CHS and ASA Partner for Agronomy Training Development

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn., June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP), the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, and The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) signed an agreement to collaborate in creating a dynamic, online-learning program focused on improving sustainability practices and standards in production agriculture. The curriculum will be designed for agronomists and agribusiness professionals and will establish a recognized, industry-wide standard of education to help agronomists and other agriculture professionals truly implement sustainable practices in the field. 

The training program will be delivered in the form of webinars, case studies, live open-format remote meetings, and a virtual farm tour. With a focus on measuring sustainability and continuous improvement in production agriculture, the curriculum will cover topics such as 4R Nutrient Stewardship, Resistance Management, and Precision Applications.

"CHS is committed to sustainable products and practices where they matter most: on the farm," says Gary Halvorson, CHS vice president, retail agronomy. "Like most farmers, our owners look to their agronomists to help them increase efficiency of their farming operations alongside best practices in agricultural sustainability. By deploying best-in-class training for our agronomists and sharing that training with others through this program, CHS will help the agricultural industry improve social, economic, and environmental aspects of farming."

"ASA was a natural choice to develop this training because it is seen as an unbiased, non-commercial provider of agronomy education. Here, we strive to provide the most current, science-basedducation not just to Certified Crop Advisers (CCA), but to the whole agronomy professional community," said Luther Smith, Director of Professional Development & Business Relations. 

After training is completed for the initial cohort of CHS employees, the program will be made available to others through ASA's online learning platform. The release date for open enrollment will be announced later in 2017. 

The interactive, on-demand training modules will focus on proven best practices for integrated nutrient management and crop protection as well as sustainable farming practices based on benchmark data and case studies from CHS retailers like the location based out of Shipman, Illinois. This location has collaborated closely with its top growers, two of whom have been recognized as 4R Advocates in recent years. Halvorson says CHS will continue to develop innovative sustainable products and practices and will incorporate them into the program. CHS staff will begin courses this summer; the company has set a goal for all of its agronomists to complete the new program. According to Halvorson, among other program benefits, this training initiative will build momentum for the 4Rs of Nutrient Stewardship in the country.

CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS, a Fortune 100 company, supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food and food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex^® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products.

This document and other CHS Inc. publicly available documents contain, and CHS officers and 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 Report 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 CHS current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its businesses, 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 of CHS control. CHS actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward–looking statements. Important factors that could cause CHS actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements are discussed or identified in CHS public filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" discussion in Item 1A of CHS Annual Report on Form 10–K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016. Any forward–looking statements made by CHS in this document are based only on information currently available to CHS and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. CHS undertakes 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.

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SOURCE CHS Inc.