Comments on: Why are cooperatives important to agriculture?

By: Michael W

Michael W — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:02:57 +0000

Ding-Ding has a point, but I think he strayed away from answering your question.

Cooperatives are important to agriculture because they negotiate sales of crops directly with food buyers on behalf of farmers. This leaves the farmer to focus directly to focus on growing crops, and not have to spend time on the phone negotiating sales contracts.

By: Ding-Ding

Ding-Ding — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:38:15 +0000

Large business corporations (like Con Agra) are taking over American farming and the family farm is going by the wayside. As more and more small farmers disappear and family farms are lost the higher the cost of food.

Farm Co-ops were formed by local farmers to help pool the farming communities resources. As a group they could purchase their supplies in much greater volume and therefore get a lower price. By becoming a business they could get wholesale prices, sell to their own members at a lower rate. They were the early versions of Sam’s, Costco, Fedco, etc. only they focused on gasoline for farm equipment, and various farming implements.

As farmers, profits are almost nil. After taxes, feed, seed, fertilizer, vet services, maintenance of vehicles, gas, insurance, etc most small farmers make less than $5000 a year. That’s a real fine line. ‘Specially if you are the one walking it. American agriculture made America strong. But no more. Supply and demand. America is no longer a seasonal nation. We want our fruits and veggies all year around, so we buy meat from Argentina, fruits and veggies from around the world. This puts our farmland in jeapordy. Corporations buy up the farmland and who can stop them from selling it to land speculators for housing projects. These tend to be around rivers, streams and lakes. This leaves a lot of “dry” farms. Farms depending Only on rainfall for survival. More homes, more people. less land for crops. Viscious cycle.

By: thetravelinggardener

thetravelinggardener — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:34:42 +0000

You did not mention as what kind of cooperative you are writing about.
One type is where a group of folks get together and make large purchases of fresh agriculture products to lessen the cost for distribution.

The other is the cooperative extension services as sponsered by the USDA and all that states that have Agriculture depts. These cooperatives are linked to all the experimental ag stations world wide, to all the universities and people who are the real growers of today food products. Their goal is to produce more high quality products at the lowest cost per unit while using the least amount of available natural resources.

Each state of the USA has an ag dept. look them up on the web and ask them the question. They are paid by the USDA and each state to do this free service to the citizen consumers.