 212,287 205,169 5,927,198
2023 640,000 - 4,324,000 146,672 177,920 5,288,592
Brandon Smith
Executive Vice President, General Counsel 2025 631,971 - 2,326,655 115,672 207,557 3,281,855
2024 626,628 300,000 4,481,183 190,030 181,590 5,779,431
2023 602,767 400,000 4,114,852 138,124 176,677 5,432,420
Darin Hunhoff
Executive Vice President, Energy 2025 628,712 - 2,305,149 233,157 199,720 3,366,738
2024 624,134 - 4,451,829 477,198 192,954 5,746,115
2023 603,730 - 4,124,032 228,585 176,585 5,132,932
John Griffith Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging 2025 624,000 - 2,269,867 259,824 195,416 3,349,107
2024 618,000 - 4,340,478 364,125 183,925 5,506,528
2023 581,667 - 3,902,332 230,942 169,553 4,884,494
(1) Includes hiring bonus payments to Mr. Smith of $400,000 in 2023 and $300,000 in 2024.
(2) Amounts include annual variable pay awards and long-term incentive awards.
The actual annual variable pay award value was as follows in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively: Mr. Debertin, $1,506,965, $4,350,000 and $4,096,800; Ms. Nelligan, $531,680, $1,569,992 and $1,518,000; Mr. Smith, $491,087, $1,431,731 and $1,404,380; Mr. Hunhoff, $476,160, $1,402,657 and $1,403,920; and Mr. Griffith, $460,290, $1,392,144 and $1,380,000.
The actual long-term incentive award value was as follows in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively: Mr. Debertin, $8,531,200, $8,257,328 and $6,588,481; Ms. Nelligan, $2,003,461, $3,255,000 and $2,806,000; Mr. Smith, $1,835,568, $3,049,452 and $2,710,472; Mr. Hunhoff, $1,828,989, $3,049,172 and $2,720,112; and Mr. Griffith, $1,809,577, $2,948,334 and $2,522,332.
(3) This column represents both changes in pension value and above-market earnings on deferred compensation. Change in pension value is the aggregate change in the actuarial present value of the Named Executive Officer's benefit under his or her retirement program and nonqualified earnings, if applicable.
The aggregate change in the actuarial present value was as follows in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively: Mr. Debertin, $1,283,605, $1,255,762 and $973,758; Ms. Nelligan, $142,660, $212,287 and $135,559; Mr. Smith, $115,672, $190,030 and $129,192; Mr. Hunhoff, $233,157, $477,198 and $210,620; and Mr. Griffith, $259,824, $364,125 and $228,368.
Above-market earnings on deferred compensation represent earnings exceeding 120% of the Federal Reserve long-term rate as determined by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") on applicable funds and were as follows in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively: Mr. Debertin, $0, $0 and $135,568; Ms. Nelligan, $0, $0 and $11,113; Mr. Smith, $0, $0 and $8,932; Mr. Hunhoff, $0, $0 and $17,965; and Mr. Griffith, $0, $0 and $2,574.
(4) Includes fiscal 2025 employer contributions to the Deferred Compensation Plan: Mr. Debertin, $474,025; Ms. Nelligan, $173,379; Mr. Smith, $156,440, Mr. Hunhoff, $153,691; and Mr. Griffith, $152,397.
(5) Includes fiscal 2025 employer contribution to the 401(k) Plan: Mr. Debertin, $19,121; Ms. Nelligan, $20,308; Mr. Smith, $19,225; Mr. Hunhoff, $19,150; and Mr. Griffith, $18,065.
(6) For fiscal 2025 includes $47,485 in expenses paid to enhance the security of his primary residence; also includes executive LTD, travel accident insurance, executive physical, reimbursement of participation fee for spouse executive physical, financial planning, companion travel and cybersecurity benefit for Mr. Debertin.
(7) For fiscal 2025 includes executive LTD, travel accident insurance, wellness program incentive and cybersecurity benefit for Ms. Nelligan.
(8) For fiscal 2025 includes executive LTD, travel accident insurance, financial planning, wellness program incentive and cybersecurity benefit for Mr. Smith.
(9) For fiscal 2025 includes executive LTD, travel accident insurance, executive physical, financial planning, wellness program incentive, companion travel, and cybersecurity benefit for Mr. Hunhoff.
(10) For fiscal 2025 includes executive LTD, travel accident insurance, executive physical, financial planning, wellness program incentive and cybersecurity benefit for Mr. Griffith.
2025 Grants of Plan-Based Awards
Estimated Future Payouts Under Nonequity Incentive Plan Awards
Name and Principal Position Grant Date Threshold Target Maximum
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin
President and Chief Executive Officer 9/5/2024 (1)
$ 1,087,500 $ 2,175,000 $ 4,350,000
8/31/2025 (2)
3,625,000 7,250,000 14,500,000
Olivia Nelligan
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer 9/5/2024 (3)
398,475 796,950 1,593,900
8/31/2025 (4)
433,125 866,250 3,465,000
Brandon Smith
Executive Vice President, General Counsel 9/5/2024 (3)
363,383 726,767 1,453,533
8/31/2025 (4)
394,982 789,964 3,159,855
Darin Hunhoff
Executive Vice President, Energy 9/5/2024 (3)
361,509 723,019 1,446,038
8/31/2025 (4)
392,945 785,890 3,143,560
John Griffith
Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging 9/5/2024 (3)
358,800 717,600 1,435,200
8/31/2025 (4)
390,000 780,000 3,120,000
(1) Represents range of possible awards under our fiscal 2025 Annual Variable Pay Plan for Mr. Debertin based on target award opportunity at 1.5x base salary.
(2) Represents range of possible awards under our ELTIP for the fiscal 2025-2027 performance period for Mr. Debertin. Values for Mr. Debertin reflect the amendments to his long-term incentive compensation opportunity made pursuant to Employment Agreement Amendment No. 4, including ELTIP target award opportunity at 5.0x base salary.
(3) Represents range of possible awards under our fiscal 2025 Annual Variable Pay Plan for the other NEOs based on target award opportunity at 1.15x base salary.
(4) Represents range of possible awards under our ELTIP for the fiscal 2025-2027 performance period for the other NEOs. Values include ELTIP target award opportunity at 1.25x base salary.
The material terms of annual variable pay and long-term incentive awards that are disclosed in the above table are described under "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" above.
2025 Pension Benefits
Name and Principal Position Plan Name Years of Credited Service Present Value of Accumulated Benefits
(Years) (Dollars)
Jay Debertin(1)
President and Chief Executive Officer
Pension Plan
41.2500 $ 1,556,601
SERP
41.2500 8,963,925
Olivia Nelligan
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer Pension Plan
5.5833 88,088
SERP
5.5833 646,911
Brandon Smith
Executive Vice President, General Counsel Pension Plan
4.4167 68,422
SERP
4.4167 507,234
Darin Hunhoff(2)
Executive Vice President, Energy
Pension Plan
33.2500 909,508
SERP
33.2500 2,065,749
John Griffith(2)
Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging
Pension Plan
24.1667 454,289
SERP
24.1667 1,251,287
(1) Mr. Debertin is eligible for normal retirement in both the Pension Plan and the SERP.
(2) Mr. Hunhoff and Mr. Griffith are eligible for early retirement in both the Pension Plan and the SERP.
The above table shows the present value of accumulated retirement benefits that Named Executive Officers are entitled to under the Pension Plan and the SERP.
For a discussion of the material terms and conditions of the Pension Plan and the SERP, see "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" above.
The present value of accumulated benefits is determined in accordance with the same assumptions outlined in Note 13, Benefit Plans, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
•A discount rate of 5.48% for the Pension Plan and 4.92% for the SERP;
•Each Named Executive Officer is assumed to retire at age 65. The early retirement benefit under the cash balance plan formula is equal to the participant’s account balance; and
•Payments under the cash balance formula of the Pension Plan assume a lump sum payment. SERP benefits are payable as a lump sum.
All Named Executive Officers' retirement benefits at normal retirement age will be equal to their accumulated benefits under the Pension Plan and the SERP, as described under "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" above.
2025 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
Name and Principal Position Executive Contributions in Last Fiscal Year (1) Registrant Contributions in Last Fiscal Year (2) Aggregate Earnings in Last Fiscal Year (3) Aggregate Withdrawals/ Distributions (4) Aggregate Balance at Last Fiscal Year End (5)
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin
President and Chief Executive Officer $ 2,271,667 $ 8,720,213 $ 3,853,838 $ - $ 59,270,801
Olivia Nelligan
Executive Vice President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategy Officer 219,450 3,421,209 1,533,860 - 14,881,158
Brandon Smith
Executive Vice President, General Counsel - 3,198,603 403,571 - 9,241,764
Darin Hunhoff
Executive Vice President, Energy - 3,195,626 2,033,483 - 21,523,020
John Griffith
Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging - 3,097,150 571,364 790,832 12,283,108
(1) Includes contributions into the Deferred Compensation Plan by the Named Executive Officers representing deferred salary and deferred annual incentive pay from September 1, 2024, through August 31, 2025. Deferred salary contributions were reported as fiscal 2025 compensation in the Summary Compensation Table, and deferred annual incentive pay was reported as fiscal 2024 compensation in the Summary Compensation Table.
(2) Includes contributions made by us into the Deferred Compensation Plan on behalf of Named Executive Officers representing retirement contributions for Profit-Sharing and 401(k) match on amounts exceeding IRS compensation limits (which were reported as fiscal 2025 compensation in the Summary Compensation Table) and ELTIP contributions (which were reported as fiscal 2024 compensation in the Summary Compensation Table) from September 1, 2024, through August 31, 2025.
(3) Includes aggregate earnings on Named Executive Officer Deferred Compensation Plan accounts from September 1, 2024, through August 31, 2025, which are not required to be reported as compensation in the Summary Compensation Table. Deferred Compensation Plan earnings are based on investment elections made by the Named Executive Officer from 13 market-based notional investments and a fixed rate fund. The investment returns for fiscal 2025 were as follows:
Fund Name Investment Return
Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund 4.49 %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund 5.87 %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund 8.50 %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund 10.96 %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund 13.50 %
Vanguard International Value Fund 12.78 %
PRIMECAP Fund Admiral 9.17 %
International Growth Fund Admiral 14.29 %
Institutional Index Fund Institutional Plus 15.85 %
Extended Market Index Institutional 15.91 %
Total International Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares 15.94 %
Janus Henderson Triton Fund Class N 4.20 %
American Century Small Cap Value Fund R6 Class 1.22 %
Fixed Rate Fund 5.00 %
(4) Includes payments of previously deferred amounts made in accordance with elections by the Named Executive Officer and in accordance with Section 409A under the Internal Revenue Code. Payments under the Deferred Compensation Plan may be made at a specified date elected by the Named Executive Officer or deferred until retirement, disability or death.
(5) Represents the aggregate balance of non-qualified deferred compensation as of August 31, 2025. Amounts vary by Named Executive Officer in accordance with individual pension plan provisions and voluntary employee deferrals and withdrawals over time. To the extent that an executive was an NEO for a reported year, these amounts, other than the portion attributable to earnings, were disclosed as compensation in the year of the NEO’s deferral or registrant’s contribution, as applicable.
For a discussion of the material terms and conditions of the Deferred Compensation Plan, see "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" above.
Post Employment
Pursuant to the terms of his Employment Agreement, Mr. Debertin, our President and CEO, is entitled to severance in the event that his employment is terminated by us without cause or by him with "good reason." Specifically, severance under the Employment Agreement would consist of:
•Annual incentive compensation Mr. Debertin would have been entitled to receive for the year in which his termination occurred as if he had continued until the end of that fiscal year, determined based on our actual performance for that fiscal year relative to the performance goals applicable to Mr. Debertin (with that portion of the annual incentive compensation based on completion or partial completion of previously specified personal goals equal to 30% of the target annual incentive), prorated for the number of days in the fiscal year through Mr. Debertin’s termination date and generally payable in a cash lump sum at the time that incentive awards are payable to other participants;
•Two times Mr. Debertin's base salary plus two times his target annual incentive compensation, payable in three equal installments with the first installment payable 60 days following termination and the second and third installments payable on the first and second anniversary dates of termination, respectively; and
•Health and welfare benefits continuation for two years following termination.
The Nelligan Letter Agreement provides for severance in the event Ms. Nelligan's employment is terminated by us without cause or by her with "good reason" in the amount of one year of base pay and prorated annual variable pay, payable as a lump sum.
The Smith Letter Agreement provides for severance in the event Mr. Smith's employment is terminated by us without cause or by him with "good reason" in the amount of one year of base pay and prorated annual variable pay, payable as a lump sum.
During fiscal 2025, Mr. Hunhoff and Mr. Griffith were covered by a broad-based employee severance program that provides executives with a lump sum payment of 26 weeks of pay, plus one week of pay per year of service, with a 12-month cap, in the event their positions are eliminated. Also, according to the terms of the Annual Variable Pay Plan, Mr. Hunhoff and Mr. Griffith would receive prorated annual variable pay in the event their positions are eliminated.
The severance pay that the Named Executive Officers would have been entitled to in the specific events noted above, in each case, as of the last business day of fiscal 2025 is as follows:
Name Position Severance Pay Amount
(Dollars)
Jay Debertin (1)(2)
President and Chief Executive Officer
$ 7,289,912
Olivia Nelligan (3)
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
1,489,950
Brandon Smith (3)
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
1,358,738
Darin Hunhoff (3)
Executive Vice President, Energy
1,327,550
John Griffith (3)
Executive Vice President, Ag Business and CHS Hedging
1,173,600
(1) Includes the value of health and welfare benefits based on current monthly rates.
(2) For purposes of calculating the prorated portion of Mr. Debertin's unpaid annual variable pay award for the fiscal year in which the termination occurred, assumes an annual variable pay award at target performance for the entire fiscal year.
(3) Assumes an annual variable pay award at target performance for the entire fiscal year.
No other severance benefits are offered to our Named Executive Officers, except up to 12 months of career transition services and government mandated benefits such as COBRA. Except as otherwise set forth above, the method of payment would be a lump sum. Named Executive Officers not covered by employment agreements are not offered special postretirement health and welfare benefits that are not offered to other similarly situated (i.e., age and service) salaried employees. The compensation payable to the Named Executive Officers is subject to the Recovery Policy and the Detrimental Conduct Policy, as applicable.
CEO Pay Ratio
The following pay ratio and supporting information compares the annual total compensation of our CEO to our median employee, as required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The pay ratio is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC. For fiscal 2025:
•The median employee's compensation, calculated in accordance with the requirements of Item 402(c)(2)(x) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC, was $79,563. This calculation includes a reasonable assumption regarding the median employee's achievement of individual performance for a portion of the annual incentive award based on historical performance.
•The annual total compensation of our CEO, as reported in the Summary Compensation Table set forth above, was $13,341,966.
•The ratio of the annual total compensation of our CEO to the median employee was 168:1.
Instruction 2 to Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K requires identification of a median employee only once every three years, provided that there were no changes to our employee population or employee compensation arrangement that we reasonably believe would significantly affect our pay ratio disclosure. Accordingly, we used the same median employee identified as of June 1, 2024, since we believe that there were no significant changes to our employee population or the employee compensation program that would significantly impact our fiscal 2025 pay ratio. Similarly, there were no significant changes to the median employee’s compensation arrangements during the fiscal year that would significantly impact the pay ratio disclosure. For more detail on how we identified the median employee, please refer to the pay ratio disclosure in our Form 10-K for fiscal year ended August 31, 2024.
In adopting the pay ratio rule, the SEC expressly sought to provide flexibility to each company to determine the methodology that best suits its own facts and circumstances. Our pay ratio should not be compared to other companies' pay ratios, because it is based on a methodology specific to us, and certain material assumptions, adjustments and estimates have been made in calculation of the ratio.
Director Compensation
Overview
Our Board of Directors met seven times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025. Each director (other than the Board chair) is a member of two Board committees. At a minimum, each Board committee meets during each of the Board's five regular meetings.
Changes to director compensation beginning January 1, 2025
The Board engaged a third-party consultant, Pay Governance, to conduct a benchmarking study of our peers and advise on potential changes to our director compensation program. Based on the comprehensive analysis and recommendations, the Board approved the following changes to director compensation effective January 1, 2025:
•Increase annual retainer
•Increase per diem meeting fees
•Increase committee and board leadership premiums
•Replace director retirement contribution with performance-based compensation to eliminate the guaranteed threshold contribution amount and better align a portion of director compensation with the interests of member-owners and other CHS stakeholders and to provide CHS directors some directional pay similarities to stock-based awards granted to directors at public companies.
In addition to the changes described above, the Board approved elimination of health insurance and other benefits for directors and their dependents effective December 31, 2024. Elimination of benefits from the director compensation package better aligns to market practices. The annual retainer and other pay elements, as listed above, were increased to maintain a competitive total pay package.
For fiscal 2025, each non-employee director was provided compensation as follows:
Compensation component
September 1, 2024, through
December 31, 2024
From January 1, 2025, forward
Annual retainer, paid in monthly payments
Equivalent to $98,500 per year, paid in 12 monthly installments of $8,208.33
Equivalent to $137,500 per year, paid in 12 monthly installments of $11,458.33
Additional annual compensation for board leadership, as applicable, paid in monthly payments
Paid monthly:
$24,000 annual for the chair,
$9,000 annual for the first vice chair and secretary-treasurer,
$9,000 annual for all Board committee chairs, and
$6,000 annual for members of the Executive Committee who are not eligible for other premiums
Paid monthly:
$30,000 annual for the chair,
$10,000 annual for the first vice chair and secretary-treasurer,
$10,000 annual for all Board committee chairs, and
$6,000 annual for members of the Executive Committee who are not eligible for other premiums
Per diem meeting fee, plus actual expenses and travel allowance for each day spent at meetings other than regular Board meetings and the CHS Annual Meeting
$500/day
$600/day
Meeting fee for conference calls or other short virtual meetings other than regular Board meetings
$250/partial day
$300/partial day
Participation in medical, dental and vision plans Directors and their eligible dependents could participate at no cost to the director Directors and their eligible dependents are no longer eligible to participate
The number of days spent at meetings other than regular Board meetings and the CHS Annual Meeting may not exceed 55 days annually for purposes of the per diem meeting fee, except the Board chair is exempt from this limit. There is no cap on meeting fees permitted for conference calls or other short virtual meetings.
For performance periods beginning with fiscal 2025 and beyond, the Board approved a new performance-based compensation plan for directors. This performance-based compensation plan replaces the director retirement contribution described below in the Director Deferred Compensation Plan section. The directors' performance-based compensation plan provides the opportunity for a director to receive compensation based on our three-year ROIC performance, with ROIC defined in the same manner as for the ELTIP. Driven by our unique cooperative structure, we believe that using the ROIC performance metric for this purpose aligns the interests of our directors with the interests of our management and member-owners. The ROIC performance goal levels are established and approved by our Board of Directors prior to each three-year performance period.
The amounts paid to our Board of Directors are subject to the Recovery Policy.
Director Retirement and Health Care Benefits
Members of our Board of Directors were eligible for certain retirement and health care benefits through December 31, 2024, based on their election date.
Directors elected prior to September 1, 2011, participated in a defined benefit retirement plan that provides for a monthly benefit for the director's lifetime, beginning at age 60. Benefits are immediately vested, and the monthly benefit is determined according to the following formula: $250 times years of service on the Board (up to a maximum of 15 years). Under no event will the benefit payment be payable for less than 120 months. Payment is made to the retired director's beneficiary in the event of the director's death before 120 payments are made. Effective August 31, 2011, future accruals under the director retirement plan were frozen. Retirement benefits are funded by a rabbi trust, with a balance of $7.1 million as of August 31, 2025.
Directors and their eligible dependents were eligible to participate in our medical, dental and vision plans through December 31, 2024. We paid 100% of the premium for each director and their eligible dependents while the director was actively serving on the Board. Directors who departed the Board before September 1, 2024, and prior to Medicare eligibility were eligible to continue participation in our medical plan, along with their eligible dependents, with premiums paid up to 100% by CHS depending on the director's years of service to the Board. Directors who were participating in CHS medical coverage as of September 1, 2024 and leave the Board before reaching age 65 with at least six years of service are eligible to receive a payment of $37,000 per year until the exiting director reaches age 65 or is deceased.
Director Deferred Compensation Plan
Directors are eligible to participate in the Deferred Compensation Plan. Each participating director may elect to defer up to 100% of his or her monthly director fees into the Deferred Compensation Plan. This must be done prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which the fees will be earned, or in the case of newly elected directors, upon election to the Board. During fiscal 2025, the following directors deferred Board fees pursuant to the Deferred Compensation Plan: Mr. Beckman, Mr. Clemensen, Mr. Edgington, Mr. Fritel, Mr. Johnsrud, Mr. Kehl and Mr. Throener.
In addition to any voluntary director deferrals, for performance periods beginning prior to fiscal 2025, the company may also credit a retirement contribution to each director's Deferred Compensation Plan. The fiscal 2025 credit to each director's retirement plan account was based on the following ROIC performance goals for the performance period spanning fiscal years 2023-2025:
Performance Level Amount Credited* CHS Three-Year ROIC Goal
Superior Maximum
$100,000 12.0%
Maximum
$50,000 10.0%
Target
$25,000 8.5%
*The amount credited for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period was required to be mathematically interpolated when results occurred between the superior performance, maximum and target ROIC performance levels. If results had been less than the target ROIC performance level, the amount credited would have been $25,000.
Actual ROIC performance for the fiscal 2023-2025 performance period was 10.35% and, accordingly, $58,753 (approximately 2.35x target amount) was credited for fiscal 2025 to each director's retirement plan account under the Deferred Compensation Plan, except $39,168 was credited for newly elected directors Mr. Edgington and Mr. Sherven, and $8,333 was credited for former directors Mr. Fritel and Mr. Johnsrud. These amounts are reflected in the Director Compensation table.
Upon leaving our Board of Directors during fiscal 2025, a director's credit for that partial fiscal year is the target amount ($25,000) prorated through the end of the month in which the director departs. Directors who joined our Board of Directors during fiscal 2025 received credit for that partial fiscal year based on the actual ROIC performance for the
performance period ending in fiscal 2025, prorated from the first of the month following the month in which the director joined our Board of Directors to the end of the fiscal year.
Benefits are funded in a rabbi trust. The Deferred Compensation Plan rabbi trust balance reported elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K includes amounts deferred by the directors.
2025 Director Compensation
Name Fees Earned or Paid in Cash (1) Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings (2) All Other Compensation (3) Total
(Dollars)
Alan Holm $162,917 $- $66,245 $229,162
Anthony Rossman 149,000 - 69,293 218,293
Chris Edgington 105,925 - 39,687 145,612
Clinton Blew 165,167 - 69,293 234,460
Cortney Wagner 139,400 - 59,397 198,797
Daniel Schurr 171,900 - 66,250 238,150
David Beckman 153,600 - 66,256 219,856
David Kayser 139,267 - 70,459 209,726
Hal Clemensen 152,167 - 66,314 218,481
Jerrad Stroh 152,650 - 69,814 222,464
Kevin Throener 157,567 - 69,408 226,975
Jon Erickson 147,350 - 66,452 213,802
Mark Farrell 136,800 - 60,342 197,142
Russell Kehl 156,867 - 68,685 225,552
Scott Cordes 148,750 - 59,536 208,286
Tracy Jones 145,567 - 67,098 212,665
Trent Sherven 120,675 - 39,811 160,486
Steve Fritel 40,083 - 32,251 72,334
David Johnsrud 37,833 - 9,007 46,840
(1) Of this amount, the following directors deferred the succeeding amounts to the Deferred Compensation Plan: Mr. Beckman, $12,000; Mr. Clemensen, $28,000; Mr. Edgington, $23,100; Mr. Fritel, $23,400; Mr. Johnsrud, $8,000; Mr. Kehl, $34,000; and Mr. Throener, $12,000.
(2) This column represents both changes in pension value and above-market earnings on deferred compensation. Change in pension value is the aggregate change in the actuarial present value of the director's benefit under their retirement program and nonqualified earnings, if applicable. The change in pension value will vary by director based on several factors, including age, service, pension benefit elected (lump sum or annuity), discount rate and mortality factor used to calculate the benefit due. Future accruals under the plan were frozen as of August 31, 2011, as stated above. The following directors had the following changes in pension values during fiscal 2025: Mr. Blew, $(291); Mr. Kayser, $(8,063); Mr. Schurr, $(4,651); and Mr. Fritel, $(12,051). Negative values are not reflected in the sum reported in this column.
Above-market earnings represent earnings exceeding 120% of the Federal Reserve long-term rate on applicable funds as determined by the IRS. No directors had above-market earnings during fiscal 2025.
(3) All other compensation includes health insurance premiums through December 31, 2024, travel accident insurance and related companion travel expenses for trips made with a director on CHS business. Total amounts vary primarily due to the variations in health insurance premiums, which are due to the number of dependents covered.
All other compensation also includes fiscal 2025 director retirement contributions to the Deferred Compensation Plan of $58,753 for each director, except for newly elected directors Mr. Edgington and Mr. Sherven, $39,168; and for former directors, Mr. Fritel and Mr. Johnsrud, $8,333.
All other compensation also includes director retirement payment of $15,500 for Mr. Fritel from the director defined benefit retirement plan (explained above for directors elected prior to September 1, 2011).
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
Our Board of Directors does not have a compensation committee. The Executive Committee performs the equivalent functions of a compensation committee with respect to our CEO, and the Governance Committee performs the equivalent functions of a compensation committee, other than with respect to our CEO.
During fiscal 2025, the members of the Executive Committee were Messrs. Schurr (chair), Blew (first vice chair), Cordes (second vice chair), Holm and Kehl, and the members of the Governance Committee were Messrs. Jones (chair), Kehl (vice chair), Blew, Cordes, Farrell and Kayser. During fiscal 2025, no executive officer of CHS served on the compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) or board of directors of any other entity that had any executive officer who also served on the Executive Committee, the Governance Committee or our Board of Directors. None of the directors who served as a member of the Executive Committee or Governance Committee during fiscal 2025 are, or have been, officers or employees of CHS, other than Mr. Cordes, who was an employee of CHS Hedging until 2016.
See Item 13, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for directors, including Messrs. Clemensen, Cordes, Edgington, Erickson, Fritel, Holm, Johnsrud, Jones, Kayser, Kehl, Rossman, Throener, Sherven and Schurr who were a party to related-person transactions.
Compensation Committee Report
The Executive Committee (the committee of our Board of Directors that performs the equivalent functions of a compensation committee with respect to our CEO) and the Governance Committee (the committee of our Board of Directors that performs the equivalent functions of a compensation committee, other than with respect to our CEO) have each reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required by Item 402(b) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC with management and, based on such review and discussions, the Executive Committee and the Governance Committee each recommended to our Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Respectfully submitted,
Executive Committee
Daniel Schurr, Chair
Clinton J. Blew
Scott Cordes
Alan Holm
Russell Kehl
Governance Committee
Tracy Jones, Chair
Clinton J. Blew
Scott Cordes
Mark Farrell
David Kayser
Russell Kehl

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
Beneficial ownership of our equity securities by each member of our Board of Directors, each of our Named Executive Officers and all members of our Board of Directors and executive officers as a group as of October 15, 2025, is shown below. Except as indicated in the footnotes to the following table, each person has sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares attributable to such person.
Title of Class
8% Cumulative Redeemable
Preferred Stock Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Name of Beneficial Owner Amount of
Beneficial Ownership % of Class (1) Amount of
Beneficial Ownership % of Class (2)
Directors: (Shares) (Shares)
David Beckman - * - *
Clinton J. Blew - * - *
Hal Clemensen - * - *
Scott Cordes (3)
- * 14,850 *
Christopher Edgington - * - *
Jon Erickson - * - *
Mark Farrell 3,000 * - *
Alan Holm - * - *
Tracy Jones - * - *
David Kayser - * 630 *
Russell Kehl - * - *
Anthony Rossman - * - *
Daniel Schurr - * - *
Trent Sherven - * - *
Jerrad Stroh - * - *
Kevin Throener - * - *
Cortney Wagner - * - *
Named Executive Officers:
Jay Debertin (3)
1,200 * - *
John Griffith - * - *
Darin Hunhoff 676 * - *
Olivia Nelligan - * - *
Brandon Smith - * - *
All other executive officers - * - *
Directors and executive officers as a group 4,876 * 15,480 *
*Less than 1%.
(1) As of October 15, 2025, there were 12,272,003 shares of 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock outstanding.
(2) As of October 15, 2025, there were 78,659,066 shares of Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock outstanding with 21,459,066, 16,800,000, 19,700,000 and 20,700,000 attributed to Series 1, Series 2, Series 3 and Series 4, respectively.
(3) Includes shares held by spouse, children and Individual Retirement Accounts.
We have no compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance.
To our knowledge, there is no person or group who is a beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class or series of our preferred stock.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Because our directors must be active patrons of CHS or of an affiliated association, transactions between us and our directors are customary and expected. Transactions include the sales of commodities to us and the purchases of products and services from us, as well as patronage refunds and equity redemptions received from us. During the year ended August 31, 2025, the value of those transactions between a particular director (and any immediate family member of a director, which includes any child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, spouse, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law and any person [other than a tenant or employee] sharing the household of such director) and us in which the total amount involved exceeded $120,000 is shown below.
Transaction Type
Name Transactions with CHS Cash Patronage Dividends
(Dollars)
Scott Cordes $ 213,900 $ 2
Chris Edgington 2,508,062 8,239
Steve Fritel 299,172 519
David Johnsrud 2,474,385 28,027
Tracy Jones 3,467,123 23,527
David Kayser 829,630 10,813
Russell Kehl 15,452,990 42,328
Anthony Rossman 1,874,348 7,559
Kevin Throener 1,808,674 25,430
Trent Sherven 2,344,240 17,415
Clemensen Farms, Inc., which is owned by our director Hal Clemensen, had crop input loans with CHS Capital ("Clemensen Loans”) during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Clemensen Loans have interest rates ranging from 0.0% per annum to 8.75% per annum, and mature in February 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Clemensen Loans during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $210,424, which was also the outstanding balance on August 31, 2025. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $166,403 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year. No interest payments were made during the year ended August 31, 2025.
Jones Farm Partnership, which is owned by our director Tracy Jones, had crop input loans with CHS Capital ("Jones Loans") during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Jones Loans have interest rates ranging from 1.9% per annum to 4.25% per annum, and mature in January 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Jones Loans during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $805,009, and the balance on August 31, 2025 was $721,530. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $805,009 and interest payments of $20,163 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year.
Our director David Kayser had a crop input loan with CHS Capital ("Kayser Loan") during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Kayser Loan has an interest rate of 1.9% per annum, and matures in January 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Kayser Loan during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $140,000, and the balance on August 31, 2025 was $100,000. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $140,000 and interest payments of $2,179 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year.
Kehl Farms, LLC, which is owned by our director Russell Kehl, had crop input loans with CHS Capital ("Kehl Loans") during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Kehl Loans have interest rates ranging from 1.9% per annum to of 10.7% per annum, and mature in March 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Kehl Loans during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $7,682,122, which was also the outstanding balance on August 31, 2025. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $7,196,701 and interest payments of $439,802 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year.
Our director Anthony Rossman had a crop input loan with CHS Capital (“Rossman Loan”) during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Rossman Loan has an interest rate of 1.9% per annum, and matures in January 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Rossman Loan during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $337,937, and the balance on August 31, 2025 was $316,922. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $36,267 and interest payments of $2,265 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 and 2025 crop years.
Our director Kevin Throener had crop input loans with CHS Capital ("Throener Loans") during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Throener Loans have interest rates ranging from 1.9% per annum to 4.25% per annum, and mature in January 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Throener Loans during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $366,284, which was also the outstanding balance on August 31, 2025. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $250,000 and interest payments of $2,077 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year.
Our director Trent Sherven had a crop input loan with CHS Capital (“Sherven Loan”) during the year ended August 31, 2025. The Sherven Loan has an interest rate of 2.7% per annum, and matures in January 2026. The largest aggregate amount of principal outstanding under the Sherven Loan during the year ended August 31, 2025 was $165,359, and the balance on August 31, 2025, was $140,163. During the year ended August 31, 2025, principal payments of $165,359 and interest payments of $4,397 were made, all of which related to loans originated for the 2024 crop year.
The terms of these financing arrangements were provided pursuant to financing programs widely available to our qualified customers.
Our wholly-owned subsidiary, CHS Hedging, LLC, is a clearing broker, and from time to time our directors and their affiliates may place orders and clear trades with CHS Hedging in the ordinary course of business. CHS Hedging handles such trades on substantially the same terms and conditions as other similarly situated individuals who are not directors.
Review, Approval or Ratification of Related Party Transactions
Pursuant to its amended and restated charter, our Audit Committee has responsibility for review and approval of all transactions between CHS and any related parties or affiliates of CHS, including its officers and directors, other than transactions in the ordinary course of business and on market terms.
Related persons include any of our directors or executive officers and any of their immediate family members, as defined by the SEC. In evaluating related person transactions, the committee members apply the same standards they apply to their general responsibilities as members of the Audit Committee. The committee will approve a related person transaction when, in its good faith judgment, the transaction is in the best interest of CHS. To identify related person transactions, each year we require our directors and officers to complete a questionnaire identifying any transactions with CHS in which the officers or directors or their immediate family members have an interest. We also review our business records to identify potentially qualifying transactions between a related party and us. In addition, we have a written policy addressing related persons (included in our Code of Conduct) that describes our expectation that all directors, officers and employees who may have a potential or apparent conflict of interest will notify our legal department of any such transactions.
Director Independence
We are a Minnesota cooperative corporation managed by a Board of Directors made up of 17 members. Nomination and election of the directors is done by eight separate regions. In addition to meeting other requirements for directorship, candidates must reside in the region from which they are elected. Directors are elected for three-year terms. The terms of directors are staggered and no more than seven director positions are elected at an annual meeting of members. Nominations for director elections are made by the voting members at each regional caucus held during our annual meeting of members. Neither the Board of Directors nor management of CHS participates in the nomination process. Accordingly, for fiscal year 2025, we had no nominating committee. Please see Part III of Item 10 for further detail regarding our newly established Nominating Committee.
The following directors satisfy the definition of director independence set forth in the rules of Nasdaq:
Independent Directors
David Beckman Alan Holm Trent Sherven
Clinton J. Blew David Kayser Jerrad Stroh
Hal Clemensen Russell Kehl Kevin Throener
Jon Erickson Anthony Rossman Cortney Wagner
Mark Farrell Daniel Schurr
Further, although we do not need to rely upon an exemption for the Board of Directors as a whole, we are exempt pursuant to Nasdaq rules from Nasdaq director independence requirements as they relate to the makeup of the Board of Directors as a whole and the makeup of the committee performing the functions of a compensation committee. Nasdaq
exemption applies to cooperatives that are structured to comply with relevant state law and federal tax law and that do not have a publicly traded class of common stock. All of the members of our Audit Committee are independent. All members of our Governance Committee and Executive Committee (the committees of our Board of Directors that perform the equivalent functions of a compensation committee) are independent other than Mr. Cordes and Mr. Jones.
Independence of CEO and Board Chair Positions
Our bylaws prohibit any employee of CHS from serving on the Board of Directors. Accordingly, our CEO may not serve as chair of the Board or in any CHS Board capacity. We believe this leadership structure creates independence between the Board and management and is an important feature of appropriate checks and balances in the governance of CHS.
Board of Directors' Role in Risk Oversight
It is senior management's responsibility to identify, assess and manage our exposures to risk. Our Board of Directors plays an important and significant role in overseeing the overall risk management approach, including the review and, where appropriate, approval of guidelines and policies that govern our risk management process. Our management and Board of Directors have jointly identified multiple broad categories of risk exposure, each of which could impact operations and affect results at an enterprise level. Each such significant enterprise level risk is reviewed periodically by management with the Board of Directors and/or a committee of the Board as appropriate. The review includes an analysis by management of the continued applicability of the risk, our performance in managing or mitigating the risk and possible additional or emerging risks to consider. As additional areas of risk are identified, our Board of Directors and/or a committee of the Board provide a review and oversight of management's actions to identify, assess and manage that risk. We continue to develop a formal enterprise risk management program intended to support integration of the risk assessment and management discipline and controls into major decision-making and business processes. The Corporate Risk Committee is involved in reviewing and approving the enterprise risk management framework and is responsible for overseeing its effectiveness on an ongoing basis. When appropriate, the Corporate Risk Committee meets jointly with the Audit Committee to discuss common financial or other risks across CHS that may have potential material impact to our financial statements.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The following table shows the aggregate fees billed to us by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for services rendered during the years ended August 31, 2025 and 2024:
2025 2024
(Dollars in thousands)
Audit fees (1)
$ 5,559 $ 5,370
Audit-related fees (2)
322 86
Tax fees (3)
38 544
All other fees (4)
2 2
Total $ 5,921 $ 6,002
(1) Includes fees for audit of annual financial statements and reviews of the related quarterly financial statements and certain statutory audits.
(2) Includes fees for agreed-upon and audit procedures for regulatory filings, greenhouse gas limited assurance and internal control and system audit procedures.
(3) Includes fees related to tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
(4) Includes fees for the annual license fee for accounting and disclosure software.
In accordance with the CHS Inc. Audit Committee Charter, as amended, our Audit Committee adopted the following policies and procedures for approval of engagement of an independent registered public accounting firm for audit, review or attest services and for preapproval of certain permissible nonaudit services, all to ensure auditor independence.
Our independent registered public accounting firm will provide audit, review and attest services only at the direction of, and pursuant to engagement fees and terms approved by our Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee approves in advance all nonaudit services to be performed by the independent auditors and the fees and compensation to be paid to the independent auditors. Our Audit Committee approved 100% of the services listed above in advance.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBIT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)(1) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The following financial statements are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Page No.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID No. 238)
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of August 31, 2025 and 2024
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equities for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(a)(2) FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE II - VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS AND RESERVES
Balance at
Beginning
of Year Additions:
Charged to Costs
and Expenses* Deductions:
Write-offs, Net
of Recoveries Balance at
End
of Year
(Dollars in thousands)
Allowances for doubtful accounts
2025 $ 79,809 $ 4,850 $ (2,947) $ 81,712
2024 76,627 8,359 (5,177) 79,809
2023 127,917 2,348 (53,638) 76,627
Valuation allowance for deferred tax assets
2025 $ 166,590 $ 47,387 $ (8,340) $ 205,637
2024 182,466 6,745 (22,621) 166,590
2023 189,685 9,705 (16,924) 182,466
*Net of reserve adjustments.
(a)(3) EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT INDEX
2.1 Second Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement dated as of December 18, 2015 between CHS Inc. and CF Industries Sales, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed December 21, 2015). (**)
3.1 Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of CHS Inc. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed December 7, 2021).
3.2 Amended and Restated Bylaws of CHS Inc. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed December 11, 2023).
4.1 Amended and Restated Resolution Creating a Series of Preferred Equity to be Designated 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-2 (File No. 333-101916), filed January 14, 2003).
4.2 Form of Certificate Representing 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-2 (File No. 333-101916), filed January 23, 2003).
4.3 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors Amending the Amended and Restated Resolution Creating a Series of Preferred Equity to be Designated 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-2 (File No. 333-101916), filed January 23, 2003).
4.4 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors Amending the Amended and Restated Resolution Creating a Series of Preferred Equity to be Designated 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock to change the record date for dividends. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2003, filed July 2, 2003).
4.5 Resolution Amending the Terms of the 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock to Provide for Call Protection. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 19, 2013).
4.6 Amended and Restated Resolution Creating Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-190019), filed September 13, 2013).
4.7 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors of CHS Inc. Relating to the Terms of the Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 1. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed September 20, 2013).
4.8 Form of Certificate Representing Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 1. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-190019), filed September 13, 2013).
4.9 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors Relating to the Terms of the Class B Reset Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 2. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed March 5, 2014).
4.10 Form of Certificate Representing Class B Reset Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 2. (Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-193891), filed February 26, 2014).
4.11 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors Relating to the Terms of the Class B Reset Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 3. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed September 10, 2014).
4.12 Form of Certificate Representing Class B Reset Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 3. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed September 10, 2014).
4.13 Unanimous Written Consent Resolution of the Board of Directors Relating to the Terms of the Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 4. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed January 14, 2015).
4.14 Form of Certificate Representing Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series 4. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36079), filed January 14, 2015).
4.15 Description of the Registrant’s Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2019, filed November 6, 2019).
10.1 Employment Agreement between CHS Inc. and Jay D. Debertin dated and effective May 22, 2017. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed May 22, 2017). (+)
10.1A Amendment No. 1 to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 5, 2020, between CHS Inc. and Jay D. Debertin. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020). (+)
10.1B Amendment No. 2 to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 3, 2021, between CHS Inc. and Jay D. Debertin. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021). (+)
10.1C Amendment No. 3 to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 1, 2022, between CHS Inc. and Jay D. Debertin (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2022, filed November 2, 2022). (+)
10.1D Amendment No. 4 to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 7, 2023, between CHS Inc. and Jay D. Debertin. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2023, filed November 8, 2023). (+)
10.2 CHS Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (2024 Restatement). (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed November 6, 2024). (+)
10.3 CHS Inc. FY26 Annual Variable Pay Plan Master Plan Document. (*)(+)
10.4 CHS Inc. Executive Long-Term Incentive Plan Document (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2024, filed July 10, 2024). (+)
10.5 CHS Inc. Nonemployee Director Retirement Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2010, filed July 8, 2010). (+)
10.5A Amendment No. 1 to the CHS Inc. Nonemployee Director Retirement Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2011, filed November 14, 2011). (+)
10.5B Amendment No. 2 to the CHS Inc. Nonemployee Director Retirement Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2012, filed November 7, 2012). (+)
10.6 Trust Under the CHS Inc. Nonemployee Director Retirement Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2010, filed July 8, 2010). (+)
10.7 Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement between CHS Inc. and Prudential Capital Group dated as of April 13, 2004. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2004, filed July 12, 2004).
10.7A Amendment No. 1 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement dated April 9, 2007, among CHS Inc., Prudential Investment Management, Inc. and the Prudential Affiliate parties. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended February 28, 2007, filed April 9, 2007).
10.7B Amendment No. 2 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement and Senior Series J Notes totaling $50 million issued February 8, 2008. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed February 11, 2008).
10.7C Amendment No. 3 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement, effective as of November 1, 2010. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended November 30, 2010, filed January 11, 2011).
10.7D Amendment No. 4 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement dated as of June 9, 2011, between CHS Inc. and the purchasers of notes party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2015, filed November 23, 2015).
10.7E Amendment No. 5 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement dated as of December 21, 2012, between CHS Inc. and the purchasers of notes party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2015, filed November 23, 2015).
10.7F Amendment No. 6 to Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement dated as of September 4, 2015, between CHS Inc. and the purchasers of notes party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed September 11, 2015).
10.8 CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan Master Plan Document (2024 Restatement). (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed November 6, 2024). (+)
10.8A First Amendment of CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan (2024 Restatement). (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2025, filed July 9, 2025). (+)
10.9 Beneficiary Designation Form for the CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2009, filed November 10, 2009). (+)
10.10 New Plan Participants 2011 Plan Agreement and Election Form for the CHS Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-177326), filed October 14, 2011). (+)
10.11 Agreement Regarding Distribution of Assets, by and among CHS Inc., United Country Brands, LLC, Land O'Lakes, Inc. and Winfield Solutions, LLC, made as of September 4, 2007. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2007, filed November 20, 2007).
10.12 Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2011, filed November 14, 2011).
10.12A Amendment No. 1 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2012, filed November 7, 2012).
10.12B Amendment No. 2 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2017, filed July 14, 2017).
10.12C Amendment No. 3 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2017, filed July 14, 2017).
10.12D Amendment No. 4 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2017, filed July 14, 2017).
10.12E Amendment No. 5 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021).
10.12F Amendment No. 6 to Amended and Restated Loan Origination and Participation Agreement dated as of September 1, 2011, by and among AgStar Financial Services, PCA, d/b/a ProPartners Financial, and CHS Capital, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021).
10.13 Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement, dated February 1, 2012, between CHS Inc. and Cargill, Incorporated. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed February 1, 2012).
10.13A Second Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement, dated April 1, 2023, between CHS Inc. and Cargill, Incorporated. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2023, filed July 13, 2023).
10.14 Note Purchase Agreement between CHS Inc. and certain accredited investors ($500,000,000) dated as of June 9, 2011. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed June 13, 2011).
10.14A Amendment No. 1 to Note Purchase Agreement dated as of September 4, 2015, between CHS Inc. and the purchasers of notes party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed September 11, 2015).
10.15 Joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill, Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated March 4, 2013. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2013, filed July 10, 2013).
10.15A Amendment No. 1 to the joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated April 30, 2013. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2015, filed November 23, 2015).
10.15B Amendment No. 2 to the joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated May 31, 2013. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2015, filed November 23, 2015).
10.15C Amendment No. 3 to the joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated July 24, 2013. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2015, filed November 23, 2015).
10.15D Amendment No. 4 to the joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated March 27, 2014. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended February 28, 2014, filed April 3, 2014).
10.15E Amendment No. 5 to the joint venture agreement among CHS Inc., Cargill Incorporated and Conagra Foods, Inc., dated May 25, 2014. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2014, filed July 9, 2014).
10.16 Resolutions Amending the Long-Term Incentive Plan. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed September 3, 2013). (+)
10.17 Amended and Restated Supply Agreement dated as of December 18, 2015 between CHS Inc. and CF Industries Nitrogen LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed December 21, 2015). (**)
10.18 2023 Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (5-Year Revolving Loan), dated as of April 21, 2023, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, for its own benefit as a lender and as the administrative agent and the bid agent for the benefit of the present and future lenders, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, for its own benefit as a lender and as the syndication agent, and the other lenders thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed April 25, 2023).
10.19 2019 Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (5-Year Revolving Loan), dated as of July 16, 2019, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, for its own benefit as a syndication party and as the administrative agent for the benefit of the present and future syndication parties, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, for their own benefit as syndication parties and as syndication agents, and the other syndication parties party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 19, 2019).
10.20 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan) dated as of September 4, 2015, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, as a syndication party and as the administrative agent for the benefit of all present and future syndication parties, and the other syndication parties party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed September 11, 2015).
10.20A Amendment No. 1 to 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan), dated as of June 30, 2016, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, as a syndication party and as the administrative agent for the benefit of all present and future syndication parties, and the other syndication parties thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2016, filed July 7, 2016).
10.20B Amendment No. 2 to 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan), dated as of July 16, 2019, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, for its own benefit as a syndication party and as the administrative agent for the benefit of the present and future syndication parties, and the other syndication parties party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 19, 2019).
10.20C Amendment No. 3 to 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan), dated as of February 19, 2021, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, for its own benefit as a syndication party and as the administrative agent for the benefit of the present and future syndication parties, and the other syndication parties party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed, February 24, 2021).
10.20D Amendment No. 4 to 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan), dated as of April 21, 2023, by and between CHS Inc., CoBank, ACB, for its own benefit as a lender and as the administrative agent for the benefit of the present and future lenders, and the other lenders party thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed April 25, 2023).
10.20E Fifth Amendment, dated as of October 29, 2024, to that certain Credit Agreement (5-Year Term Revolver Loan) (previously referred to as the 2015 Credit Agreement (10-Year Term Loan)), dated as of September 4, 2015, as amended. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 31, 2024).
10.21 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2016, among CHS Inc. and each of the Purchasers signatory thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed January 21, 2016).
10.22 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 14, 2020, among CHS Inc. and each of the Purchasers signatory thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed August 14, 2020).
10.23 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2023, among CHS Inc. and each of the Purchasers signatory thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed January 25, 2023).
10.24 Note Purchase Agreement, dated April 18, 2024, among CHS Inc. and each of the Purchasers signatory thereto. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2024, filed July 10, 2024).
10.25 Sale and Contribution Agreement, dated as of July 22, 2016, by and among CHS Inc., CHS Capital, LLC and Cofina Funding, LLC. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2016, filed November 3, 2016).
10.25A Omnibus Amendment No. 1, dated as of February 14, 2017, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent, and U.S. Bank National Association, as custodian. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on 8-K, filed February 15, 2017).
10.25B Omnibus Amendment No. 2, dated as of July 18, 2017, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent, and U.S. Bank National Association, as custodian. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2017, filed November 9, 2017).
10.25C Omnibus Amendment No. 3, dated as of September 4, 2018, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent, and U.S. Bank National Association, as custodian. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2018, filed December 3, 2018).
10.25D Omnibus Amendment No. 5, dated as of June 27, 2019, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, PNC Bank, National Association, as an alternate purchaser and as a purchaser agent, each of the other conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2019, filed November 6, 2019).
10.25E Omnibus Amendment No. 6, dated as of May 1, 2020, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2020, filed July 7, 2020).
10.25F Omnibus Amendment No. 7, dated as of June 26, 2020, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.25G Omnibus Amendment No. 8, dated as of September 24, 2020, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.25H Omnibus Amendment No. 9, dated as of July 30, 2021, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021).
10.25I Omnibus Amendment No. 10, dated as of August 31, 2021, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021).
10.26 Receivables Financing Agreement dated July 22, 2016, by and among CHS Inc., individually and as a Servicer, Cofina Funding, LLC, as Seller, Victory Receivables Corporation and Nieuw Amsterdam Receivables Corporation B.V., as Conduit Purchasers, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., as a Committed Purchaser, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch, as Purchaser Agent, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as a Committed Purchaser, Purchaser Agent and as Administrative Agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2016, filed November 3, 2016).
10.26A Amended and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement dated July 18, 2017, by and among CHS Inc., individually and as a Servicer, Cofina Funding, LLC, as Seller, Victory Receivables Corporation and Nieuw Amsterdam Receivables Corporation B.V., as Conduit Purchasers, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., as a Committed Purchaser, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch, as Purchaser Agent, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as a Committed Purchaser, Purchaser Agent and as Administrative Agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2017, filed November 9, 2017).
10.26B First Amendment to Amended and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of June 28, 2018, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as Seller, CHS Inc., as Servicer, the Conduit Purchasers, Committed Purchasers and Purchaser Agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. (f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.), as Administrative Agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 5, 2018).
10.26C Eleventh Amendment to Amended and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 30, 2022, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as an originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2022, filed November 2, 2022).
10.26D Twelfth Amendment and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of July 11, 2023, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer and as originator, CHS Capital, LLC, as an originator, each of the conduit purchasers, committed purchasers and purchaser agents set forth on the signature pages thereto and MUFG Bank Ltd. f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly report ended May 31, 2023, filed July 13, 2023). (^)
10.26E Thirteenth Amendment and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 29, 2023, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2023, filed November 8, 2023). (^)
10.26F Fourteenth Amendment and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 28, 2024, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed November 6, 2024). (^)
10.26G Fifteenth Amendment and Restated Receivables Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2025, by and among Cofina Funding, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as servicer. (*)(^)
10.27 Performance Guaranty, dated as of July 22, 2016, executed by CHS Inc. in favor of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as administrative agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020. filed November 5, 2020).
10.27A Reaffirmation of Performance Guaranty dated July 18, 2017, by and among CHS Inc., individually and as a Servicer, Cofina Funding, LLC, as Seller, Victory Receivables Corporation and Nieuw Amsterdam Receivables Corporation B.V., as Conduit Purchasers, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., as a Committed Purchaser, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch, as Purchaser Agent, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., New York Branch, as a Committed Purchaser, Purchaser Agent and as Administrative Agent. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2017, filed November 9, 2017).
10.28 Master Framework Agreement, dated as of September 4, 2018 (the "Framework Agreement"), by and among MUFG Bank, Ltd. (f/k/a The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.) and each other financial institution from time to time party thereto, as MFA Buyers, MUFG Bank, Ltd., as agent for the MFA Buyers, CHS Inc. and CHS Capital, LLC, as sellers, and CHS Inc., as agent for the sellers. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2018, filed December 3, 2018).
10.28A Amendment No. 1 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of July 23, 2019. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended November 30, 2019, filed January 8, 2020).
10.28B Amendment No. 2 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of August 29, 2019. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended November 30, 2019, filed January 8, 2020).
10.28C Amendment No. 3 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of June 26, 2020. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.28D Amendment No. 4 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of September 24, 2020. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.28E Amendment No. 5 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of August 31, 2021. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2021, filed November 4, 2021).
10.28F Amendment No. 6 to the Framework Agreement, dated as of August 30, 2022. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2022, filed November 2, 2022).
10.29 Master Framework Agreement, dated as of July 11, 2023 (the "Framework Agreement), by and among Coöperatieve Rabobank, U.A., New York Branch, a Dutch coöperatieve acting through its New York Branch, as buyer, CHS Inc. and CHS Capital, LLC, as sellers, and CHS Inc., as agent for the sellers. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly report ended May 31, 2023, filed July 13, 2023). (^)
10.29A Amendment No. 1 to Master Framework Agreement, dated as of July 8, 2024 (the "Framework Agreement"), by and among Coöperatieve Rabobank, U.A., New York Branch, a Dutch coöperatieve acting through its New York Branch, as buyer, CHS Inc. and CHS Capital, LLC, as sellers, and CHS Inc., as agent for the sellers. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2024, filed July 10, 2024).
10.29B Amendment No. 2 to Master Framework Agreement, dated as of August 28, 2024 (the "Framework Agreement"), by and among Coöperatieve Rabobank, U.A., New York Branch, a Dutch coöperatieve acting through its New York Branch, as buyer, CHS Inc. and CHS Capital, LLC, as sellers, and CHS Inc., as agent for the sellers. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed November 6, 2024).
10.29C Amendment No. 3 to Master Framework Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2025 (the "Framework Agreement"), by and among Coöperatieve Rabobank, U.A., New York Branch, a Dutch coöperatieve acting through its New York Branch, as buyer, CHS Inc. and CHS Capital, LLC, as sellers, and CHS Inc., as agent for the sellers. (*)(^)
10.30 1996 SIFMA Master Repurchase Agreement, dated as of September 4, 2018, between CHS Inc. and the buyer under the Framework Agreement, including Annex I thereto (and as amended thereby). (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2018, filed December 3, 2018).
10.30A Amendment No. 1 to 1996 SIFMA Master Repurchase Agreement, dated as of June 26, 2020, between CHS Inc., as seller, and MUFG Bank Ltd., as buyer. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.31 1996 SIFMA Master Repurchase Agreement, dated as of September 4, 2018, between CHS Capital, LLC and the buyer under the Framework Agreement, including Annex I thereto (and as amended thereby). (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2018, filed December 3, 2018).
10.31A Amendment No. 1 to 1996 SIFMA Master Repurchase Agreement, dated as of June 26, 2020, between CHS Capital, LLC, as seller, CHS Inc., as guarantor, and MUFG Bank Ltd., as buyer. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2020, filed November 5, 2020).
10.32 Guaranty, dated as of September 4, 2018, by CHS Inc. in favor of the buyer under the Framework Agreement. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2018, filed December 3, 2018).
10.33 Letter Agreement, dated January 7, 2020, between CHS Inc. and Olivia Nelligan. (Incorporated by reference to our Current Report on Form 8-K, filed January 21, 2020). (+)
10.34 Letter Agreement, dated January 1, 2021, between CHS Inc. and Brandon Smith. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2022, filed November 2, 2022). (+)
19.1 Insider Trading Policy. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2023, filed November 8, 2023).
21.1 Subsidiaries of the Registrant. (*)
23.1 Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. (*)
24.1 Power of Attorney. (*)
31.1 Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. (*)
31.2 Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. (*)
32.1 Certification Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. (*)
32.2 Certification Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. (*)
97.1 CHS Inc. Incentive Compensation Recovery Policy. (Incorporated by reference to our Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2024, filed November 6, 2024).
101.INS XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document).
101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. (*)
101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. (*)
101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document. (*)
101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document. (*)
101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document. (*)
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).
(*) Filed herewith.
(**) Portions of Exhibits 2.1 and 10.17 have been omitted pursuant to a confidential treatment order under the Exchange Act.
(^) Portions of this exhibit have been redacted pursuant to Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K.
(+) Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
(b) EXHIBITS
The exhibits shown in Item 15(a)(3) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K are being filed herewith.
(c) SCHEDULES
None.