CHS Inc. said Monday that it is forming a grain marketing joint venture with Japanese grain company Zen-Noh.

The Inver Grove Heights-based cooperative will buy a 51 percent stake in CZL Ltd., which will supply commodities to Japan, primarily wheat and barley grown in North America and Australia. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

The joint venture will be managed from Tokyo. CHS is the largest U.S. agricultural cooperative, and Zen-Noh is a major Japanese cooperative. The two companies have been trading partners for 30 years.

MIKE HUGHLETT