Keystone Cooperative announced today a onetime special equity redemption totaling $38.4 million, representing approximately 43% of all named equity outstanding. This historic distribution reflects Keystone’s long-standing commitment to return value to farmer-members and to uphold the strength, sustainability, and future of family farms across its service area.

The special equity redemption is being issued at a time when many farm operations face significant economic pressure. Keystone’s Board of Directors and leadership team approved the payout as a meaningful way to deliver financial relief without compromising the cooperative’s ability to invest strategically in people, facilities, assets, and long-term growth.

“This redemption is a powerful demonstration of what makes cooperatives unique: value flows back to the people who help create it,” said Kevin Still, President & CEO of Keystone Cooperative. “Our financial strength, which has been accelerated by recent mergers, operational synergies, and continued member loyalty, allows us to return capital at a moment when it can truly make a difference for farm families.”

This redemption includes member equity issued from 1967 through 2020 and is not taxable income, as taxes were paid in the year the equity was earned. Members must be in good standing to receive the distribution, and checks are being mailed directly to eligible farmer-members.

This Special Equity Redemption is part of a broader return of member value in 2026. In total, Keystone will distribute $93.7 million to farmer-members this year, including:

The cooperative will continue to honor its Age 70 redemption policy, and legacy Harvest Land equity issued prior to the 2021 merger remains unaffected, as it was previously returned.

“Our cooperative was built by generations of farmers who believed in shared success, resilience, and long-term vision,” said Bill Peters, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “As Keystone approaches its 100-year anniversary in 2027, this redemption underscores our commitment to supporting member-owners today while safeguarding the financial strength that will carry us into the next century.”

“The heart of our cooperative is, and always will be, our farmer-owners,” Still added. “Together, we are building a bright, resilient, and optimistic future for the next generation of agriculture.”

Oversubscribed round co-led by the Forbion Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva as demand for Tropic’s breakthrough banana varieties surges worldwide

Tropic, the global leader in gene‑edited tropical crops, today announces the close of its oversubscribed $105 million Series C financing to accelerate the global commercial scale up of its banana and rice portfolios, and advance its pipeline of climate resilient crops. The round reflects surging global demand for resilient, sustainable food solutions and Tropic’s proven ability to rapidly and efficiently bring high performance gene‑edited crops to market.

The round was co-led by Forbion through its Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva, through its Corteva Catalyst investment platform, with significant participation from Just Climate and IQ Capital. The round was also supported by new investors ABN Amro and Invest International, and existing investors Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures and Polaris Partners who participated in the round. As part of the financing, Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion, Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, and Siddarth Shrikanth, Director at Just Climate, will join Tropic’s Board of Directors. Gustavo Bassetti, Rob Scott, Onno van de Stolpe and Alex Wilson will join as Board observers.

The financing follows a milestone year in which Tropic launched the first new commercial banana varieties in more than 75 years. These include a non-browning banana – named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 – and an extended shelf life variety that lengthens green life by an additional 12 days, increasing field yields, enabling new export routes and reducing transportation waste by up to 50 percent.

Furthermore, Tropic greatly advanced its Panama Disease (TR4) resistant programme in 2025, with the shipment of plants to establish a mother plantation – supporting commercial deployment from 2027. Panama Disease (TR4) is fast-spreading, found in more than 20 countries globally, and represents an existential threat for the $25 billion dollar banana industry – threatening food security and farmers livelihoods.

Expanding global production to meet rising demand

With demand for its initial commercial products rapidly outpacing supply, Tropic will use the Series C capital to expand large‑scale plant production capabilities, strengthen global supply chains, and support commercial partnerships across major export markets.

The funding will also accelerate Tropic’s pipeline of banana varieties, developed for natural resistance to devastating diseases such as TR4 and Black Sigatoka, and expand development across its rice portfolio, and support entry into additional high-impact crops to conquer global food supply challenges.

 

Executive commentary

Gilad Gershon, CEO of Tropic, said:
“This funding is a powerful endorsement of our team’s ability to bring breakthrough products to the hands of growers, exporters and consumers around the world. We are entering a new era, one where gene‑edited crops will significantly enhance food security and sustainability.

2025 proved that our technology delivers – not in the distant future, but right now. With two banana varieties already on the market and demand outstripping supply, this investment enables us to scale global production and expand into new crops faster than ever before. We are excited to be partnering with our new investors as we progress our mission to build a world leading tropical seeds company.”

 

Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion, said:
“Tropic is an exemplary case of how advanced biotechnology can be applied with precision to challenges in planetary health, starting with banana and rice. Escalating disease pressure, limited innovation and a lack of cost-effective solutions are driving a growing environmental and supply chain risk in our food systems.
Tropic has proven its leading position in addressing these threats by bringing its innovative technology to market and providing durable, scalable and resilient solutions to growers. We are proud to partner with an exceptional management team and a like-minded syndicate as Tropic scales commercially and builds a globally leading, category-defining seeds platform.”

 

Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, said:
“Tropic’s non-browning banana varieties are a promising example of how the agriculture industry is leveraging innovation to deliver new and improved choices for farmers and consumers worldwide. We’re thrilled to support Tropic as we continue to advance our global portfolio of next-generation solutions to help farmers produce more food and feed, sustainably.”

 

Siddarth Shrikanth, Director, Natural Climate Solutions at Just Climate, said:
“Agriculture drives the majority of nature loss, and waste across food value chains is a meaningful contributor to global carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Based on a decade of breakthrough research, Tropic has developed crop varieties that are disease-resistant, higher-yielding, and hardier in transit to tackle the environmental footprint of our food system at its source. With the technology proven and the first products in market, the company is now at an inflection point. As growth investors supporting the commercial scale-up of transformative nature solutions, we look forward to partnering with the Tropic team and our co-investors to bring their resilient, sustainable tropical crops to growers worldwide.”

 

Alex Wilson, Partner at IQ Capital, said:
“Tropic is exactly the kind of company we look to back at IQC – deep technology solving a massive real-world problem. Tropic’s gene-editing platform addresses crops that have been essentially unimprovable through conventional breeding, and the results speak for themselves: two banana varieties launched, with strong demand from growers and exporters fuelling significant revenue growth. With TR4 posing an existential threat to a $25bn industry, the urgency behind Tropic’s pipeline is only growing. We are delighted to be supporting Gilad and the team as they scale globally.”

 

About Tropic

Tropic is a pioneering tropical seeds company dedicated to the development of healthier, more robust, high-performing varieties of tropical crops. The company’s current core crop portfolio focusses on banana and rice, which together provide a source of livelihood to billions of people worldwide. Tropic utilises its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other cutting-edge gene editing technologies to develop improved crops with increased disease resistance, higher yields, and environmentally sustainable traits. By harnessing the power of advanced genetic engineering, Tropic is committed to addressing global agricultural challenges and providing innovative solutions that benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment.

The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) has announced the launch of the Catalyst Scholars Fund, which marks the first phase of a broader Advanced Chemistry strategy for Indiana. The strategy involves a coordinated effort to position Indiana as the national leader in the development and deployment of technologies needed to reshore and secure critical supply chains for medicines, animal health products, and agricultural inputs, which is a national security priority.

The Catalyst Scholars Fund is a five-year initiative to enable Indiana’s leading STEM higher education institutions, including its four R1 research institutions (Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame) along with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to attract world-class research teams in Advanced Chemistry through strategic cluster and eminent scholar recruitment. The Fund will provide matching support for major equipment, laboratory infrastructure, and startup packages, strengthening the State’s ability to attract and retain top research talent with the expertise and capabilities to develop new technologies with translational potential that can be deployed to strengthen domestic supply chains. 

Supported by a $69.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to the CICP Foundation Inc. and matching commitments from participating universities, the Catalyst Scholars Fund, spearheaded by CICP and powered by its branded initiatives, BioCrossroads and AgriNovus Indiana, will enable these Indiana higher education institutions to recruit 25 to 45 world class faculty and their teams over five years to tackle industry informed grand challenges in analytical chemistry, novel macromolecular chemistries, automation, and artificial intelligence applications in bioscience manufacturing. 

Leveraging Indiana’s unique strengths, including global life sciences leaders Eli Lilly and Company, Elanco Animal Health, and Corteva and these world-class research and teaching institutions and the State’s position as the nation’s leading exporter of life science products, the initiative will accelerate new research and translation of platform technologies. Together, these tools and capabilities are relevant across human health, animal health, and plant science, serving as a compelling example of the power of Indiana’s One Health ecosystem. 

“The Catalyst Scholars Fund begins to position Indiana as the go-to location for innovation and technology implementation in Advanced Chemistry manufacturing,” said Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) CEO Melina Kennedy. “CICP and its initiatives, BioCrossroads and AgriNovus, are pleased to help align these CEOs, university presidents, and ecosystem partners around a single vision: making Indiana the national hub where world-class academic researchers and industry partners come together to strengthen our nation’s most critical supply chains.”

“The Catalyst Scholars Fund builds on IU’s longstanding strengths in the life sciences and accelerates the momentum of IU LAB to rapidly translate research into innovation that fuels Indiana’s competitiveness,” said Indiana University President Pam Whitten. “As Indiana’s largest research institution with a statewide footprint, IU brings unmatched scale, depth, and capability to this effort. By joining forces with the other initiative partners and industry leaders, we are creating research clusters and recruiting talent that will help secure the nation’s medicine and food supply while opening new opportunities for Hoosiers in every corner of the state.” 

“From its two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry to the recently launched One Health strategic priority, Purdue is ready to work with industry partners to develop breakthrough research and excellence at unparalleled scale in talent pipeline through four chemistry-related departments, thus securing critical supply chains onshore and positioning our state as the default destination for advanced chemistry innovation,” said Purdue University President Mung Chiang. “The Catalyst Scholars Fund and the visionary support from Lilly Endowment accelerate our efforts to build the infrastructure and recruit and retain the best faculty in advanced chemistry.” 

“Throughout our history, the University of Notre Dame has been guided by its Catholic mission and our founder’s vision to be a ‘powerful means for doing good in this country,’” said Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame president. “By supporting advanced chemistry efforts that help to develop our nation’s early career workforce and to reshore manufacturing in critical areas, the Catalyst Scholars Fund reflects our ongoing commitment to harnessing discovery and collaboration, particularly in service of the most vulnerable and underserved in society. These efforts build upon our existing leadership of major initiatives in this space, including the NSF-funded Center for Bioanalytic Metrology and the Center for Computer Aided Synthesis. We look forward to working alongside our industrial and academic partners to realize the vision of Catalyze Indiana and strengthen the health and capacity of our state.” 

Robert A. Coons, President, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology shared, “I hope every Rose-Hulman graduate leaves with not only knowledge, but a passion for innovation and a drive to keep discovering new ways to solve hard problems. The Catalyst Scholars Fund amplifies those instincts across Indiana’s higher education institutions, empowering faculty and students to take smart risks, push the boundaries of what’s possible in advanced chemistry, and create technologies that will secure critical supply chains and improve lives for years to come.”  

Indiana is uniquely positioned to become the nation’s epicenter for advanced chemistry manufacturing, with global life sciences leaders, top-tier research universities, and a deep manufacturing base that already generates more than $43 billion annually and employs nearly 40,000 Hoosiers in advanced chemistry-related sectors. By prioritizing talent through the Catalyst Scholars Fund, Indiana is building the research depth and technical capacity required to support workforce training and supply chain infrastructure. 

The program also promotes statewide collaboration through coordinated equipment sharing agreements among universities, maximizing the impact of infrastructure investments. Major analytical instruments and specialized facilities enabled through the fund will be available to researchers across institutions. 

Industry partners including Eli Lilly and Company, Elanco Animal Health, and Corteva will help inform annual technology priorities and engage directly with recruited scholars through sponsored research, advisory input, and collaborative programs. This structure ensures that academic research remains aligned with the real manufacturing challenges facing companies operating in food, medicine, and advanced materials. 

“Modern medicines are increasingly complex to manufacture,” said David A. Ricks, Chair and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. “Advancing the technologies that make production more efficient and reliable is essential to keeping supply secure and ensuring access for patients. This investment deepens Lilly’s collaboration with Indiana’s leading research universities and advanced chemistry experts, and Lilly is excited to work with the researchers recruited through the Catalyst Scholars Fund to help translate innovation into impact.”  

Additional Perspectives from Initiative Partners  

Chuck Magro, CEO, Corteva  

“Innovation in advanced chemistry and manufacturing processes is essential because as the world grows, we will need to grow more food on the same amount of land, manage our environmental footprint, and strengthen the food  supply chain farmers and Hoosiers depend upon. The Catalyst Scholars Fund creates exactly the kind of industry-university partnerships we need, bringing world-class scientists together with global agriculture leaders to turn new ideas into practical tools that help farmers do what they do best – feed the world.”  

Jeff Simmons, President and CEO, Elanco Animal Health 

“When people find their ‘why,’ they go further than they ever imagined, and the same is true for regions and ecosystems. The Catalyst Scholars Fund gives Indiana researchers and innovators a compelling purpose: supporting the health and wellbeing of pets and increasing the availability and affordability of protein that the world is counting on. Further, we’re creating a destination for global talent that wants to make a real difference in animal health and the future of food.”

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM), the largest egg company in the United States and a leading player in the egg-based food industry, today announced the acquisition of the shell egg, egg products, and prepared foods assets of Creighton Brothers LLC, including Crystal Lake LLC, for a total purchase price of approximately $128.5 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Cal-Maine Foods is funding the acquisition with available cash on hand.

Established in 1925, Creighton Brothers produces, grades, and packages high-quality conventional and specialty shell eggs for retail and foodservice markets. Crystal Lake produces ready-to-use egg products for the foodservice and food manufacturing industries, including liquid, frozen, and hard-cooked eggs, and distributes pre-cooked egg patties, omelets, and scrambled eggs. Both companies are headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, where Cal-Maine Foods previously had no shell egg operations.

“The acquisition of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake advances our strategy by expanding the scale and geographic reach of our shell egg platform, across both specialty eggs and conventional eggs, adding meaningful growth to our portfolio. This incremental capacity strengthens our ability to align production with demand, better positioning us to consistently meet consumer expectations for choice, reliability, and affordability. Together with the Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake team, we will build on the strong foundation already in place—combining our operational excellence, deep customer relationships, supply chain expertise, rigorous capital deployment, and robust systems to accelerate growth and unlock new opportunities,” said Sherman Miller, president and chief executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods.

“Importantly, with nearby liquid egg capacity, we further our internal sourcing strategy for key egg-based ingredients for our prepared foods business—strengthening supply security, improving margins, and driving greater operational efficiency. Together, these advantages compound over time and, guided by our disciplined, returns-focused approach, drive performance and create sustainable per-share value,” he continued.

The acquired assets include commercial shell egg production and grading with capacity of approximately 3.2 million laying hens, including 500,000 cage-free, and 865,000 pullets, a feed mill, 1,007 acres of land, as well as an egg products and hard-cooked egg processing facility.

Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake will be fully integrated into Cal-Maine Foods’ existing operations, including its 177 employees. Mr. Miller commented, “We are proud to welcome this exceptional team to the Cal-Maine Foods family. Their high-quality operations reflect remarkable dedication and capability, and we look forward to achieving even greater success together.”

Mindy Truex, President of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake, stated, “With mixed personal emotions and great pride, I’m excited to see the legacy of Hobart and Russell Creighton and their families continue and grow with a new family at Cal-Maine. I believe our dedication to excellence and doing things right will mesh well and provide an example to follow for another 100 years.”

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