DES MOINES, Iowa (December 6, 2023) — Landus, one of the largest farmer-owned cooperatives in Iowa, held its eighth Annual Meeting on Monday, December 4, 2023. Landus executive leadership and board members reviewed the cooperative’s record-breaking performance, for the fourth consecutive year, including financial insights, patronage, and the vision for future growth. Landus also announced the results of four board director positions and the board officers for the 2023 fiscal year.
Board of Director Elections
As announced during the Annual Meeting, elected as board directors for three-year terms are:
- Matt Chambers of Audubon, Iowa
- Dan Reynolds of Rockwell City, Iowa
- Jeff Frank of Auburn of Auburn, Iowa
- Brett Heineman of Ogden, Iowa
In a board meeting following the Annual Meeting, officers of the Landus Board of Directors were elected as follows:
- Matt Chambers of Audubon, Iowa – elected Chair
- Matt Showalter of Hampton, Iowa – elected Vice Chair
- Dan Reynolds of Rockwell City, Iowa – elected Secretary/Treasurer
Appointed as associate (non-voting) members of the board are:
- Halie Renze of Auburn, Iowa
Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Highlights
Kathleen Lyons, Landus chief financial officer, provided a detailed report of the 2023 fiscal year financials during the Annual Meeting, including these highlights:
- Record Sales of $2.4 billion which edged out fiscal year 2022 sales by $27 million (nearly 15% increase)
- Total pre-tax income amounted to $37 million surpassed fiscal year 2022 by over $8 million (28% increase)
- Farmers were rewarded in two ways
- In the form of a two-cent patronage dividend on grain bushels
- Landus invested over $120 million in capital improvements across several locations.
Outlook
Matt Carstens, Landus president & CEO, compiled the accomplishments from the year and delivered updates to the projects to come from Landus. Landus Conduit is wrapping up its first year of operation and the light-asset framework has paid off big for Landus in building out its customer base outside of the traditional Landus geography. Carstens also touched on what it means for a company to be rural and the importance of keeping rural viable for the foreseeable future.
