CHS Inc. and Mid-Kansas Cooperative (MKC) announced on April 10 that they will expand their grain marketing joint venture to increase market access for growers in the Southern Plains. The expansion includes a new grain terminal with rail access near Sterling, Kan., which will be operational in 2024.
The joint venture was launched in 2013 (GM March 11, 2013) and includes a high-speed shuttle loading facility in Canton, Kan. The expansion follows CHS’s announcement earlier this year (GM Jan. 13, p. 27) that the company’s joint venture with Cargill, TEMCO LLC, will increase its grain export capabilities through Cargill’s 6 million-bushel terminal in Houston, Texas.
“CHS has been successfully partnering with MKC through joint ventures for more than 10 years,” said John Griffith, executive vice president, ag business, CHS. “This initiative expands our collaborative presence and maximizes our complementary asset base in the region to create an efficient, integrated supply chain to connect cooperative- and farmer-owners in the Southern Plains with customers around the world while leveraging the TEMCO terminal in Houston, Texas.”
CHS and MKC said both companies will continue to independently own and operate assets throughout the Southern Plains while expanding their grain marketing joint venture to move grain more efficiently through the distribution channel. The companies expect to begin to operate the expanded 50/50 joint venture this summer.
“Expanding our relationship with CHS will open up market access and create new opportunities for our farmers,” said MKC President and CEO Brad Stedman. “Our track record of successful partnership and shared vision to create value for cooperative-owners and customers makes MKC and CHS the right partners to link farmers with a more defined southern supply chain.”