In this article I’ll be looking at the USA, where the majority of the country’s two million farmers are members of nearly 3000 farmer owned co-ops, providing 250,000 jobs and paying wages of $8 billion each year.
According to US cooperative bank NCB, the 100-largest US co-ops in 2010 had a combined revenue of $93,703 million.
United Producers, for instance, is a farmer-owned and operated co-op that provides livestock marketing, and financial and risk management services, to its 45,000 members. The co-op has 42 facilities handling about three million livestock in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. They aim is to provide services “on a cooperative basis that ultimately improves our members’s net income.”
High in the Top 100 is Ocean Spray whose products are to be found in most New Zealand local supermarkets. Their 600 grower families supply cranberries, grapefruit, pomegranates and blueberries for the co-op to process and sell worldwide. Formed in 1930 by three cranberry growers, Ocean Spray has a tradition of innovation and resourcefulness which gave them a 2010 turnover of $1589 million.
In 1921, a group of Arkansas rice farmers banded together to market their crops, forming Riceland, which is now the world’s largest ricer miller and rice marketer. Moving beyond rice, the co-op also handles soya beans and wheat for its members.
Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association was established in 1922. “The members of yesterday and today possess the same goal,” the Wisconsin co-op states on its website, which is “to derive an equitable price for the livestock they produce.” As well as running 11 auction sites, they have a subsidiary that finances agribusiness.
In 2011, 859,000 head of livestock were marketed through its various divisions, producing $589 for the co-op’s 36,000 members.
Owned by thousands of California and Arizona citrus growers, Sunkist is a leading international supplier of fresh fruit and the oldest operating citrus co-op in the USA. Why do citrus growers join the co-op? Here is the Sunkist view:
“Cooperatives give producers clout. In today’s competitive international market, an independent grower stands alone against the competition. As a member of a cooperative, each individual grower joins with other growers to gain a mutually larger market share.
‘A cooperative of growers together can do many things a grower alone cannot afford to do: develop a worldwide market, promote a brand name, access a global transportation system, develop comprehensive research capabilities and gain governmental access to overseas markets – to name a few.” Sound familiar?
Founded 100 years ago, Blue Diamond is the world’s largest almond processing and marketing business. It is owned by half of California’s almond growers who produce 80% of the world’s almond supply. The co-op’s intention is to build markets and create new products and new opportunities for global consumers. With demand for almonds growing by 10% annually, Blue Diamond has a growing research budget.
Governed by farmer members, these successful cooperatives show clearly they are not merely a service to farmers, but their other business.
• Ramsey Margolis is executive director, New Zealand Cooperatives Association.
