On January 14th, Premier Cooperative held its 133rd annual meeting at WI Riverside Resort in Spring Green, WI. As part of the financial report, Premier CFO Andy Jones reported that your cooperative had another strong year with gross sales of $285 million and local net savings at $12.6 million for fiscal 2025, compared to $275 million in sales and $16 million net savings from 2024. While there was a slight pullback in local net savings from last year due in part to increased labor, insurance, and depreciation, we continue to see steady margins and volume growth across all business lines.
Andy reported that we have invested $51 million in the past two years alone in capital expense projects focused on internal growth. Despite this cash outlay, Premier carries no long-term debt and maintains a working capital balance at the end of the fiscal year of $33 million. Premier’s balance sheet remains solid and well positioned for the future.
Board chairman Steve Burns thanked the members and employee team and focused on the cooperative’s opportunities for future partnerships and growth. Burns explained that the boards have signed a letter of intent to begin a formal merger study with Farmers Union Cooperative, based in Ossian, Iowa. He stated, “This step marks the start of a review from a financial, operational, and organizational perspective to see if a partnership would enhance both cooperatives and deliver greater value to our members, employees, and communities.” Over the next several months we will have more details to share on the progress of the merger study.
In my management report, I provided detailed updates from each division, and highlighted significant projects completed in the past fiscal year making up the $51 million capital expense mentioned by Andy earlier. Two of the large projects include the new Cuba City agronomy location and the Mineral Point feed expansion project – both completed in fiscal 2025. Growth from our feed division continues to be the driver on the ag side of the business, while energy and retail had a nice increase in year-over-year revenue and bottom-line contribution. The agronomy division faced a more challenging environment in 2025. The year was marked by significant headwinds for grain farm economics—high input costs, persistently low commodity prices, and ongoing trade uncertainties all combined to put considerable pressure on farm profitability. Despite the tough landscape, our agronomy division turned in a solid year with positive results to the bottom line.
Based on the results of fiscal 2025, and matching last year, we plan to return another $6 million in cash to our members in spring 2026. With this distribution, we will have returned a total of $27 million in patronage and equity redemptions over the past five years – an important commitment to continuing to deliver value to our membership.
As usual, the highlight of the meeting was Allison Young, Premier QA & Communications Manager, awarding 32 high school seniors with scholarships. With many recipients present, students and their parents, all members of the cooperative, made up a large portion of nearly 200 in attendance. Congratulations to each of you and I wish you the best of luck as you begin your college career.
In closing, I would like to thank each of you for your tremendous support over the years that allow us to return record cash back to our members, award scholarships to the next generation, hire and retain the quality staff to serve you, and so much more. We appreciate the trusted partnerships we have built over the years and will continue to work hard each day to earn your business. Thank you.
