Please Attend GGC’s Final Annual Meeting, March 19th

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Golden Growers Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 19th starting at 9:00 am at the DoubleTree Conference Center (825 E. Beaton Driver, West Fargo, ND). A continental breakfast will be available at 8:00 am.

The Agenda Includes:

9:00 a.m. Short Courses
Pat Kautzman, Eide Bailly, Tax Consequences of the Buyout – What you should know.
Pat Pithey, Cargill Corn Merchandising, 2026 Corn Market Projections

10:00 a.m. Annual Meeting:
2026 Election Results
Review of the 2025 Financial Statements
Reports by the Chairman Pyle and Executive Vice President Scott Stofferahn

10:45 a.m. Guest Speaker Bill Patrie

11:45 a.m. Lunch followed by our members only Q&A session.

‘Reflections’ will be the theme of the Golden Growers final Annual Members Meeting

In his presentation, Chairman Nick Pyle will reflect on the 32 year history of Golden Growers Cooperative and the ProGold plant. He will discuss what the project meant for farmers, the community, and region. It will be a time to consider the significant effort it took to conceive a corn milling project, study the possibilities, establish a farmers cooperative and alliances that would build the plant, and in the face of a changing environment, save our members investment and leave a legacy.

GGC Board Allocates 2025 Income, approves $0.23 Distribution

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On February 2, 2026, after a review of the 2025 end of year financial statements, the Board of Directors allocated income of $6,894,825 to the members of Golden Growers Cooperative. The Board also approved the retirement of a portion of allocated equity credit in an amount of $0.23 per patronized bushel for a total of $3,562,810.

Bill Patrie, Annual Meeting Guest Speaker

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Retired Cooperative and Economic Development Director Bill Patrie has worked on numerous projects in North Dakota since 1975 including the development of ProGold LLC and Golden Growers Cooperative.

Patrie provided technical assistance and grantsmanship for the establishment of the Noodles by Leonardo pasta plant in Cando, North Dakota, while serving as the executive director of North Central Planning Council in Devils Lake, North Dakota. He served as the director of the Economic Development Commission for the State of North Dakota during the George Sinner administration and as the director of rural development for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives.

While with the RECs, Patrie led a number of new value added cooperatives which became one of the Associated Press’s stories of the year in 1995. Patrie has worked with potatoes, durum wheat, corn, bison, beef, dairy, chickens, turkeys, nitrogen fertilizer, and gyno typing for lactobacillus in ethanol plants. He was a founding member of Dakotas America, an LLC that has placed more than $300 million in new market tax credits in rural areas in the United States. He also helped create an intellectual property company controlled by commodity organizations who funded the initial research.

Bill and his wife Marcia live North of Bismarck in the Missouri River valley. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.

SAVE THE DATE: GGC FINAL Annual Meeting Set for THURSDAY, MARCH 19th

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Golden Growers Cooperative will hold its FINAL Annual Members Meeting on Thursday, March 19th at the Doubletree Conference Center, 825 E Beaton Drive, West Fargo, ND. Members will have the opportunity to elect Directors to serve on the Golden Growers Board. Current directors up for re-election for 3-year terms are: Brady Koehl, Hancock, MN (At-Large Director); Nick Pyle, Casselton, ND (Central District); and Richard Bot, Minneota, MN (South District).

Any member in good standing is eligible to be nominated as an At-Large Director or as a Director in the district where the member is registered. If you are interested and want more information about district elections, visit our website at www.goldengrowers.com or contact us at 701-281-0468 or scotts@goldengrowers.com.

2026 will be Golden Growers LAST Annual Meeting
As you are aware, Cargill will purchase Golden Growers interest in ProGold LLC for $81 million with payment to be issued within 30 days of the end of the lease (December 31, 2026). Final equity distributions to members in the first few months of 2027, the Cooperative will dissolve in late May of that year. Accordingly, there will be no Director elections in 2027 and therefore, no need for an annual member meeting. Although the 2026 elections are for 3-year terms, no Director will serve beyond the date of dissolution.

Annual Meeting Speaker – Bill Patrie
Bill Patrie was the Rural Development Director for the ND Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives and was intimately involved in plans to build the ProGold corn milling plant AND the organization of the Northern Corn Processors Cooperative (ultimately re-named Golden Growers Cooperative). Bill also served as the Secretary for the original steering committee for the cooperative. We thought it would be worthwhile to invite Bill to discuss what occurred in those early days for GGC and ProGold. He will also share his thoughts on the importance of what was accomplished over the thirty plus years of our organization.

Carl Larson – NDSU Agribusiness Award Recipient

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At the NDSU Harvest Bowl Banquet, Carl Larson was recognized for his agri-business contributions to the state and region. Carl’s many accomplishments include serving on the original steering committee for Northern Corn Processors Cooperative and the Golden Growers Board. Carl also served as Chairman of Golden Growers Cooperative from 2001 through 2007. While at NDSU, Carl met Ellen, a partnership that is still strong after 64 years.

Upon graduating from NDSU in 1962, Carl returned to the farm where he and Ellen raised small grains and started an accounting and tax preparation business. Carl partnered in acquiring the First State Bank of LaMoure. (1973). Carl and his brother Rodney founded Larson Grain Company of LaMoure (1981). Carl and a small investor group acquired Gooseneck Implement in the Minot area (2003).

Golden Growers congratulates Carl on his well-deserved recognition for a career of significant achievements. We also thank Carl for the thirteen years of leadership he provided to Golden Growers as an original steering committee member, as an elected board member, and as Chairman of our board.

Charitable Donation of GGC Units Policy

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At their June meeting, the GGC Board of Directors approved a policy to allow charitable donation of GGC Units.

To allow the charitable donation and to avoid likely administrative issues, GGC will accommodate the donation to a charitable institution if the donation coincides with the listing of the donated units for sale with FNC Securities at the time of donation. In other words, GGC units may not be transferred to a charitable organization without a simultaneous listing with FNC Ag Stock.

Donations of units to a charitable requires the following:
1) The GGC Member donating must obtain the appropriate form directly from Golden Growers, downloaded from the GGC website (here) or from FNC Securities;
2) The member must obtain the contact information and Tax ID for the charitable institution and enter it on the form.
3) Submit the form to FNC Ag Stock to list units to be donated for sale;
4) At the conclusion of the sale, the member must hold either NO units or a minimum of 4,000 units and the charitable organization will hold NO units.

The charitable organization will be responsible for issuing a statement to the member related to the donation.

GGC Board Approves Distribution of $0.23/bushel

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On September 11th, the Golden Growers Board of Directors approved a distribution of $3,562,810 or $0.23/Unit to members of record as of October 1, 2025. In combination with the February and June distributions, a total of $7,745,240 has been issued to members in 2025.

With this payment, Golden Growers has issued payments to members totaling $153,729 or 285% of original investment in the ProGold plant.

2026 Board Elections

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At the 2026 Annual Meeting, GGC members will elect Directors from the Central and South Districts and one At-Large Director. Nick Pyle (Central District), Richard Bot (South District), and Brady Koehl (At-Large Director) are all eligible for re-election. Despite the pending dissolution of GGC in 2027, director elections will be for 3-year terms.

Members who may be interested should contact the Golden Growers office or review election and nomination information on our website.

2026 Annual Delivery Election

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Each year, Members have the opportunity to change their method of delivery by submitting a revised Annual Delivery Agreement (ADA). This is your only opportunity to change your method of delivery for the coming year

You should have already received your Annual Delivery Election letter with the ADA form on the back page. If you intend to change your delivery method, return the form no later than December 10th.

Only members intending to change their delivery method need to respond. Members who deliver directly to the plant through the Method A pool have a $0.07/bushel advantage over members participating in the Method B pool.
In 2025, 24.33% of bushels are to be delivered directly to the plant through the Method A pool.

Remember, once a decision is made for participation in the Method A or B pools, a member may not change during the delivery year.

Note: Based on GGC’s vote to dissolve the cooperative in early 2027, members will not have delivery obligations for the 2027 calendar year.

Nicolas ‘Nick’ Pyle elected Chairman of Golden Growers Cooperative

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Immediately after the 2025 annual meeting, the GGC board elected Nick Pyle as Chairman. Mr. Pyle most recently served as Vice-Chairman. Nick served as a director from 2010 through 2022. He previously served as Secretary from March 2013 to March 2015, and Chaired the Audit Committee from March 2015 to March 2022. After departing the board in 2022, Pyle returned was elected again in 2023.

He has been farming since 2002 near Casselton, North Dakota. Mr. Pyle serves as a director of McIntyre-Pyle, Inc. Mr. Pyle is President and serves as a director of Unity Seed Company, a member of Global Soy Genetics LLC and Director of McIntyre Farms Partnership. Mr. Pyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree in finance from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Nick’s broad experience on the Golden Growers board combined with his education and management experience makes him an outstanding leader to guide the Cooperative through it’s final years.

Other Officers Elected:
First Vice-Chair – David Kragnes Second Vice-Chair – Brady Koehl
Secretary – Blane Benedict Treasurer – Larry Vipond