GROWMARK, Inc. has acquired full ownership of Imperial Valley Terminal, the grain terminal on the Illinois River at Havana, Illinois, ending a joint ownership arrangement with CHS that the two cooperatives held for several years.

The facility, which has also operated under the name CHS Havana, gives the Bloomington-based GROWMARK system sole control of a river-origin grain asset in a corridor where barge logistics shape basis and, ultimately, farmgate bids for corn and soybeans across central Illinois.

What does the ownership change mean?

The deal consolidates an export and shuttle-loading position on the Illinois River under one cooperative banner. GROWMARK, whose member cooperatives serve growers across the Midwest and beyond, now directs all merchandising, handling and throughput decisions at the Havana site without coordinating with a co-owner.

For CHS, the sale exits a shared position on the Illinois River waterway. The St. Paul, Minnesota-based co-op continues to operate its own extensive grain and agronomy network, and the transaction refines rather than reduces its overall footprint — CHS retains its own river, rail and export assets elsewhere in the Midwest.

Why the Illinois River matters to growers

Terminals along the Illinois River connect central-Illinois production to Gulf export markets via the Mississippi River system. Ownership structure at these origination points matters to producers because terminal capacity, hours and merchandising strategy influence local basis.

Growers delivering to GROWMARK-affiliated elevators in the Havana region will now face a single cooperative's merchandising book at the terminal. How GROWMARK integrates Havana into its existing Illinois logistics — and whether that tightens or widens local basis — will show up in subsequent delivery windows rather than in any announcement.

Consolidation continues in co-op grain handling

The buyout fits a broader pattern of cooperative consolidation in Midwest grain infrastructure, as regional co-op systems concentrate capital in high-throughput origination assets capable of loading unit trains and barges efficiently.

Neither company disclosed the purchase price nor the effective closing date, so the financial scale of the transaction remains outside public view. Both parties framed the move as a straightforward refinement of ownership at a single facility rather than a restructuring of their broader commercial relationship.

What comes next

GROWMARK has not announced changes to staffing, hours or handling capacity at the terminal. The practical test of the acquisition will come at harvest, when the terminal's bids, grain flow and coordination with GROWMARK's member cooperatives reveal how the co-op intends to use its new sole position on the Illinois River.