On April 23, 2018, 200 members and guests attended United Cooperative’s 82nd annual meeting at the Watermark Community Center, Beaver Dam, WI.
At the meeting, David Cramer, United Cooperative president and chief executive officer, reported revenues for 2017 were $647 million. United Cooperative’s core cooperative businesses of feed, grain, agronomy and energy generated $33 million in profits, up $8.5 million from 2016. The investment United Cooperative made in ethanol contributed $8.5 million to its net income in 2017, down from the $13.8 million this investment returned the year before. Patronage from regional cooperatives was down .6 million from 2016, at $5.4 million dollars.
All combined, United Cooperative had a total net income before income taxes in 2017 of $48.5 million dollars, up $3 million from 2016.
With those profitable numbers, United Cooperative is returning $30.1 million in total patronage to members. Forty percent of this patronage, or $12 million, will be distributed in cash to United Cooperative’s patron member owners in April, while 60%, or $18.1 million, will be retained in equity credits. In addition, the cooperative plans to continue to revolve stock in October, retire stock at age 77 and pay all estates as requested.
“In 2017 United Cooperative focused its resources on investing in assets for the cooperative, in Wisconsin communities and in our cooperative people, while returning value to members in the form of stock revolvement and patronage refunds,” says David Cramer, President and CEO. “Despite a challenging year at the farm-gate, United Cooperative continues to be well-positioned financially to continue those investments into 2018,” he said.
United Cooperative invested in several construction projects during 2017 that added value to grain storage and market opportunities, animal feed manufacturing, seed and agronomic products and services and energy resources. In Agronomy, a new seed warehouse was built at South Beaver Dam, while a new office and warehouse were added at Coleman. Organic crop nutrients products were made available at the Westfield location as producers are diversifying and finding new income streams in high-value, organically grown crops. And nutrient management planning and consulting services for producers were expanded.
Several enhancements were made to the cooperative's grain facilities to improve market access. The largest project was the expansion of the Oshkosh location with the addition of two, 1.2-million-bushel grain storage bins with 40,000-bushel-per-hour receiving, and 7,000-bushel-per-hour drying capacity. At the Shawano grain facility, a 500,000-bushel grain storage bin and a 4,750-bushel-per-hour dryer were added. Additionally, United Cooperative installed 4,750-bushel-per-hour dryers at Horicon, Ripon North and Sauk City, and a rail scale at Oconto Falls. Upgrading feed facilities continued in 2017 with the completion of the Shawano feed mill. The cooperative also built a warehouse where the old mill was demolished.
