ST. PAUL, MINN. (Feb.7, 2014) –CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP and CHSCO), the nation’s leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, today announced it has acquired the fertilizer business and related fertilizer assets of Terral River Service, Lake Providence, La. Terral River Service is a river transportation service company specializing in the bulk storage and handling of dry and liquid materials along the Mississippi River system, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and inland waterways of Louisiana and southern Arkansas.

CHS will integrate nine Terral River Service locations, including eight river terminals, into its existing crop nutrients business. CHS is a leading wholesale distributor of crop nutrients to locally-owned cooperatives and independent farm supply retailers across the U.S.

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Terral RiverService is pleased to welcome Paul Dufour to our company as part of the Safety Team. Paul has an extensive background in health and safety. He spent six years in the US Navy, stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, and then in the Louisiana National Guard. Paul is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and studied Safety and Health at Texas A&M. He is married to Nicole, and they have twins of 18 months. You can reach Paul on his mobile at 225-788-1627 or at our Lettsworth, Louisiana office at 225-492-3451. We look forward to having Paul as a member of our Management Team.

Terral RiverService hosted its 9th annual golf tournament in Vicksburg, Mississippi on October 3 and 4. The weather cooperated for our one and half day event. One hundred and twenty participants golfed in 23 competing teams. The team of Chuck Stogner, Rocky Bishop, Clint Bishop and Jeb Miller won with a score of 10 under par. Food and fun was had by all. We thank the Vicksburg Country Club for their efforts in making it possible. We also thank the many Terral employees who worked hard to make the event a success. The health of our company depends on the relationship we have with our customers and vendors, and we appreciate everyone’s participation and support.

Terral recently opened an office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which will staff our Gulf Rock personnel as well as our Marine Logistics Manager. Here is the contact information for the Baton Rouge office:

Terral RiverService, Inc.
2829 Millerville Road, Suite D
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816
Phone: 225-300-4896

Terral is pleased to welcome Chris Hyde as the newest member of our Marine Division. Chris has six years of experience in dispatching and scheduling vessel movement, and we’re confident he will be a positive addition to the Terral team. Chris is a graduate of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee with a BS in Corporate Communication. Chris is married with a two-year-old daughter. He will be the Logistics Manager for our Marine operations, working out of our new Baton Rouge, Louisiana office.

On June 10, 2013 Terral RiverService christened the M/V Kim King. It becomes the sixtieth vessel in Terral’s fleet and the eight built by NewSouth Marine in Greenville, Mississippi.

The boat is named after long-time employee Kim King, who joined the grain company in Lake Providence in 1980. Kim currently manages Terral marine barge logistics. She is well known and respected in the barge industry, and we are very pleased to be able to honor Kim in this way. The boat will operate at Terral’s Lake Providence harbor.

The Kim King is fitted with two Cat C18 electronic engines putting out 1,200 HP. It is equipped with two John Deere generators with twin disc gears. The vessel is 65×28 feet, designed to be extremely efficient and crew friendly. It will be Terral’s main harbor boat for the Lake Providence area.

Owensboro expands Fertilizer Sales & Marketing team

Terral River Service, Inc is pleased to announce that Melissa Ling has accepted a Fertilizer Sales & Marketing supporting position effective March 4, 2013 and will be based at our newly leased Yellow Banks River Terminal, Owensboro, KY.

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Terral has begun major construction improvements to our warehouse in Mermentau Louisiana. Like Lake Providence, we are tearing down and re constructing the walls of our fertilizer warehouse to make it stronger and give it the ability to hold more product. Half of the warehouse has just been completed. The other half will be completed later in 2013 after the main spring season.

Terral has recently launched a fertilizer operation in Owensboro, Kentucky. Larry Stivers, our fertilizer manager in Kentucky, has completed a lease agreement with Yellow Banks Terminal to store 8,000 tons of fertilizer in their warehouse, where we will be selling urea, DAP, potash and sulfate of potash. This location will also offer fertilizer blending. We have begun making sales in the Kentucky and southern Indiana markets and hope to expand our dealings into Tennessee and Illinois. Please contact Larry Stivers for further information (270-929-1737).

The Mississippi River is currently at 33 feet on the Vicksburg Mississippi River gauge. This is 34 feet above the historical low set in late summer of 2012, at minus-1 feet. Terral is grateful to currently operate under more “normal” river conditions. We remain cautious due to predictions of dry conditions again in the Midwest for 2013. Our river levels are directly affected by rainfall in the Ohio Valley, Upper Mississippi Valley and the Midwestern states, and we hope for adequate snowmelt and normal rains from these regions to avoid a repeat of the disastrous low river condition we experienced in 2012.

Loading time plays a key part in optimizing our customers’ ability to get fertilizer to the field, and Terral continues to improve our fertilizer delivery capabilities and facilities to provide efficient service. The ideal delivery time continues to shrink due, in part, to larger farm equipment that can cover ground faster than in years past. At Lake Providence and Alexandria we have installed new blending equipment that will cut the time to blend fertilizer in half. At our Tallulah liquid storage facility we have expanded our load-out capacity to accommodate two trucks at a time. We are pleased to announce these improvements; as always, customer service is Terral’s primary focus.

To assure the best service possible and to accommodate future growth of the company, Terral is creating new divisions in our internal organizational structure. The Service Division—headed by Neil Martin—will manage land assets and associated leases, buildings and equipment. Neil has been with the company for 13 years, working in cottonseed trading, operations management and business development, and serving as a member of our Executive Management Committee. Neil will be promoted to Vice President of Terral. We have also created a Transportation Division, which will manage marine assets and associated operations. Gabe Gattle, who has been working on the marine side and in business development since coming on board four years ago, will head this division as Vice President and continue serving as a member of the Executive Management Committee.