Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2017

Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]

Schedule of Line of Credit Facilities [Table Text Block]

Revolving Credit Facilities	Maturities	Total Capacity		Borrowings Outstanding		Interest Rates
		2017		2017	2016
		(Dollars in thousands)
Committed Five-Year Unsecured Facility	2020	$	3,000,000	$480,000	$700,000	LIBOR+0.00% to 1.45%
Uncommitted Bilateral Facilities	2017	250,000		250,000	300,000	LIBOR+0.00% to 1.05%

Schedule of Short-term Debt [Table Text Block]

	Weighted-average Interest Rate
	2017	2016	2017		2016
			(Dollars in thousands)
Notes payable	2.40%	1.72%	$	1,695,423	$	1,803,174
CHS Capital notes payable	1.93%	1.31%	292,792		928,305
Total notes payable			$	1,988,215	$	2,731,479

Schedule of Long-term Debt Instruments

Amounts included in long-term debt on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of August 31, 2017, and 2016, are presented in the table below.

	2017			2016
	(Dollars in thousands)
6.18% unsecured notes $400 million face amount, due in equal installments beginning in 2014 through 2018	$	80,000		$	160,000
5.60% unsecured notes $60 million face amount, due in equal installments beginning in 2012 through 2018	4,615			13,846
5.78% unsecured notes $50 million face amount, due in equal installments beginning in 2014 through 2018	10,000			20,000
4.00% unsecured notes $100 million face amount, due in equal installments beginning in 2017 through 2021	80,000			100,000
4.08% unsecured notes $130 million face amount, due in 2019 (a)	130,690			141,344
4.52% unsecured notes $160 million face amount, due in 2021 (a)	163,496			162,633
4.67% unsecured notes $130 million face amount, due in 2023 (a)	135,792			138,101
4.39% unsecured notes $152 million face amount, due in 2023	152,000			152,000
3.85% unsecured notes $80 million face amount, due in 2025	80,000			80,000
3.80% unsecured notes $100 million face amount, due in 2025	100,000			100,000
4.58% unsecured notes $150 million face amount, due in 2025	149,293			150,000
4.82% unsecured notes $80 million face amount, due in 2026	80,000			80,000
4.69% unsecured notes $58 million face amount, due in 2027	58,000			58,000
4.74% unsecured notes $95 million face amount, due in 2028	95,000			95,000
4.89% unsecured notes $100 million face amount, due in 2031	100,000			100,000
4.71% unsecured notes $100 million face amount, due in 2033	100,000			100,000
5.40% unsecured notes $125 million face amount, due in 2036	125,000			125,000
Private Placement debt	1,643,886			1,775,924
5.59% unsecured term loans from cooperative and other banks, due in equal installments beginning in 2013 through 2018	15,000			45,000
2.25% unsecured term loans from cooperative and other banks, due in 2025 (b)	430,000			300,000
Bank financing	445,000			345,000
Capital lease obligations	33,075			105,708
Other notes and contracts with interest rates from 1.30% to 15.25%	62,652			76,147
Deferred financing costs	(4,820		)	(5,574		)
Total long-term debt	2,179,793			2,297,205
Less current portion	156,345			214,329
Long-term portion	$	2,023,448		$	2,082,876

_______________________________________

^(a)  We have entered interest rate swaps designated as fair value hedging relationships with these notes. Changes in the fair value of the swaps are recorded each period with a corresponding adjustment to the carrying value of the debt. See Note 12, Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities for more information.

^(b)  Borrowings are variable under the agreement and bear interest at a base rate (or a LIBO rate) plus an applicable margin.

Schedule of Maturities of Long-Term Debt

Long-term debt outstanding as of August 31, 2017, has aggregate maturities, excluding fair value adjustments and capital leases (see Note 5, Property, Plant and Equipment for a schedule of minimum future lease payments under capital leases), as follows:

	(Dollars in thousands)
2018	$	149,050
2019	167,412
2020	31,478
2021	182,949
2022	126
Thereafter	1,611,385
Total	$	2,142,400

Schedule of Interest,Net

Interest expense for the years ended August 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, was $171.2 million, $113.7 million and $70.7 million, respectively, net of capitalized interest of $6.9 million, $30.3 million and $57.3 million.