CHS Equity Transfer Program to Benefit Kansas State University

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CHS Inc., a leading energy and grain-based foods company, and Kansas State University have announced that $40,000 in equity held by CHS member cooperatives has been transferred to Kansas State University for 2008.

The transferred equity will be used to fund an endowed chair or faculty professorship for cooperative studies at Kansas State University's Arthur Capper Cooperative Center (ACCC), a premier center of excellence in cooperative education. In total, $80,000 in CHS equity has been transferred to Kansas State University since the CHS Equity Transfer Program was piloted in Kansas last year.

"This is a part of our stewardship focus on education, youth and leadership," said CHS Board Chairman Michael Toelle. "This is an opportunity to make a significant financial contribution to an outstanding institution, invest in the future of rural America, and connect the public with the values of agriculture and cooperatives."

"We're pleased that CHS is working together with local Kansas cooperative leaders to support the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center in such an innovative way," said ACCC Director David G. Barton. "The CHS Equity Transfer Program demonstrates the power of the cooperative spirit."

Under the program, participating member cooperatives transfer ownership of a minimum of $5,000 of their CHS equity per year to the university. As the new holder of the equity, Kansas State University will receive any future cash redemptions issued by the CHS Board of Directors. For fiscal 2008, CHS is expecting to return $345 million to member owners in cash, based on the company's record fiscal 2007 earnings. It marks the fourth consecutive record return to owners by CHS and is the largest ever made by a U.S. agricultural cooperative.

Kansas cooperatives participating in this year's Equity Transfer Program include:

    -- Central Plains Cooperative of Smith Center
    -- Cooperative Grain and Supply of Hillsboro
    -- Garden City Co-op, Inc. of Garden City
    -- Farmers Cooperative Association of Manhattan
    -- Farmers Cooperative Elevator of Garden Plain
    -- Midway Cooperative Association of Osborne
    -- Nemaha County Cooperative Association of Seneca
    -- Southern Plains Co-op of Lewis

In the future, CHS will expand the program to other land-grant universities across the CHS trade territory.

CHS Inc. (http://www.chsinc.com) is a diversified energy, grains and foods company committed to providing the essential resources that enrich lives around the world. A Fortune 200 company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives, along with thousands of preferred stockholders, from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain, livestock 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(R) brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.

The Arthur Capper Cooperative Center was established in 1984 at Kansas State University. The Center provides research-based information, education and assistance to cooperative members, directors, managers and employees; students and faculty at educational institutions; the general public and public officials; and owners, directors, managers and employees of agribusinesses.