CHS Cashes Out, Doubles Down on Ohio Fertilizer Supply

CHS sells its Ohio blending JV stake to Sunrise and signs a new long-term crop nutrient supply deal covering more locations

7 Apr 2026

Ohio's cooperative fertiliser network runs on a peculiar logic: the bigger you get, the more you need to reorganise. CHS, the largest farmer-owned cooperative in America, and Sunrise Cooperative, its Ohio-based partner, have spent fifteen years building a joint fertiliser blending and storage facility in Crestline. On January 29th, they agreed it was time to stop sharing it.

CHS sold its 50% stake in Crestline Crop Nutrients LLC to Sunrise, handing over full ownership of the blending facility. The two organisations then signed a new long-term supply agreement, under which CHS will provide crop nutrients across more Sunrise retail locations than before. In other words: Sunrise owns the tank, CHS fills it.

The restructuring tidies up what had become an awkward arrangement. The Crestline venture was formed in 2010 to pool CHS's global sourcing reach with Sunrise's local retail presence, serving around 2,800 cooperative members across Ohio. Having met those original goals, both sides decided that cleaner lines of ownership, paired with a formal supply commitment, would serve them better than a jointly held asset.

Timing, as ever in agriculture, matters. American fertiliser markets have been volatile in early 2026, with geopolitical pressures pushing urea prices sharply higher in the weeks before spring application. For Ohio growers dependent on the Sunrise network, a formalised supply relationship with CHS offers a measure of predictability in a market that has offered little.

John Griffith, executive vice-president of CHS ag business, said the agreement reflects the cooperative's commitment to ensuring reliable access to high-quality crop nutrients across its partner network. George Secor, chief executive of Sunrise, noted that the partnership had matured to the point where Sunrise was ready to take independent control of the Crestline facility, freeing CHS to focus on expanding upstream supply.

The deal fits a broader pattern. Across American cooperative agriculture, large suppliers and regional distributors are increasingly pulling apart asset ownership from supply logistics, on the theory that accountability improves when responsibilities are clearly assigned. Whether Ohio's growers feel the benefit when spring planting begins remains to be seen.