CEO Comments:
Recapping 2018 and Looking Ahead I HOPE THIS ISSUE OF PARTNERS FINDS YOU WELL AFTER HAVING SHARED QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS OVER THE HOLIDAYS. AS ALWAYS, THIS ISSUE OF PARTNERS CONTAINS AN ARRAY OF NEWS AND INFORMATION WE BELIEVE YOU WILL FIND OF VALUE. IN PARTICULAR, I WANT TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON PAGE 17 REGARDING PATRONAGE. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING CREATIVE SOLUTIONS AND RESOURCES TO OUR MEMBERS, WHILE HELPING YOU MANAGE THE CHALLENGES OF THE CURRENT AGRICULTURE ECONOMY, WE ALSO RETURN PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS EACH YEAR SINCE 2005. Over the years, the association has been able to increase the percentage of its earnings shared while maintaining adequate levels of capital to help ensure a dependable source of credit. On behalf of the board, I am pleased to announce GreenStone will patronage approximately 45 percent of its 2018 net earnings for a total of $82 million that will be paid to eligible members on March 14, 2019. This is a 60 percent increase from 2017’s total payment of $50 million and brings the 14-year, life to date, total paid through the program to $400 million. On average, this relates
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Winter 2019 — Partners