The Andersons, Inc.

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Anderson's 2021 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star then 1 on your telephone. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. If you require additional assistance, press star then 0 to reach an operator. I would now like to hand the call over to Mike Holter, Vice President, Corporate Controller and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Michelle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Anderson's First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. We have provided a slide presentation that will enhance today's discussion. If you are viewing this presentation via our webcast, the slides and commentary will be in sync. This webcast is being recorded, and the recording and the supporting slides will be made available on the investor's page of our website at andersonthink.com shortly. Certain information today constitutes forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially as a result of many factors, including general economic conditions, weather, competitive conditions, conditions in the company's industries, both in the United States and internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic, and additional factors that are described in the company's publicly filed documents, including its 34 Act filings and the prospectuses prepared in connection with the company's offerings. This presentation and today's prepared remarks contain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure are included within the appendix of this presentation. On the call with me today are Pat Bowe, President and Chief Executive Officer and Brian Valentine, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. After our prepared remarks, Pat, Brian, and I will be happy to take your questions. Before Pat makes his opening comments, I want to remind everyone that our annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 7th at 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be held in a virtual-only meeting format. I will now turn the call over to Pat.

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call to review our first quarter results. We're pleased with our strong first quarter performance as each of our four business segments had outstanding year-over-year results, and the company recorded its best first quarter since 2014. The trade business had an excellent start to the year, led by merchandising results in several markets. Increased volume, along with strong margins in dynamic grain markets, drove the improvement. The current market volatility continues to provide us with significant opportunities. Our ethanol business was profitable for the first quarter, a dramatic improvement over last year when driving demand plummeted last March as a result of the pandemic. Board crush margins improved during the quarter as a result of increasing driving demand combined with lower industry stocks due to cold weather production challenges in certain parts of the country. February. Co-product margins particularly high protein and conventional seeds were strong and we also had excellent ethanol trading results during the quarter. The plant nutrient business had its best first quarter since 2008. Margins were up in all product lines on tight supplies and strong demand. We anticipate this continuing into the second quarter and which is our primary spring fertilizer application season. Rail reported improved first quarter results due to the scrapping of some rail cars given the high price for scrapped steel and credit recoveries. We're also benefiting from the cost reductions that were implemented over the last several years. Although this was partially offset by larger incentive compensation accruals due to our strong results. Now, I'm going to turn things over to Brian, and when he's finished, I'll be back to discuss our outlook for the rest of the year. Brian?