The Andersons, Inc.

At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will facilitate a question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your touch-tone phone. To withdraw from the question queue, please press star then 2. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes. I will now hand the presentation to your host for today, Mr. Mike Holter, Vice President, Corporate Controller, and Investor Relations. Please proceed.

Thanks, Anthony. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Anderson Second Quarter Earnings Call. We have provided a slide presentation that will enhance today's discussion. If you are viewing this presentation via the webcast, the slides and commentary will be in sync. This webcast is being recorded, and a recording and the supporting slides will be made available on the Investors page at andersonsinc.com shortly. Please direct your attention to the disclosure statement on slide two, as well as the disclaimers in the press release related to forward-looking statements. Certain information discussed today constitutes forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to future events, financial performance, and industry conditions. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially as a result of many factors which are described in the company's reports on file with the SEC. We encourage you to review these factors. 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, we'll be happy to take your questions. I will now turn the call over to Pat.

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call this morning to review our second quarter results and for your continued interest in the Andersons. I'm very pleased with our second quarter results. We had our second best ever Q2. exceeded only by the second quarter of 2022, which was an all-time record for the company. Our nutrient and industrial segment results were our best in 15 years, and our renewables results were very strong as well. While our trade results were down year over year due to the fact that last year's results were impacted by strong demand and market volatility in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On a year-to-date basis, trade remains ahead of last year. Trade group results for the quarter include strong merchandising earnings on good positions across several products and geographies. Performance of our North American assets was lower than last year due to normalized grain elevation margins. Recent investments in premium food and feed ingredients added to our results. Operating results from our renewables business was very good due to a combination of strong crush margins and efficient operations. We continue to benefit from good merchandising of ethanol and coproducts and further growth of our low CI renewable diesel feedstock merchandising volumes. Our plants are running efficiently and generated improved yields above last year. Our nutrient and industrial results reflect improved volumes as we were well prepared for the planting season, which was delayed somewhat compared to last year. As expected, lower overall fertilizer prices compressed margins from the high levels we saw in 2022, but our increased sales pushed results higher. Brian will now cover some key financial data And after that, I'll be back to discuss our outlook for the remainder of 2023. Brian?