Lynden Johnson CHS exec VP Country Operations RETIRED
Lynden Johnson
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA, U.S. —Lynden Johnson, executive vice-president, Country Operations of CHS, will retire Oct. 2, after more than 35 years of service to cooperatives and to CHS.

Effective with Johnson’s retirement, Mike Johnston, senior vice -resident of operations for Country Operations, will assume the role of interim leader and will report to Jay Debertin, president and chief executive officer of CHS.


Johnson began his career as a management trainee in the cooperative system and spent the next 23 years as a general manager at three local cooperatives in North Dakota and Minnesota. During those years, he was a leader in cooperative system organizations, including serving as president of the North Dakota and Minnesota Managers Association, Triangle Agronomy, LLC, the CHS and Land O’Lakes Managers Council, as well as several business unit advisory committees.

His next chapter began as he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., to lead Cenex/Land O’Lakes Member Services as vice-president, where his team offered management consulting services to local cooperatives. In 2008, Johnson joined CHS Business Solutions, where he was responsible for bringing together management consulting to CHS member co-ops with financing, commodity risk management and insurance subsidiaries under one division. In 2011, he was named executive vice-president of business solutions. During that time, he also led the CHS Foundation through a period of growth and change, and served as a liaison to the CHS Board. In 2014, he assumed his current role as executive vice-president, Country Operations. He has also served as a director for the CHS Pension Plan.

Throughout his career, Johnson’s deep commitment to agriculture and cooperatives has been evident in the many relationships he’s built, the businesses he’s led, and the many contributions he has made, CHS said. Over the years, he also has maintained his strong North Dakota roots. That lifelong connection was recognized when he was awarded the 2015 NDSU Harvest Bowl Agribusiness award, an honor given to individuals who have distinguished themselves in the field of agriculture and business in North Dakota and beyond.