During his short course presentation, Jon Ault from Eide Bailly outlined the current cybersecurity landscape. Ault stated that 28% of cyber threats are the result of user action while 72% is the result of external exposure which includes software exploits or a remote access hijack. Vulnerabilities continue to rise at a rapid rate each year. A significant portion of vulnerabilities are the result of failures to update software
Ault explained the ‘Attack Chain’ for bad actors. “It starts with access either through a known exploit or by user action. Normally, the bad actors then spends time doing ‘recon’. They move laterally throughout the organization identifying valuable information which can be exfiltrated, or stolen. This can occur over several weeks or months. At some point, however, the bad actor will encrypt the organization’s data and then monetize their efforts by demanding a ransom.” Ault gave examples of well known attacks like the MGM Resorts cyber attack that hack that cost the company nearly $100 million, despite refusing to pay the ransom.
What can you do to protect yourself?
Ault stated that you need to ‘play offense’ by training and testing yourself and your people. You should test your systems for any obvious vulnerabilities and replace old, out of date systems that may have known vulnerabilities. You also need to ‘play defense’ by keeping your systems current. Software updates are often issued to patch identified vulnerabilities. Use modern ‘end point protection’ such as anti-virus software on all computers. Good anti-virus programs often provide protection through email filtering and website security. “These are just basic defense measures.”
“You can increase your defense, but it comes down to how much inconvenience you want to deal with,” said Ault. For instance, two-factor authentication requires a separate verification code to log into things like your bank accounts, email, certain websites, social media accounts. Often this code is sent separately to your phone, email account, or through a verification application registered with the account you are trying to access. From a business standpoint, you can limit who can make changes to your network or add programs or applications to your computers through restrictive administrative privileges. As a final word of advice, Ault noted, “Keep your guard up and trust nobody.”
Additional Information:
Passwords that are short and simple can be hacked nearly instantly by a computer. On the other hand, passwords at least 12 characters in length that contain upper case and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters could take years to solve. Tech Support Farm in West Fargo created a useful online cybersecurity course: www.techsupport.farm/training
SEC Requires Cybersecurity Plans for Filing Companies
Starting in 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission requires companies to establish and disclose cybersecurity plans. The requirement is an attempt to protect investors by making sure reporting companies have a cybersecurity risk management strategy and report cybersecurity incidents. SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated in a July release announcing the rule, “Whether a company loses a factory in a fire – or millions of files in a cybersecurity incident – it may be material to investors.”
The Finance and Audit Committee is responsible for governance of the Golden Growers cybersecurity strategy and plan. The plan formalizes many of our existing strategies. In addition, the plan provides for assessment risks posed by third party vendors, an incident response plan, and a process for disclosure of incidents.
The Board wants members to understand how serious they are about securing and protecting their information, by effectively implementing protections through solid planning and oversight.
Golden Growers announces Cargill’s Intention for ProGold Buyout in Late 2026
/in NewsGolden Growers announces Cargill’s Intention for ProGold Buyout in Late 2026
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December 20, 2024 – West Fargo, ND
Golden Growers Cooperative and Cargill Inc. announced today that Cargill will buy out Golden Growers Cooperative’s interest in ProGold LLC at the end of the current lease which concludes on December 31, 2026.
ProGold LLC owns a corn wet milling plant in Wahpeton, ND that Cargill has been leasing since 2007. In 2022, Cargill purchased 50% interest in ProGold from American Crystal Sugar and became 50/50 owners with Golden Growers Cooperative. At the same time, Cargill and Golden Growers established certain conditions that would need to be met with an intention of forming a long-term joint venture. Due to the economic environment in the past three years, it has become clear that those conditions are unable to be achieved. Cargill has informed Golden Growers that they will work with the Cooperative on proceeding with the buyout of Golden Growers interest in ProGold LLC at the end of the lease period.
“Over the past 30 years, Cargill has been a trusted partner for Golden Growers and our farmer members. While we would have preferred to maintain a long-term interest in the plant, we understand that circumstances beyond our control have limited our ability to accomplish that goal,” stated Golden Growers Chairman Brett Johnson. “Our cooperative and its members can be proud of what they accomplished by building the first major corn processing facility in the region. Cargill’s continued capital investment in the facility shows their intent to maintain a continued presence in the region well into the future.”
On behalf of Cargill, Andy Joehl, VP Trading and Risk Management:
“Golden Growers has been a tremendous partner over the years. The facility in Wahpeton has been and will continue to be a leader in safety, a plant our customers value, and a strong demand center for corn in the area. While our partnership with Golden Growers Cooperative will come to an end, there will be no change in our operations at the facility and our partnership with farmers in the area will continue on. We look forward to the future, supporting North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota agriculture, and are deeply thankful for the years of success with Golden Growers.”
GGC Board Approves $0.16/Unit Distribution
/in NewsOn September 12th, the Golden Growers Board of Directors approved a distribution of $2,478,476 or $0.16/Unit to members of record as of October 1, 2024. This October distribution retires a portion of allocated income from 2022. In combination with the February and June distributions, a total of $7,745,240 has been issued to members in 2024.
With this payment, Golden Growers has issued payments to members totaling $143,040,247 or 265% of original investment in the ProGold plant.
2025 Board Elections – 2 Vacancies To Be Filled
/in NewsBrett Johnson (Central District) and Matt Hasbargen (At-Large Member) will both reach their term limit at our next annual meeting. David Kragnes (North District) is up for re-election as well.
This means there will be two director vacancies for the At-Large Director and for the Central District. Members who may be interested should contact the Golden Growers office or review election and nomination information on our website.
Cybersecurity Planning
/in NewsAs part of the Golden Growers cybersecurity plan, the Board has engage Tech Support Farm of West Fargo, ND for 24 hour live cyber threat monitoring, anti-virus and firewall, update maintenance, data recovery and reporting, et
Tech Support Farm is a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) dedicated exclusively to protecting farms and agribusinesses. They help safeguard an operation’s physical and digital assets, maintain operational continuity, and secure sensitive information. Their comprehensive services help farm and agribusiness operations remain resilient against today’s evolving cyber threats.
In today’s rapidly advancing agricultural landscape, the use of technology is transforming agriculture. From precision farming to automated equipment, these innovations bring tremendous benefits but also create new cyber vulnerabilities that put operations at risk. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting farms with ransomware, data breaches, and phishing scams, seeking to exploit weaknesses in network security and data protection.
Farmers don’t always have time to be their own IT specialist. If you don’t have a cybersecurity strategy to protect your farming operation from these risks, you may want to consider engaging Tech Support Farm for an efficient and cost effectively solution. You can check out their free online assessment tool at: www.techsupport.farm
2025 Agency Fees & Pool Elections
/in News2025 Incentive Payments and Agency Fees
For calendar year 2025, Golden Growers will pay $0.05 for Method A bushels delivered directly to the plant and will charge $0.02 for Method B bushels the Cooperative secures and delivers on a member’s behalf.
This represents no change from the 2024 fees and incentives.
2025 ADA Pool Election Decision
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 2024, 27.5% of bushels are to be delivered directly to the plant through the Method A pool.
GGC Board Approves Distribution of $0.16/Unit
/in NewsOn June 13th, the Golden Growers Board of Directors approved a $0.16/Unit distribution of $2,478,477 to members of record as of June 1, 2024
This distribution will retire a portion of remaining 2022 allocated income. With this distribution, the remaining equity credit balance is $6,377,344 or $0.42/bushel. This balance is useful in determining per Unit basis levels and does not constitute an outstanding obligation for GGC.
GGC has issued payments to members totaling $140,561,771 or 260% of members’ original investment in GGC.
“We don’t get to choose if we are a target,” Eide Bailly’s Jon Ault on Cybersecurity
/in NewsDuring his short course presentation, Jon Ault from Eide Bailly outlined the current cybersecurity landscape. Ault stated that 28% of cyber threats are the result of user action while 72% is the result of external exposure which includes software exploits or a remote access hijack. Vulnerabilities continue to rise at a rapid rate each year. A significant portion of vulnerabilities are the result of failures to update software
Ault explained the ‘Attack Chain’ for bad actors. “It starts with access either through a known exploit or by user action. Normally, the bad actors then spends time doing ‘recon’. They move laterally throughout the organization identifying valuable information which can be exfiltrated, or stolen. This can occur over several weeks or months. At some point, however, the bad actor will encrypt the organization’s data and then monetize their efforts by demanding a ransom.” Ault gave examples of well known attacks like the MGM Resorts cyber attack that hack that cost the company nearly $100 million, despite refusing to pay the ransom.
What can you do to protect yourself?
Ault stated that you need to ‘play offense’ by training and testing yourself and your people. You should test your systems for any obvious vulnerabilities and replace old, out of date systems that may have known vulnerabilities. You also need to ‘play defense’ by keeping your systems current. Software updates are often issued to patch identified vulnerabilities. Use modern ‘end point protection’ such as anti-virus software on all computers. Good anti-virus programs often provide protection through email filtering and website security. “These are just basic defense measures.”
“You can increase your defense, but it comes down to how much inconvenience you want to deal with,” said Ault. For instance, two-factor authentication requires a separate verification code to log into things like your bank accounts, email, certain websites, social media accounts. Often this code is sent separately to your phone, email account, or through a verification application registered with the account you are trying to access. From a business standpoint, you can limit who can make changes to your network or add programs or applications to your computers through restrictive administrative privileges. As a final word of advice, Ault noted, “Keep your guard up and trust nobody.”
Additional Information:
Passwords that are short and simple can be hacked nearly instantly by a computer. On the other hand, passwords at least 12 characters in length that contain upper case and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters could take years to solve. Tech Support Farm in West Fargo created a useful online cybersecurity course: www.techsupport.farm/training
SEC Requires Cybersecurity Plans for Filing Companies
Starting in 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission requires companies to establish and disclose cybersecurity plans. The requirement is an attempt to protect investors by making sure reporting companies have a cybersecurity risk management strategy and report cybersecurity incidents. SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated in a July release announcing the rule, “Whether a company loses a factory in a fire – or millions of files in a cybersecurity incident – it may be material to investors.”
The Finance and Audit Committee is responsible for governance of the Golden Growers cybersecurity strategy and plan. The plan formalizes many of our existing strategies. In addition, the plan provides for assessment risks posed by third party vendors, an incident response plan, and a process for disclosure of incidents.
The Board wants members to understand how serious they are about securing and protecting their information, by effectively implementing protections through solid planning and oversight.
2025 Annual Meeting & Elections
/in NewsOur next annual meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 20th, 2025 at the DoubleTree in West Fargo. Because we will be able to send the annual meeting booklet and ballot to members prior to receiving the audit report, we will be able to get ballots to members on a timely basis in advance of the annual meeting. Similar to 2024, summary financial information will be included in the annual meeting booklet and the audited annual report will be posted to the Golden Growers website.
2025 Elections
In 2025, the three directors to be elected for three-year terms and the current director eligible for re-election:
This means there will be two director vacancies for At-Large Director and for the Central District. Members who are interested in serving should contact the Golden Growers office for information on nomination or election procedures. Election and nomination information is also available on the Golden Growers website.
Johnson discussed Annual Meeting Theme ‘Due Diligence’
/in Newsthe future of Golden Growers Cooperative. “For the most part, we discussed the potential of achieving a long-term joint venture with Cargill OR a buyout of Golden Growers interest at the end of 2026 for an agreed upon price of $81 million.” Johnson explained that a successful joint venture would depend on co-locating a project at the ProGold site that would consume a significant portion of the grind. Whether or not that will happen will depend on numerous factors that are not within the cooperative’s control. “One major concern related to Wahpeton appears to be solved with the anticipated natural gas pipeline,” said Johnson. “Even if all of the factors are resolved favorably, Golden Growers and Cargill need to negotiate a reasonable joint venture agreement,” relayed Johnson.
Johnson stated that the Board then considered the idea of utilizing a portion of the $81 million in a different enterprise for the benefit of our members. “We reasoned that starting an agricultural processing facility from scratch would be unrealistic due to cost and timing.” The board determined they would need to look at becoming an equity partner in an existing operation that processes a crop raised by members that is also in a location to allow deliveries. “It would need to deliver equal or better returns, than the current situation,” said Johnson. Member demographics was also a consideration. After 30 years, some members may want to ‘cash out’ and walk away. “Could we give members the ‘option’ of taking a payment or continuing into a different venture?” asked Johnson.
Since GGC is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting company, we have to consider how any idea would be viewed from a securities point of view. SEC registration and compliance is significant portion of GGC’s operating overhead, as high as $173,000 in 2012 to a low of $70,000 in 2021. “We asked our securities law firm Fredrikson and Byron to examine our questions.” We were informed that: a) allowing members to ‘opt out’ vs continue would be considered a ‘tender offer’ and would require a substantial and costly disclosure; b) with our membership structure, it would be nearly impossible to avoid future securities registration. The simplest way to avoid securities registration would be to dissolve Golden Growers, send the money back to our members, and offer them an option to re-invest in a totally different cooperative organization. “Clearly, once the money is out the door, it would be a pipe dream to think our members would re-invest in something new, no matter how good it might look,” continued Johnson. Based on these in-depth discussions and evaluations, “the Board determined that it will not be feasible to consider an alternative enterprise.”
Tax implications of a buyout are also being reviewed. “What strategies, if any, could we pursue that would lighten the tax load for our members?” asked Johnson. After some discussion with our accounting and tax firm Eide Bailly, we learned that a share in a partnership (GGC members’ situation) is not considered ‘real’ property for 1031 tax free exchange purposes.” Strategies to convert ownership just for this purpose is being carefully watched by the IRS and would most likely be disallowed. “We’ll continue to review and consider our options and report what we’ve learned at an appropriate time.”
Johnson then went on to discuss the future of Golden Growers Cooperative if Cargill doesn’t find a co-location partner for Wahpeton OR if GGC and Cargill are unable to negotiate a fair long-term joint venture agreement. “If there are no viable alternative options, Golden Growers will likely need to dissolve,” said Johnson. The cooperative would need to: 1) Present a plan to dissolve for approval by the membership; 2) File a notice of intent to dissolve with the MN Secretary of State; 3) Collect and pay all debts; 4) Distributed all remaining assets; and 5) File articles of dissolution with the MN Secretary of state. “If Cargill would buy our interest in ProGold in late 2026, we would like to have funds distributed and shut down operations in the first quarter of 2027.” Johnson warned that the Board doesn’t know Cargill’s intentions at this time. “In any case, because we allocate income based on patronage, we are likely to continue annual delivery requirements through 2026.”
Should the Board decided to dissolve the cooperative, certain actions will need to be completed if we are to conclude business in early 2027. We would like to know if no long term join venture with Cargill is possible by late 2025 for Golden Growers to timely complete those activities. “The clock is ticking. And each day, week, and month we get closer to December 31, 2026. Without a prospective co-location partner at Wahpeton, the likelihood of any long-term joint venture with Cargill decreases while the likelihood of dissolution increases,” concluded Johnson
Annual Meeting Pays Tribute to Lyle Hovland
/in NewsIn the past year, Golden Growers lost a great friend in Lyle Hovland. “It would be hard to find a more dedicated member of our Golden Growers family,” said Chairman Brett Johnson. Johnson explained that Lyle was at the first meeting of Northern Corn Processors, the predecessor to Golden Growers, on July 27th of 1993. Lyle then became an elected member of the Golden Growers board in May of 1995.
Lyle dedicated 15 years of service to our cooperative and he rarely missed an annul meeting or social event. “Lyle’s heart was always on the farm near Rothsay, MN where he raised dairy, corn and beans. Lyle’s good nature and wise advice will be missed. We offer our deepest sympathy to Lyle’s wife Darlene and the entire Hovland family,” said Johnson.