Time just seems to fly by for me. Today I attended a luncheon to celebrate the retirement of a teammate that I have worked with for nearly 32 years, both at GreenStone and our previous employer. I just get amazed when I think about how fast my children have grown, my grandchildren are growing, and how quickly years go by in my career. I’m sure you all feel the same on some days. With our time continuing to fly by, I hope you were able to take time to relax and spend time with your family this last month, and had a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Association Update
Your association continues to perform very well financially. GreenStone exceeded its targeted net income for 2025 with approximately $265 million of net income. As a result, during our Board of Directors meeting in early December, the Board approved a $5 million increase to our Patronage to be paid in March of 2026. The payment will be a record dividend payment of $125 million! Our total cash Patronage paid over the last 21 years is now over $1.2 billion. The average amount paid back to our members as a percentage of your loan balance will be slightly more than 1%. What other financial institutions are able to do that for their customers? Our Patronage program continues to be an outstanding benefit our cooperative provides to its member-owners.Industry Update
As with all years, our members’ profitability will depend on many factors. In 2026, the commodities being raised will be a very big factor and as always, so will the cash prices received at the time of sale. For example, while wheat prices continue to be very challenged, corn and soybean prices have seen somewhat of an uptick from early November to early December. The soybean increase may have come a little late for 2025 but the small win in corn was timed better. In either case, both increases should help with 2026 marketing.Your association’s diversification continues to allow us to be a dependable and competitive source of credit during all phases of an agriculture cycle. If your financial projections show your cash flow getting tight, please make sure you are talking to your GreenStone financial services officer sooner rather than later. We have been through these cycles before and given adequate time and transparent communication, we can help you with strategies to navigate the financial challenges you are facing.
Nominating Committee
I recently was able to spend a little time with Nominating Committee members from regions one, two, three, six and seven before they worked on their nominee list for next year’s Committee. Committee members from regions four and five met in late August and early October to finalize their nominations for the GreenStone Board elections taking place after our Annual Meeting in 2026. The governance of your cooperative does not work without members willing to spend time on our Nominating Committee and Board of Directors. Thank you to all our members that are currently serving or previously served on the Nominating Committee or board.Cheryl Motz, senior executive assistant to the CEO, does an outstanding job leading our governance process. If you are interested in serving on the Nominating Committee or Board of Directors, please contact Cheryl at cheryl.motz@greenstonefcs.com or (517) 332-9557.
Leadership Update
In October we announced that Brett Dutcher would be taking over for Steve Junglas as our new Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Brett will play a crucial role in shaping and implementing our information technology strategy, ensuring it aligns with GreenStone’s overall business plan and organizational direction. His focus areas will include information services infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital transformation, data management, AI and innovation, our technology collaborations and the overall technology experience for our employees and customers. Brett will oversee all information technology operations and strategic initiatives, ensuring continued support and advancement for GreenStone. Brett has been with GreenStone for more than 11 years and most recently served as GreenStone’s Senior VP of Application Services.We are lucky to have Steve remain on the executive team as a strategic advisor until his retirement on February 3rd. Brett is going to do a great job for us and Steve will certainly be missed. Please join me in congratulating both Brett and Steve.
As always, thank you for feeding me, my family, our country, and the world, and thank you for your membership and commitment to GreenStone!
Please reach out to me any time I can be of assistance.
To view the rest of the 2026 winter Partners articles please click here.
