Golden Growers is pleased to announce Ryan Sirolli as our annual meeting guest speaker. Ryan is the Global Row Crop Sustainability Director for Cargill. He is responsible for leading strategy development and implementation of row crop sustainability programs and initiatives across Cargill’s enterprises.

‘As the food and bio-industrial industries evolve, it is important to understand the opportunities and implications for growers. Understanding the role of sustainability and how ag can be a major part the solution to the changing food and bio-industrial landscape can lead to win-win-win opportunities.’ – Ryan Siroli.

The following Answers are provided as a result of often asked questions by our members.

Question: Can I sell my membership units to anyone I choose?

Answer: Unless the person you are selling to is an immediate relative, the answer is NO. IRS regulations require that arms length transactions go through a Qualified Matching Service. So if you would like to sell your GGC Units outside of your immediate family, you must contact FNC Ag Stock, LLC (701-780-2828) and they will explain the listing process.

Question: Why do I need to complete delivery (pay agency fee or delivery bushels) prior to transferring my Units?

Answer: Board policy requires that deliveries for the year be completed prior to the transfer being approved. For Method A pool participants, bushels committed must be delivered to the plant before a transfer is approved. For Method B pool participants, the Agency fee of $0.02/bushel must be paid so that GGC can access and deliver those bushels on the member’s behalf before a transfer is approved.

Question: How do I know what my Membership Units are worth?

Answer: Golden Growers does not place a value on Units. When asked, we refer members to FNC Ag Stock’s website (www.fncagstock.com) to review recent sales. It is important to know that very few sales occur during any year.

Question: I want to change delivery from Method A to B (or Method B to A) during the year? Is this possible?

Answer: No. We provide members an opportunity each fall to change their delivery method for the coming year. Once the new year starts, members are committed to fulfill their delivery using the method selected.

Golden Growers 2018 K-1 Partnership Tax Forms were placed in the mail on February 15th. Unlike 1099s, issuing K-1 tax forms requires Golden Growers to close the year, begin our annual audit, and complete our tax return. Because we understand the need to timely issue a K-1 for our farmer members, our K-1 is issued as soon as is humanly possible. Thank you for your patience.

If for some reason, you do not receive your K-1 tax form, give our office a call at 701-281-0468.

On September 13th, the Golden Growers Board of Directors approved a distribution of $2,168,667 to members of record as of October 1, 2018. This distribution retires an additional portion of 2017 allocated income and is to be issued no later than October 15th. Total 2017 allocated income was $8,276,784 or roughly $0.53/bushel. In combination with the February and June distributions, a total of $6,831,667 has been issued to members in 2018. Of this amount, the remaining allocated income for 2016 and $6,017,566 of 2017 allocated income has been retired.

As previously mentioned, the GGC Board believes it is important to build a reserve during the course of this new lease for several reasons that include likely capital expenditures at the plant, and the potential for Cargill to exercise its option to purchase 50% interest in ProGold. This distribution authorized by the Board will result in a remaining equity credit balance for 2017 of $2,259,218.

Incentive Payments and Agency Fees for Method A and Method B Pool participation will remain the same for 2019. That means 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.