United States

Department of

Agriculture

Rural Business–

Cooperative

Service

RBS Service

Report 60

FARMER COOPERATIVE

STATISTICS, 2000
Abstract A survey of U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives ending their business year during calendar year 2000 showed a net business volume of $99.7 billion, up from $99.1 billion in

1999, although net income of $1.28 billion was down from $1.33 billion. Gross business volume was also up for the 3,346 cooperatives surveyed. Assets and liabilities

were up and net worth was about the same. Business volume by commodity handled

is reported for all cooperatives. Number of cooperatives, cooperative memberships,

and number of employees are classified according to marketing, farm supply, and service function. Trends in cooperative numbers, memberships, employees, business

size, sales volume, net income, assets, liabilities, and net worth are reported along

with data on selected activities of other cooperative service organizations.

Keywords: cooperatives, statistics, business volume, employees, memberships, balance sheet, net income.

FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2000

Charles A. Kraenzle, Ralph M. Richardson,

Celestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille,

and Jacqueline E. Penn

Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Development

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

STOP 3256, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

W ashington, DC 20250-3256

Service Report 60

D ecember 2001

Price: Domestic--$5.00; 

Foreign--$5.50
Preface Farmer cooperative statistics are collected annually to provide information on the

progress and trends in cooperatives’ growth and development. These statistics are

used for research, technical assistance, education, planning, and public policy.

Acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating farmer cooperative statistics is authorized by

the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926.

This report provides aggregate information on the number, membership, business volume, net income, basic balance sheet items, and full-time employees of farmer cooperatives for their business years that ended in calendar year 2000. Cooperatives are

classified by principal product marketed and major function. Fishery and ethanol cooperatives are included as miscellaneous marketing cooperatives. Both gross (includes

inter-cooperative business) and net (excludes inter-cooperative business) dollar volumes are reported.

Statistics for 2000 were compiled only on a national basis. State data are collected

every other year and are included for 1999 in the appendix.

The information was collected from individual farmer and fishery cooperatives by a

mail survey of all organizations identified by USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative

Service (RBS) as a farmer or aquacultural cooperative. Information was requested for

the cooperatives’ 2000 business year.

RBS conducts an annual census to gain more accurate estimates for assistance purposes. Information obtained from individual cooperatives is combined to maintain confidentiality.

Statistics for all cooperatives were derived by adding data estimated for nonrespondents to respondent data. Data from respondents and other sources accounted for

90.8 percent of the total gross sales of farmer cooperatives in 2000.

RBS depends on the cooperative community’s response to its annual survey to develop a detailed and comprehensive set of statistics on farmer cooperatives. The time

and effort taken to provide information and the timeliness with which it is furnished are

greatly appreciated.

i
Contents HIGHLIGHTS ........................................................vii

I—DEFINITION OF A FARMER COOPERATIVE .............................1

Classification of Cooperatives .......................................1

Organizational Membership Structures ................................2

II—2000 STATISTICS ..................................................2

Number of Cooperatives ............................................3

Memberships ....................................................5

Employees ......................................................5

Total Labor Expenses ..............................................9

Business Size ....................................................9

Business Volume ................................................14

Net Income .....................................................20

Balance Sheet ..................................................21

Selected Financial Ratios ..........................................23

Problems and Issues .............................................27

Cooperatives’ Use of the Internet ....................................28

III—COOPERATIVE TRENDS, 1991-2000 .................................28

Number of Cooperatives ...........................................28

Memberships ...................................................29

Employees .....................................................30

Business Volume ................................................30

Net Income .....................................................32

Balance Sheet ..................................................33

IV—OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES ..................................33

Farm Credit System ..............................................33

Rural Electric Cooperatives ........................................34 

i
Contents Rural Credit Unions .............................................. 34

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations ................................34

TABLE

Table 1—Number of cooperatives and memberships, by major business 

activity, 2000 .................................................2

Table 2—Number of cooperatives, by major function and State, 2000 .............4

Table 3—Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer 

cooperatives, by type of cooperative, 1999-2000 .....................7

Table 4—Average total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by 

selected type and size, 1999-2000 ...............................10

Table 5—Average total labor expense for grain and oilseed and farm 

supply cooperatives, by region and size, 1999-2000 ..................11

Table 6—Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for cooperatives 

reporting, by selected type and size, 1999-2000 .....................13

Table 7—Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for grain and 

oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, by region and 

size, 1999-2000 ..............................................15 

Table 8—Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business 

volume, 2000 ................................................17

Table 9—Cooperatives' gross and net business volumes by 

commodity, 2000 .............................................18 

Table 10—Farmer cooperatives' net income, 2000 ...........................20

Table 11 —Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 2000 ..........22

Table 12—Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 2000 ....................23

Table 13—Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 2000 .....................24

Table 14— Times interest earned for cooperatives, by selected type 

and size, 2000 ..............................................26

Table 15—Number of farmer cooperatives, 1991-2000 ........................29

Table 16—Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm 

supply cooperatives, 1995-2000 .................................31

Table 17—Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and related-service 

cooperatives, 1991-2000 ......................................33

iii
Contents Table 18—Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 1995-2000 .............34

Table 19—Cooperatives’ net business volume, 1991 and 2000 .................35

Table 20—Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 1991-2000 ...........38

Table 21—Net income of farmer cooperatives, 1991-2000 .....................39

Table 22—Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 

1991-2000 .................................................40

Table 23—Farm Credit Association Structure, Jan. 1, 2001 ....................41

Table 24—Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net worth, and 

net income, 1996-2000 ........................................41 

Table 25—Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and net income 

of CoBank, ACB, 1996-2000 ...................................41

Table 26—Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric 

cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 2000 ............................42

Table 27—Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit 

unions, by State, Dec. 31, 2000 .................................43

Table 28—Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd 

improvement associations, by State, Dec. 31, 2000 .................44

FIGURES

Figure 1—Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 2000 ............3

Figure 2—Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives, by Size, 2000 ........5

Figure 3—Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 2000 ............6

Figure 4—Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross 

Business Volume, 2000 ........................................6

Figure 5—Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of

Cooperative, 2000 .............................................8

Figure 6—Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal 

Employees,by Type of Cooperative, 2000 ..........................8

Figure 7—Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business 

Volume, by Size, 2000 ........................................17

Figure 8—Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by 

Cooperatives, 2000 ...........................................19

iv
Contents Figure 9—Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by 

Cooperatives, 2000 ...........................................19

Figure 10—Net Income or Loss, by Type of Cooperative, 2000 .................21

Figure 11 —Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net

W orth, by Type of Cooperative, 2000 ............................22

Figure 12—Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1990-2000 ...............29

Figure 13—Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1991-2000 .................30

Figure 14—Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 

1992-2000 .................................................31

Figure 15—Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1991-2000 .................32

Figure 16—Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1991-2000 ...................36

Figure 17—Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities,

1991-2000 .................................................36

Figure 18—Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 

1991-2000 .................................................37

Figure 19—Cooperatives' Net Income, 1991-2000 ...........................39

Figure 20—Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Liabilities, 1991-2000 .................40

APPENDIX TABLES 

Appendix Table 1—Number of co-ops and memberships, by 

major business activity and State, 1999 ....................46

Appendix Table 2—Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 

by commodity and State, 1999 ...........................50

APPENDIX FIGURES 

Appendix Figure 1—Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1976-2000 ............59

Appendix Figure 2—Cooperatives' Gross and Net Business 

Volumes, 1976-2000 ..................................59

Appendix Figure 3—U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative 

Memberships, 1976-2000 ..............................60

Appendix Figure 4—Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by 

Type, 2000 .........................................60

Appendix Figure 5—Distribution of Total Net Income by Type of 

Cooperative, 2000 ....................................61

v
Contents Appendix Figure 6—Distribution of Total Losses, by Type of 

Cooperative, 2000 ....................................61

Appendix Figure 7—Distribution of Total Net Worth, by Type of 

Cooperative, 2000 ....................................62

Appendix Figure 8—Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees, 

by Type of Cooperative, 2000 ...........................62

Appendix Figure 9—Assets Per Full-Time Employee, by Type of

Cooperative, 2000 ....................................63

Appendix Figure 10—Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage 

Refunds Received from Other Cooperatives, 

1991-2000 .........................................63

vi
Highlights Both gross and net business volumes increased while net income declined according

to the 2000 survey of marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives by

U S D A’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS). Although the number of cooperatives and memberships declined, total assets, total liabilities, and net worth increased.

The number of full-time employees increased, while the use of part-time and seasonal

employees was down.

● Total gross business volume (includes inter-cooperative business) handled by

cooperatives rose 4.7 percent, from $115.3 billion in 1999 to $120.7 billion in

2000.

● Total net business (excludes inter-cooperative business) increased slightly (0.6

percent) from $99.1 billion to $99.7 billion.

● Total net income of $1.28 billion was down 3.9 percent from the $1.33 billion

for 1999. The 2000 net included inter-cooperative dividends and refunds of

$235.1 million—down 38.7 percent from $383.5 million. 

● The number of cooperatives declined 3.5 percent, from 3,466 to 3,346.

● Grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,327 branches in

2000, compared with 5,330 in 1999.

● Cooperative memberships were 3,085,052, down 2.8 percent from 3,173,323

in 1999.

● Cooperatives employed 176,665 full-time (up 2.2 percent) and 77,993 parttime and seasonal employees in 2000. Numbers of part-time and seasonal

employees decreased significantly.

● Gross value of farm products marketed by cooperatives in 2000 decreased

slightly, 0.1 percent, from $80.5 billion to $80.4 billion. Net value of these farm

products, after eliminating duplication from inter-cooperative business, was

$72.1 billion, up 0.1 percent from nearly $72 billion in 1999.

● Gross value of farm supplies handled by farmer cooperatives was up 19.2 percent, from $30.9 billion to $36.8 billion. After adjusting for inter-cooperative

business, the increase was 3.9 percent, from $23.2 billion to $24.1 billion.

● Receipts for services related to marketing farm products and handling farm

supplies, plus other income, decreased 10.1 percent, from $3.9 billion to $3.5

billion.

● Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives increased 4.3 percent, from

$47.7 billion to $49.7 billion. Net assets, after eliminating inter-cooperative

investments, was up 5.4 percent, from $42.3 billion to $44.6 billion. This included investments in CoBank.

● Total liabilities of $29.4 billion was up 7.4 percent from $27.4 billion.

● Net worth, or member and patron equity, rose slightly from $20.26 billion to

vii
Highlights $20.28 billion. Member and patron equity financed 40.8 percent of total assets, down

from 42.5 percent in 1999

HIGHLIGHTS CAPSULE

1999 2000 Change

Number of cooperatives 3,466 3,346 -120

Memberships 3,173,323 3,085,052 -88,271

Gross business volume (mil. dol.) 115,291 120,719 5,428

Net business volume (mil. dol.) 99,064 99,659 595

Net income (mil. dol.) 1,328 1,276 -52

Total assets (mil. dol.) 47,682 49,722 2,040

Net worth (mil. dol.) 20,263 20,275 12

Full-time employees 172,951 176,665 3,714

Part-time and seasonal employees 102,473 77,993 -24,480

Leading States 1997 1999

Number of cooperatives MN/368 MN/305 -63

Memberships MN/296,058 KY/231,862 N/A

Net business volume (mil. dol.) IA/10,941 MN/9,306 N/A

viii
FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2000

Charles A. Kraenzle, Ralph M. Richardson, Celestine C. Adams,

Katherine C. DeVille, and Jacqueline E. Penn

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

I—Definition of a Farmer Cooperative

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) in

U S D A’s Rural Development mission area considers

four major criteria in identifying an organization as a

farmer-owned cooperative: (1) membership is limited

to persons producing agricultural and aquacultural

products and to associations of such producers; (2)

cooperative members are limited to one vote regardless of the amount of stock or membership capital

owned, or the cooperative does not pay dividends on

stock or membership capital in excess of 8 percent a

year, or the legal rate in the State, whichever is higher;

(3) business conducted with nonmembers may not

exceed the value of business conducted with members;

and (4) the cooperative operates for the mutual interest

of members by providing member benefits on the basis

of patronage.

These criteria may create larger or smaller numbers of farmer cooperatives than found in lists or directories of State agencies or cooperative councils. RBS

includes only marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives on its list. Fishery and ethanol cooperatives are included with miscellaneous marketing

cooperatives. Wool pools are included as marketing

cooperatives. Livestock shipping associations and rice

drying cooperatives, beginning with 1992 and 1993,

respectively,are considered service cooperatives.

Many State lists include other types, such as production, credit, telephone, electric, and consumer

cooperatives, as well as those that do not meet RBS’

definition. Other reasons for possible differences in the

number of cooperatives are that: (1) RBS may not learn

of certain cooperatives operating in a State for a considerable period of time; (2) a cooperative may not

have completed and returned an initial questionnaire;

or (3) no notice is received that a cooperative discontinued operating.

Year-to-year comparisons with specific commodity groups, therefore, should reflect any differences in

lists and classifications in State and Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

Statistics are presented according to a cooperative's major function or classification--marketing, farm

supply, and related-service.

Marketing cooperatives derive most of their total

dollar volume from the sale of members' farm products. RBS classifies these cooperatives into one of 13

commodities or commodity groups, depending upon

which accounts for most of its business volume. RBS

may reclassify a cooperative into a different commodity category if its primary business volume changes significantly.

Farm supply cooperatives derive most of their

business volume from the sale of farm production supplies, farm machinery and equipment, and building

materials. Many also handle farm and home items,

such as heating oil, lawn and garden supplies and

equipment, and food.

Service cooperatives provide specialized services

related to the agricultural business operations of farmers, ranchers, or cooperatives, such as cotton ginning,

trucking, storing, drying, and artificial insemination.

Livestock shipping associations and rice drying cooperatives werereclassified from marketing to service in

1992 and 1993, respectively.

Many cooperatives handle multiple commodities

and provide both marketing and farm supply services,

as well as the facilities and equipment used to perform

1
these services. These associations are classified according to the predominant commodity or function, as

indicated by their business volume.

Information on other types of service cooperatives, such as Farm Credit System institutions, rural

credit unions, rural electric cooperatives, and dairy herd

improvement associations, is presented separately.

Organizational Membership Structures

Centralized

Of the 3,346 farmer cooperatives in 2000, 3,263

were centralized organizations, mostly locals with

individual farmer-members. Centralized cooperatives

usually serve a local area or community, county,or

several counties. Most usually perform a limited number of initial marketing functions. Most farm supply

sales are at the retail level. A few centralized cooperatives, principally regionals, operate over multi-state

areas. They often provide more vertically integrated

services, such as processing farm products or manufacturing feed and fertilizer.

Bargaining associations also have centralized

organizational structures. They derive all or most of

their business volume from negotiating with distributors, processors, and other buyers and sellers over

price, quantity, grade, terms of sale, and other factors

involved in marketing farm products. Only a few bargain to purchase farm supplies. While the primary

function of such an association is to bring buyers and

sellers together to contract for the sale of members'

products, many bargaining associations now perform

additional functions.

For example, dairy bargaining associations at one

time only negotiated price. Now, many perform additional functions, such as physically handling part of

the milk for spot sales. They, like other dairy marketing cooperatives, represent their members at Federal

or State milk marketing order hearings.

Federated

Federated cooperatives comprise two or more

member associations organized to market farm products, purchase production supplies, or perform bargaining functions.

The 57 federated associations often operate at

points quite distant from their headquarters. Members

are usually local cooperatives, although some are

interregional associations with regional cooperative

members.

Mixed

A few cooperatives have both individual farmermembers and autonomous cooperative members, a

combination of centralized and federated structures.

They serve large geographic areas, with members in

many States, and provide a variety of integrated services. RBS has identified 26 such cooperatives.

II–2000 Statistics

Cooperatives' net business volume was $99.7 billion in 2000, up slightly from $99.1 billion in 1999. Net

income of $1.28 billion was down 3.9 percent fro m

$1.33 billion in 1999. Net income was the lowest since

1986, according to RBS records. Numbers of cooperatives and memberships, at 3,346 and 3,085,052, respectively, were down. Combined assets and liabilities

were up. Net worth was stable.

2

Table 1— Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 2000

Major business activity Cooperatives Memberships

Number

Beans and peas, dry edible 8 2,835

Cotton 14 45,386

Dairy 208 96,852

Fruits and vegetables 232 41,052

Grains and oilseeds1 826 615,315

Livestock 74 132,136

Nuts 18 41,660

Poultry2 19 29,166

Rice 16 12,182

Sugar3 48 15,613

Tobacco 25 165,924

Wool and mohair 83 12,958

Miscellaneous 101 31,934 ——— —————

Total marketing 1,672 1,243,013

Farm supply 1,277 1,717,769

Service 397 124,270 ——— —————

Total 3,346 3,085,052

1 Cooperatives primarily handling grains and oilseeds, excluding

cottonseed.

2 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and

related products.

3 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey,

and related products
Number of Cooperatives

The 2000 survey accounted for 3,346 marketing,

farm supply, and related-service1 cooperatives, compared with 3,466 in 1999. The net decrease of 120 associations (3.5 percent) largely reflects a continuing trend

involving dissolution, merger, or acquisition. The

largest decrease was in grain and oilseed (grain) cooperatives (70), followed by farm supply (36) and dairy

(13) cooperatives.

Of the 3,346 cooperatives, 1,672 primarily marketed farm products, 1,277 primarily handled farm

production supplies, and 397 provided services related

to marketing or purchasing activities (table 1).

Marketing cooperatives decreased slightly,fro m

50.5 percent in 1999 to 50 percent of the total number

of cooperatives in 2000, while farm supply cooperatives increased slightly,from 37.9 to 38.2 percent.

Related-service cooperatives increased slightly,fro m

11.7 to 11.9 percent of the total.

These percentage changes to some extent reflect

reclassification because of annual dollar volume

changes. In any given year, sales of farm supplies or

grains and oilseeds can be higher due to market supply and demand conditions.

Cooperative numbers by marketing and farm

supply and service functions by State are shown in

table 2. Minnesota had the most marketing cooperatives (148), followed closely by North Dakota (140).

Texas had the most farm supply and service cooperatives.

The 10 leading States in terms of number of cooperatives by function are shown in figure 1. For example, Minnesota had about the same number of marketing and farm supply cooperatives, while the majority

in Texas were service cooperatives, mainly cotton gins.

W isconsin, the fourth leading State, had the largest

percentage of farm supply cooperatives.

Grain and Farm Supply Branches

Many cooperatives operate branches to better

serve their members. Most are owned. Some are

leased. A number are formerly independent cooperatives that served a local community. For economic or

other reasons, many were acquired by or merged with

3

1 Services include trucking, cotton ginning, storage, crop drying,

artificial insemination, livestock shipping, and similar services

affecting the form, quality, or location of farm products and

supplies. They do not include credit, electric, telephone, or other

such services not directly related to marketing or purchasing

activities.

Figure 1— Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 2000

Number

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

M N N D TX WI IL IA CA KS SD NE

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
4

Table 2—Number of cooperatives,1 by major function and State, 20002

Major function

—————————————————————— State Farm Supply

Marketing and Service Total

Number

Alabama 9 54 63

Arizona 5 4 9

Arkansas 11 41 52

California 110 68 178

Colorado 25 21 46

Florida 33 7 40

Georgia 8 8 16

Hawaii 18 8 26

Idaho 24 14 38

Illinois 116 63 179

Indiana 20 32 52

Iowa 118 61 179

Kansas 99 34 133

Kentucky 14 28 42

Louisiana 17 31 48

Maryland 4 14 18

Massachusetts 8 5 13

Michigan 35 27 62

Minnesota 148 154 302

Mississippi 15 58 73

Missouri 19 47 66

Montana 36 32 68

Nebraska 58 45 103

New Jersey 13 3 16

New Mexico 4 5 9

New York 81 14 95

North Carolina 18 6 24

North Dakota 140 111 251

Ohio 51 27 78

Oklahoma 41 48 89

Oregon 18 15 33

Pennsylvania 41 14 55

South Dakota 62 71 133

Tennessee 8 71 79

Texas 59 185 244

Utah 10 7 17

Virginia 20 39 59

Washington 48 34 82

West Virginia 13 13 26

Wisconsin 41 140 181

Wyoming 7 5 12

Other States3 47 10 57 ——— ——— ———

United States 1,672 1,674 3,346

1 Centralized and federated cooperatives and those with mixed organizational structures.

2 Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that ended in 2000. 3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any function. States with at least three cooperatives were: Alaska, 9; Connecticut, 4;

Delaware, 3; Maine, 27; South Carolina, 5; and Vermont, 5.
other cooperatives and operated as branches fro m

which to serve members and patrons at outlying locations.

In 2000, grain and farm supply cooperatives

operated an estimated 5,327 branches–1,915 and 3,412,

respectively. There were 248 fewer grain cooperatives

branches and 245 more farm supply cooperatives

branches. Grain cooperatives averaged 2.3 and farm

supply cooperatives averaged 2.7 branches per cooperative in 2000. In 1999, grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,330 branches.

Figure 2 shows that several of the largest cooperatives (mainly regional) had more branches than many

smaller (local) cooperatives combined. The 59 largest

grain cooperatives–7.1 percent of all grain cooperatives--accounted for 27 percent of the total number of

branches operated by grain cooperatives. The 44

largest farm supply cooperatives–3.5 percent of all

farm supply cooperatives--had 1,678 branches, 49.2

percent of all farm supply branches.

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives totaled an estimated

3,085,052 in 2000, down 2.8 percent from 3,173,323 in

1999. 

By major business activity, 55.7 percent and 20

percent were memberships of farm supply (figure3)

and grain cooperatives, respectively. Dairy cooperative

memberships (96,852 ) were only 3.1 percent of total

memberships, but accounted for 22.8 percent, or $22.7

billion, of cooperatives' net business volume in 2000,

down from 26.2 percent in 1999.

The largest proportions of memberships in farm

supply cooperatives were among the smallest and

largest cooperatives (figure 4). Memberships in marketing cooperatives were the greatest proportion of

total memberships among those cooperatives with

gross business volumes of $15 million to $100 million.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives employ full-time and, in

most cases, part-time and seasonal employees to run

their operations. Their number and type depends on a

number of factors, such as size of operation, type of

commodity handled, and involvement in value-added

activities.

In 2000, farmer cooperatives employed an estimated 254,658 full-time and part-time and seasonal

employees, down from 275,424 in 1999 (table 3). By

type, marketing cooperatives had 171,257 employees

5

Fewer than 5 5-9.9 10-24.9 25 and more

Total Assets (million dollars)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

Figure 2— Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives, by Size, 2000

Number

Co-ops

Branches
6

Figure 4— Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross Business Volume, 2000

1,000 Memberships

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

Less than 5 5-9.9 10-14.9 15-99.9 100-499.9 500 and more

Gross business volume (million dollars)

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Figure 3— Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Other Marketing1 2.4%

Tobacco 5.4%

Nut 1.4%

Livestock & Poultry 5.2% 

Farm Supply 55.7%

Service 4.0%

Cotton 1.5%

Dairy 3.1%

Fruit & Vegetable 1.3%

Grain & Oilseed 20.0%

Percent based on 3,085,052 total memberships.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, wool and mohair, rice, sugar, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
(67.2 percent of total); farm supply cooperatives had

70,022 (27.5 percent); and related-service cooperatives

had 13,379 (5.3 percent).

Among marketing cooperatives, those primarily

handling fruits and vegetables had the most employees (56,816), followed by livestock and poultry (36,881)

and grain and oilseed (27,547).

Figure 5 shows the number of full-time and parttime and seasonal employees by type of cooperative

for 2000. Farm supply and fruit and vegetable cooperatives used the most employees and cotton cooperatives

the fewest. Dairy cooperatives had the smallest proportion of total part-time and seasonal employees.

Fruit and vegetable cooperatives, followed by cotton

gins and sugar cooperatives, had the largest proportion of part-time and seasonal employees.

Full-time employees totaled 176,665 in 2000, up

from 172,951 in 1999 (2.2 percent). The number per

association, however, was nearly 52.8, up from 50 in

1999, due to fewer cooperatives. The 1,672 marketing

cooperatives employed 121,136 persons, up 1.8 percent

from 1999. Livestock and poultry cooperatives, with

34,592, had the most full-time employees, while the

25,108 fruit and vegetable cooperatives ranked second.

Together, they accounted for 49.3 percent of the fulltime employees of marketing cooperatives.

The 1,277 farm supply cooperatives hired 51,321

full-time employees, up 3.8 percent from 49,466 reported by 1,313 farm supply cooperatives for 1999. Fulltime employees of the 397 related-service cooperatives

totaled 4,208 in 2000, down from 4,499, or nearly 6.5

percent, from 404 related-service cooperatives in 1999.

Cooperatives used 77,993 part-time and seasonal

employees in 2000, down 24,480, or 23.9 percent, fro m

1999. The largest decrease was in fruit and vegetables

cooperatives, down 16,296. Related-service cooperatives increased their use of part-time and seasonal

employees.

In 2000, marketing cooperatives reported 50,121

part-time and seasonal employees, or 64.3 percent of

the total. Number per cooperative averaged nearly 30.

Fruit and vegetable and grain cooperatives, with

38,946, accounted for 50 percent of the total. Farm

supply cooperatives had 18,701 part-time and seasonal

employees, an average of 15.

7

Table 3— Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer cooperatives, by type of co-op, 1999-2000

Full-time employees Part-time and seasonal1

Principal product(s) marketed ———————————— —————————————

or major function 1999 2000 1999 2000

Number

Products marketed:

Cotton 1,787 1,759 1,409 1,138

Dairy 24,598 23,408 1,875 906

Fruits & vegetables 23,329 25,108 48,004 31,708

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 20,998 20,309 7,916 7,238

Livestock and poultry 32,690 34,592 2,666 2,289

Rice 2,600 2,606 1,443 572

Sugar 4,459 4,523 4,431 4,364

Other products2 8,525 8,831 6,190 1,906 ———— ———— --——— --———

Marketing 118,986 121,136 73,934 50,121

Farm supply 49,466 51,321 20,774 18,701

Service 4,499 4,208 7,765 9,171 ———— ———— ———— --———

Total 172,951 176,665 102,473 77,993

1 Number of part-time and seasonal employees was estimated for all cooperatives based on the relationship of part-time and seasonal to fulltime employees for the respondent cooperatives. Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Includes dry edible beans and peas, nuts, tobacco, wool, fishery, and miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
8

Figure 5— Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Cotton

Rice

Other Service

Cotton Gins

Sugar

Other Marketing1

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable 

Farm Supply

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

1,000 Employees

Full-Time

Part-Time and Seasonal

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Figure 6— Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of

Cooperative, 2000

Cotton Gins

Grain & Oilseed

Other Service

Other Marketing1

Farm Supply

Dairy

Sugar

Rice

Cotton

Fruit & Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Number

Part-Time and Seasonal

Full-Time

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Most types of marketing cooperatives operated

with more employees than did farm supply cooperatives. For example, livestock and poultry cooperatives

averaged nearly 397 employees (figure6).

Total Labor Expenses

Like any other business, one of the largest

expense items of cooperatives is wages and benefits.

Hiring employees full-time or part-time and seasonally

involves decisions on the number of employees and

levels of salaries and wages. Other employee-related

expenses include associated payroll taxes, health and

life insurance, etc.

The average total labor expense per cooperative

for those reporting in both 1999 and 2000 is shown in

tables 4 and 5 by type of cooperative, region, and, in

some cases, by asset group. This information can be

used for comparing the average total labor expense of

individual cooperatives of similar type, region, and

size. For those where no size grouping is shown, labor

expense may not be a good barometer because of the

mix of sizes included in the group.

Overall, total labor expense for the cooperatives

reporting total wages and benefits both years was up 8

percent. The average total labor expense varied fro m

1999 to 2000 (table 4). The change ranged from a 33.5-

percent decrease for miscellaneous marketing cooperatives to an increase of 45.8 percent for fruit and vegetable processing cooperatives. As expected, the

average total labor expense increased as size of cooperative increased, especially for dairy,fruit and vegetable

and cotton gins. Average total labor expenses for cooperatives involved in processing or manufacturing

activities would be expected to be high.

Average total labor expense for grain and oilseed

and farm supply cooperatives, by region and size, is

shown in table 5.

Total Sales per Dollar of Total Labor Expense 

One measure of labor productivity is the relationship between total sales and total labor expense. Tables

6 and 7 show total sales per dollar of total labor

expense by type, region, and size of cooperative,

where applicable.

Total sales per dollar of total labor expense is relatively high for cooperatives involved in bargaining

(dairy) or operating auctions (tobacco and livestock).

In these situations, total labor requirements are low

and sales are high. Surveyed cooperatives reported the

value of the product for which they bargained or

which they auctioned off.Total sales per dollar of total

labor expense was down 4.1 percent from $13.20 in

1999 to $12.66 in 2000.

Livestock cooperatives accounted for the highest

sales per dollar of labor expense, $80.69 in 2000 (table

6). Other service cooperatives with assets of $0.5 million to $0.99 million had the lowest sales per dollar of

labor expense, $2.62.

Total sales per dollar of labor expense varies less

as cooperative size increases for grain and oilseed and

farm supply cooperatives than it does for dairy and

fruit and vegetable cooperatives. Dairy cooperatives

ranged from $27.79 to $59.82 in 2000; fruit and vegetable cooperatives from $9.09 to $50.83; grain and

oilseed cooperatives from $16.84 to $28.10; and farm

supply cooperatives ranged from $9.40 to $11.88.

Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for

grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives by

region is shown in table 7. This information was provided because more homogeneity exists among cooperatives by location than by type.

Total sales per $1 of total labor expense varied by

size,region, and year. Among the regions, grain and

oilseed cooperatives in the Pacific with assets of $1.0

million to $2.5 million had the largest sales per $1 total

labor expense both in 1999 and 2000. The largest sales

per $1 total labor expense among farm supply cooperatives was reported by those with total assets of less

than $0.5 million in the Corn Belt in both 1999 and

2000. In most regions, the sales per $1 of total labor

expense did not vary significantly among the farm

supply cooperatives.

Cooperative leaders may want to calculate their

total sales per dollar of total labor expense and compare it with the appropriate figure in table 6 to see how

well their cooperative is performing.

Business Size

Most farmer cooperatives, as measured by annual

gross business volume, arerelatively small and serve

local areas. Some are actively seeking regional, national, and even international markets to increase business

volume. These larger cooperatives account for much of

cooperatives’ business volume.

The increased size comes partly from mergers,

consolidations, and acquisitions. Data used were not

adjusted for changes in price levels. Some size changes

resulted from inflation.

In 2000, 76 percent of all farmer cooperatives

reported a business volume of less than $15 million.

However, they accounted for only 9.3 percent of the

total gross dollar volume, down from 10.2 percent in

9
10

Table 4—Average total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type and size, 1999-2000

Average total labor expense1

Type of co-op —————————————————————

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

---------------------------$1,000---------------------------- Percent

Dry bean and pea 2,392.5 3,355.4 40.2

Cotton 3,968.8 4,774.9 20.3

Less than 25.0 1,039.9 1,044.8 0.5

25.0 and more 7,629.9 9,437.6 23.7

Dairy 2.599.6 2,800.8 7.7

Less than 0.5 83.4 78.9 -5.4

0.5 - .99 91.1 89.6 -1.6

1.0 - 2.49 173.6 169.7 -2.3

2.5 - 24.99 1,382.2 1,612.6 16.7

25.0 - 99.99 11,203.1 11,831.1 5.6

Fruit and vegetable 1,968.1 2,022.9 2.8

Less than 0.5 127.9 121.3 -5.2

0.5 - .99 226.0 244.1 8.0 

1.0 - 2.49 655.9 646.2 -1.5

2.5 - 24.99 2,625.3 2,838.6 8.1

25.0 - 99.99 7,683.6 7,644.4 -0.5

Fruit and vegetable 1,968.1 2,022.9 2.8

Fresh only 1,999.6 1,986.3 -0.7

Processed only 1,313.3 1,915.2 45.8

Fresh and processed 2,184.0 2,350.4 7.6

Grain and oilseed 1,219.9 1,315.1 7.8

Less than 0.5 28.8 26.3 -8.6

0.5 - .99 128.5 131.1 2.0

1.0 - 2.49 206.1 212.7 3.2

2.5 - 24.99 1,035.6 1,097.2 6.0

25.0 - 499.99 4,085.6 4,532.1 10.9

Livestock 1,170.1 1,245.8 6.5

Poultry 99,479.5 123,743.6 24.4

Sugar 22,741.6 24,206.0 6.4

Tobacco 156.1 137.7 -11.8

Fishery 1,861.7 1,712.7 -8.0

Miscellaneous marketing 6,069.4 4,039.0 -33.5

Farm supply 1,304.2 1,373.7 5.3

Less than 0.5 81.1 81.3 0.3

0.5 - .99 183.3 191.1 4.4

1.0 - 2.49 322.8 338.2 4.8

2.5 - 24.99 1,360.8 1,419.3 4.3

25.0 - 99.99 5,249.8 5,509.3 4.9

100.0 - 499.99 25,452.2 28,015.0 10.1

Cotton gin 523.4 560.0 7.0

Less than 0.5 179.7 188.8 5.1

0.5 - .99 182.6 202.5 11.0

1.0 - 2.49 309.5 338.5 9.4

2.5 - 99.99 959.7 1,017.9 6.1

Service 956.8 1,050.1 9.8

Less than 0.5 132.7 139.1 4.8

0.5 - .99 392.0 425.9 8.6

1.0 - 2.49 492.3 451.1 -8.4

2.5 - 99.99 2,370.0 2,642.0 11.5

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, and employee benefits for cooperatives reporting both years.
11

Table 5— Average total labor expense for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, by region and size,

1999-2000

Average total labor expense1

Type of co-op, region —————————————————————

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

---------------------------$1,000---------------------------- Percent

Grain and Oilseed Cooperatives:

Corn Belt 1,478.8 1,561.1 5.6

Less than 1.0 184.8 179.4 -2.9

1.0 - 2.49 225.5 237.4 5.3

2.5 - 24.99 1,163.9 1,194.8 2.7

25.0 - 499.99 4,790.1 5,235.1 9.3

Lake States 1,251.1 1,367.6 9.3

0.5 - 2.49 178.0 159.4 -10.5

2.5 - 24.99 876.8 900.2 2.7

25.0 - 499.99 3,599.8 4,201.6 16.7

Mountain 882.6 940.6 6.6

Northern Plains 1,117.8 1,188.9 6.4

Less than 1.0 110.3 116.9 6.0

1.0 - 2.49 199.8 203.0 1.6

2.5 - 24.99 1,016.9 1,074.5 5.7

25.0 - 99.99 4,021.1 4,344.0 8.0

Southern Plains 565.0 616.6 9.1

Less than 1.0 93.4 93.5 0.1

1.0 - 2.49 186.0 195.6 5.2

2.5 - 99.99 890.3 977.8 9.8

Pacific 1,063.0 1,112.5 4.7

1.0 - 2.49 169.2 161.8 -4.4

2.5 - 99.99 1,331.2 1,397.7 5.0

Farm Supply Cooperatives:

Appalachian 876.3 961.5 9.7

Less than 1.0 169.1 183.3 8.4

1.0 - 2.49 377.9 404.9 7.1

2.5 - 24.99 1,176.6 1,295.4 10.1

Corn Belt 2,362.5 2,425.4 2.7

Less than 0.5 66.6 68.6 3.0

0.5 - .99 196.6 201.3 2.4

1.0 - 2.49 393.0 402.2 2.3

2.5 - 24.99 1,737.7 1,809.2 4.1

25.0 - 499.99 12,989.8 13,133.8 1.1

Delta States 593.7 633.0 6.6

Less than 1.0 162.9 161.1 -1.1

1.0 - 2.49 351.0 381.1 8.6

2.5 - 24.99 861.7 918.0 6.5

C ontinued
12

Table 5— Average total labor expense for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, by region and size,

1999-2000 (continued)

Average total labor expense1

Type of co-op, region —————————————————————

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

----------------------------$1,000-------------------------- Percent

Lakes States 1,358.8 1,404.5 3.4

Less than 0.5 86.4 79.6 -7.9

0.5 - .99 193.3 194.8 0.8

1.0 - 2.49 337.4 344.6 2.1

2.5 - 24.99 1,400.6 1,448.1 3.4

25.0 - 99.99 5,446.5 5,648.6 3.7

Mountain 957.6 1,044.1 9.0

Less than 1.0 109.2 115.3 5.6

1.0 - 2.49 348.0 351.3 0.9

2.5 - 24.99 1,232.1 1,350.4 9.6

Northeast 638.9 672.8 5.3

Less than 1.0 219.6 254.1 15.7

1.0 - 2.49 848.5 882.1 4.0

Northern Plains 673.7 713.4 5.9

Less than 0.5 89.2 94.4 5.9

0.5 - .99 153.8 158.0 2.7

1.0 - 2.49 261.1 274.0 4.9

2.5 - 24.99 915.6 959.0 4.7

25.0 - 99.99 4,390.0 4,981.1 13.5

Pacific 1,872.9 1,857.6 -0.8

0.5 - 2.49 324.0 358.0 10.5

2.5 - 24.99 2,561.3 2,524.1 -1.5

Southeast 285.1 312.5 9.6

Less than 1.0 136.6 137.9 1.0

1.0 - 2.49 216.6 253.5 17.0

2.5 - 24.99 484.9 531.3 9.6

Southern Plains 634.1 660.4 4.2

Less than 0.5 102.5 102.4 -0.1

0.5 - .99 240.8 256.6 6.6

1.0 - 2.49 280.2 286.9 2.4

2.5 - 24.99 1,224.2 1,279.8 4.6

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, and employee benefits for cooperatives reporting both years.

Note: The average total labor expense is derived by dividing total wages and benefits by the number of cooperatives where the information

was provided.
13

Table 6— Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type 

and size, 1999-2000

Sales per $1 labor expense1

Type of co-op and

asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

---------------------------Dollars-------------------------- Percent

Dry bean and pea 14.95 11.01 -26.4

Cotton 42.40 48.19 13.7

Less than 25.0 39.95 38.03 -4.8

25.0 and more 42.82 49.59 15.8

Dairy 40.73 35.25 -13.5

Less than 0.5 53.79 46.85 -12.9

0.5 - .99 28.84 27.79 -3.6

1.0 - 2.49 66.15 59.82 -9.6

2.5 - 24.99 50.01 39.04 -21.9

25.0 - 99.99 37.76 33.69 -10.8

Fruit and Vegetable 13.95 12.34 -11.5

Less than 0.5 32.55 31.99 -1.7

0.5 - .99 14.16 13.23 -6.6

1.0 - 2.49 65.07 50.83 -21.9

2.5 - 24.99 11.68 10.31 -11.7

25.0 - 99.99 9.34 9.09 -2.7

Fruit and Vegetable 13.95 12.34 -11.5

Fresh only 13.86 12.12 -12.6

Processed only 26.14 18.43 -29.5

Fresh and processed 9.64 10.37 7.6

Grain and oilseed 20.98 20.92 -0.3

Less than 0.5 30.19 26.40 -12.5

0.5 - 0.99 19.06 16.84 -11.6

1.0 - 2.49 29.18 28.10 -3.7

2.5 - 24.99 20.22 19.92 -1.5

25.0 - 499.99 21.55 21.90 1.6

Livestock 77.50 80.69 4.1

Poultry 6.70 5.34 -20.3

Sugar 8.71 7.77 -10.9

Tobacco 66.89 67.60 1.1

Wool 6.69 6.13 -8.3

Fishery 7.78 7.33 -5.7

Miscellaneous marketing 4.87 6.93 42.2

Farm Supply 10.24 10.60 3.5

Less than 0.5 11.07 11.59 4.7

0.5 - .99 8.75 9.40 7.4

1.0 - 2.49 9.86 10.19 3.3

2.5 - 24.99 9.70 10.25 5.7

25.0 - 99.99 10.20 10.84 6.3

100.0 - 499.99 12.63 11.88 -6.0

C ontinued
1999 (table 8 and figure 7). Only 2.2 percent of farmer

cooperatives reported a business volume of at least

$200 million, but they accounted for 66.2 percent of the

total sales, up from 64.7 percent in 1999. Cooperatives

with a business volume in the range of $15 million to

$200 million in 1999 accounted for a smaller shareof

all cooperatives’ total gross dollar volume. In 2000,

they accounted for 24.5 percent compared with 25.1

percent in 1999.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 3,346 marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives for

2000 was $120.7 billion (table 9), up 4.7 percent fro m

$115.3 billion in 1999. Cooperatives’ gross business

volume peaked at $128.1 billion in 1996.

Total net business volume of farmer cooperatives

in 2000 was $99.7 billion--$72.1 billion from farm products marketed, $24.1 billion from farm supply sales,

and $3.5 billion from services performed and fro m

other income sources. The total net figure, excluding

inter-cooperative business, was up slightly (0.6 percent) from $99.1 billion in 1999. Cooperatives’ net business volume reached a high of $106.7 billion in 1997.

However, adjusting for price change, net business volume actually decreased 2 percent,2 due to lower commodity prices in 2000.

Gross dollar volume of farm products marketed

by cooperatives decreased slightly (0.1 percent), fro m

$80.5 billion in 1999 to $80.4 billion in 2000. The net

volume of farm products marketed was up 0.1 percent

from 1999, from $72 billion to $72.1 billion. Net marketing business volume accounted for 72.3 percent of

the total in 2000.

Figure 8 illustrates the leading products marketed by cooperatives based on net marketing business

volume. Dairy (milk and milk products) led with 31.5

percent, followed by grains and oilseeds (excluding

cottonseed) with 25.5 percent, and fruits and vegetables with 13.3 percent. The proportions of grain and

oilseeds and fruit and vegetables were up compared

with 1999, while milk and milk products dropped.

Gross volume of all farm supplies handled by

cooperatives was $36.8 billion, up 19.2 percent fro m

$30.9 billion in 1999. Net farm supply volume of $24.1

billion, up 3.9 percent from $23.2 billion, accounted for

24.2 percent of the total net business volume.

The leading farm production supplies handled by

cooperatives in terms of net business volume were

petroleum, 31 percent; feed, 19.5; and fertilizer, 19 percent (figure 9). While sales of seed, petroleum, and

crop protectants increased in 2000, feed, fertilizer and

"other" supplies were down 3.5 percent.

Receipts for services provided by marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives, plus

14

Table 6— Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type 

and size, 1999-2000 (continued)

Sales per $1 labor expense1

Type of co-op and

asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

---------------------------Dollars-------------------------- Percent

Cotton gin 7.65 7.55 -1.4

Less than 0.5 5.21 4.71 -9.4

0.5 - .99 7.06 6.70 -5.2

1.0 - 2.49 6.37 6.10 -4.1

2.5 - 99.99 8.17 8.16 -0.1

Other service 2.78 2.78 -

Less than 0.5 2.97 2.76 -7.1

0.5 - .99 3.31 2.62 -20.7

1.0 - 2.49 3.16 3.55 12.2

2.5 - 99.99 2.70 2.75 1.7

1 Labor expense includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, and employee benefits for cooperatives reporting both years. Sales includes

receipts from marketings, farm supplies, and services, plus other income. Values considered not to be representative of each group were not

included.

2 Deflated 2000 cooperative business volume was $97.7 billion,

down 2 percent from the actual $99.7 billion in 2000. The $97.7

billion was derived by deflating farm products marketed by the

index of prices received for all farm products and farm supplies

(inputs) and service income by the index of prices paid by farmers

for all production items adjusted for 1999 = 100.
15

Table 7— Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, by

region and size, 1999-2000 

Sales per $1 labor expense1

Type of co-op, region

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

---------------------------Dollars---------------------------- Percent

Grain and O ilseed Cooperatives:

Corn Belt 20.70 21.10 1.9

Less than 1.0 15.87 15.28 -3.7

1.0 - 2.49 35.16 33.82 -3.8

2.5 - 24.99 20.25 20.68 2.1

25.0 - 99.99 20.48 20.94 2.2

Lakes States 21.82 22.44 2.9

0.5 - 2.49 21.66 26.36 21.7

2.5 - 24.99 20.61 21.18 2.8

25.0 - 499.99 23.45 23.45 1.8

Mountain 21.19 19.66 -7.2

Northern Plains 19.80 19.75 -0.2

Less than 1.0 19.75 16.95 -14.2

1.0 - 2.49 24.84 24.69 -0.6

2.5 - 24.99 19.51 18.80 -3.6

25.0 - 99.99 19.90 21.11 6.1

Southern Plains 17.45 17.76 1.8

Less than 1.0 25.47 16.91 -33.6

1.0 - 2.49 19.40 19.57 0.9

2.5 - 99.99 17.03 17.55 3.0

Pacific 27.92 22.79 -18.4

1.0 - 2.49 47.73 36.45 -23.6

2.5 - 99.99 27.16 22.32 -17.8

Farm Supply Cooperatives:

Appalachian 8.60 8.05 -6.4

Less than 1.0 8.32 7.80 -6.3

1.0 - 2.49 8.29 7.89 -4.8

2.5 - 24.99 8.64 8.08 -6.6

Corn Belt 10.34 10.49 1.5

Less than 0.5 35.43 31.77 -10.3

0.5 - .99 7.59 8.93 17.7

1.0 - 2.49 11.19 11.61 3.7

2.5 - 24.99 10.36 10.91 5.4

25.0 - 499.99 10.25 9.94 -3.0

Delta States 11.77 11.57 -1.7

Less than 1.0 10.43 10.10 -3.2

1.0 - 2.49 11.59 11.08 -4.4

2.5 - 24.99 11.89 11.77 -1.0

C ontinued
16

Table 7— Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, by

region and size, 1999-2000 (continued)

Sales per $1 labor expense1

Type of co-op, region

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1999 2000 Change

----------------------------Dollars--------------------------- Percent

Lake States 8.77 9.87 12.5

Less than 0.5 6.91 8.43 22.2

0.5 - .99 9.51 10.28 8.1

1.0 - 2.49 8.30 9.05 9.0

2.5 - 24.99 8.71 9.53 9.4

25.0 - 499.99 9.01 10.92 21.2

Mountain 10.31 11.10 7.7

Less than 1.0 10.20 11.56 13.4

1.0 - 2.49 9.32 10.49 12.6

2.5 - 24.99 10.37 11.13 7.3

Northeast 7.65 7.66 .03

Less than 1.0 8.11 7.19 -11.4

1.0 - 24.99 7.59 7.72 1.7

Northern Plains 10.60 10.97 3.5

Less than 0.5 7.52 8.90 18.4

0.5 - .99 8.39 9.96 18.7

1.0 - 2.49 9.81 10.36 5.6

2.5 - 24.99 10.52 11.32 7.6

25.0 - 99.99 12.28 9.98 -18.7

Pacific 8.14 8.57 5.3

0.5 - 2.49 8.72 9.19 5.4

2.5 - 24.99 8.11 8.53 5.2

Southeast 14.48 13.39 -7.5

Less than1.0 8.75 8.29 -5.4

1.0 - 2.49 11.86 11.53 -2.8

2.5 - 24.99 16.96 15.38 -9.3

Southern Plains 10.97 10.83 -1.3

Less than0.5 9.96 9.91 -0.5

0.5 - .99 8.33 8.99 8.0

1.0 - 2.49 11.85 12.08 2.0

2.5 - 24.99 10.91 10.65 -2.4

1 Labor expense includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, and employee benefits for cooperatives reporting both years. Sales includes

receipts from marketings, farm supplies, and services, plus other income. Values considered not to be representative of each group were not

included. The sales per dollar of labor expense was derived by dividing total sales by total wages and benefits.

The region and State included are as follows.

Region State

Northeast ME, NJ, VT, NY, MA, RI, CT, PA, NH, DE, MD, and DC

Lake States MI, WI, and MN

Corn Belt OH, IN, IL, IA, and MO

Northern Plains ND, SD, NE, and KS

Appalachian VA, WV, KY, TN, and NC

Southeast SC, GA, AL, and FL

Delta States MS, LA, and AR

Southern Plains OK and TX

Mountain MT, ID, WY, CO, UT, NV, AZ, and NM

Pacific WA, OR, CA, HI, and AK
17

Table 8— Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume, 20001

Cooperatives Dollar volume Memberships2

Volume group ————————————— ———————————————— ———————————————

(mil. dol.) Number Percent of total Gross3 (mil. dol.) Percent of total Number (1,000) Percent of total

Less than 5.0 1,616 48.3 3,054 2.5 593 19 2

5 - 9.9 628 18.8 4,454 3.7 477 15.5

10 - 14.9 299 8.9 3,690 3.1 232 7.5

15 - 24.9 287 8.6 5,566 4.6 297 9.6

25 - 49.9 268 8.0 9,317 7.7 328 10.6

50 - 99.9 133 4.0 9,117 7.6 268 8.7

100 - 199.9 39 1.2 5,535 4.6 51 1.7

200 - 499.9 38 1.1 11,042 9.1 191 6.2

500 - 999.9 20 0.6 13,282 11.0 123 4.0

1,000 and more 18 0.5 55,662 46.1 526 17.0

——— ——— ———— ——— ——— ———

Total4 3,346 100.0 120,719 100.0 3,085 100.0

1 Business volume includes revenues from marketing plus the value of products bargained for or handled on a commission basis, supply

sales, service receipts, and other income.

2 Includes number of farmers, ranchers, and fishermen eligible to vote for directors. Does not include memberships held by other cooperatives,

such as local cooperative memberships in regional cooperatives.

3 Includes inter-cooperative business volume.

4 Total may not add due to rounding.

Figure 7— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume, by Size, 2000

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Less than 5 5-9.9 10-14.9 15-99.9 100-499.9 500 or more

Gross business volume (million dollars)

Percent

Co-ops

D ollar Volume
18

Table 9— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 20001

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

Million dollars Percent Million dollars Percent

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible) 147.0 0.1 146.7 0.1

Cotton 2,790.6 2.3 2,730.5 2.7

Dairy 25,776.5 21.4 22,720.6 22.8

Fruits and vegetables 10,064.9 8.3 9,570.0 9.6

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 22,851.9 18.9 18,369.6 18.4

Livestock 8,042.9 6.7 8,042.7 8.1

Nuts 720.6 0.6 720.6 0.7

Poultry3 2,245.8 1.9 2,133.4 2.1

Rice 814.8 0.7 814.8 0.8

Sugar 2,680.8 2.2 2,680.8 2.7

Tobacco 563.1 0.5 563.1 0.6

Wool and mohair 6.3 (2) 4.4 (2)

Miscellaneous4 3,694.5 3.1 3,567.6 3.6

———— — — ———— — —

Total farm products 80,399.6 66.6 72,064.7 72.3

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants 4,025.5 3.3 3,027.6 3.0

Feed 6,622.2 5.5 4,691.1 4.7

Fertilizer 7,320.4 6.1 4,574.4 4.6

Petroleum 13,333.4 11.0 7,456.7 7.5

Seed 1,381.6 1.1 915.7 0.9

Other supplies5 4,126.2 3.4 3,419.1 3.4

———— — — ———— — —

Total farm products 36,809.3 30.5 24,084.5 24.2

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, misc.6 3,510.2 2.9 3,510.2 3.5 — — - —— — - — ———— — - —

Total business 120,719.1 100.0 99,659.4 100.0

1 Gross includes and net excludes inter-cooperative business. Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Less than 0.05 percent.

3 Includes eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

4 Includes coffee, fish, forest products, hay, hops, seed marketed for growers, nursery stock, ethanol, other farm products not separately

classified, and sales of farm products not received directly from member-patrons. Also includes manufactured food products and resale items

marketed by cooperatives.

5 Includes building materials, containers and packaging supplies, farm machinery and equipment, meats and groceries, automotive supplies,

hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified. 6 Charges for services related to marketing or purchasing, but not included in the volume reported for those activities, plus other income.
19

Figure 8— Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 2000

Tobacco 0.8%

Poultry 3.0%

Milk & Milk products 31.5%

Rice 1.1%

Percentage based on a total net marketing business volume of $72.1 billion.

1 Includes wool and mohair, dry beans and peas, fish, and other miscellaneous marketings.

Fruits & Vegetables 13.3%

Livestock 11.2%

Nuts 1.0%

Other M arketings1 5.1%

Sugar 3.7%

Cotton 3.8%

Grains & O ilseeds 25.5%

Figure 9— Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 2000

Feed 19.5%

Fertilizer 19.0%

Percentage based on a net farm supply business volume of $24.1 billion.

1 Includes building materials; tires, batteries and accessories; equipment; animal health products; pet food; semen; hardware; food; clothing; etc.

Crop Protectants 12.6%

Other Supplies1 14.2%

Seed 3.8%

Petroleum 30.9%
other income, decreased 10.1 percent to $3.5 billion.

Service receipts and other income represented 3.5 percent of total net business volume.

Net Income

Total net income (adjusted for losses and before

taxes) for all cooperatives in 2000 was $1.28 billion,

including inter-cooperative dividends and refunds

(table 10). Cooperatives operating strictly on a pooling

basis were excluded. Net income was down 3.9 percent

from the $1.33 billion in 1999. Patronage refunds

received from other cooperatives, including CoBank,

totaled $235.1 million, down 38.7 percent from $383.5

million in 1999.

Marketing cooperatives' total net income of

$867.4 million was down slightly (0.42 percent) fro m

the $871.1 million generated in 1999. The drop in net

income was mainly due to a decline in net income by

grain and livestock and poultry cooperatives. Grain

and dairy cooperatives with the largest net incomes,

together, accounted for most (70.9 percent) of marketing cooperatives' net income and 48.2 percent of total

net income (figure 10).

Total net income of farm supply cooperatives was

$311.2 million in 2000, down 11.7 percent from $352.5

million in 1999. They accounted for 24.4 percent of

cooperatives' total net income in 2000, compared with

26.5 percent in 1999. Income from their own operations, excluding patronage refunds from other cooperatives and CoBank, was $218.6 million, up 19.5 percent

from $183 million in 1999.

Farmer cooperatives' net income from their operations in 2000 totaled $1,041.1 million, up 10.2 percent

from $944.5 million. More than 18.4 percent, or $235.1

million, of total net income ($1,276.2 million) was generated by other cooperatives and CoBank, down 38.7

percent from $383.5 in 1999. Marketing cooperatives'

net income from other cooperatives, including

CoBank, totaled $120 million, down from $184.2 million or 34.8 percent. Grain cooperatives' net income

from other cooperatives totaled $73.4 million, or 26.7

percent of their total net income, down from $125.9

million, or 38.8 percent in 1999.

Income before adjusting for losses was $1,630.1

million compared with $1,612.2 million in 1999. Losses

totaled $353.9 million in 2000, up from $284.1 million

in 1999. Number of cooperatives with losses was up

significantly,from 521 to 625. Increased losses for 2000

stemmed mainly from livestock and poultry cooperatives,from $9.9 million loss in 1999 to $101.5 million in

20

Table 10— Farmer cooperatives’ net income, 2000

Principal product(s) marketed Total Income from Income from

and major function Co-ops1 net income own operations other co-ops2

Number – – – – – – – – – – Million dollars – – – – – – – – – –

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 65.7 63.3 2.4

Dairy 208 340.8 321.1 19.7

Fruits & vegetables 232 66.7 56.2 10.5

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 826 274.5 201.1 73.4

Livestock and poultry 93 -56.1 -63.8 7.7

Rice 16 10.5 8.3 2.1

Sugar 48 -5.9 -7.2 1.3

Other products3 235 171.2 168.4 2.8 ——— ———— ———— ————

Total marketing4 1,672 867.4 747.3 120.0

Total farm supply 1,277 311.2 218.6 92.5

Total related-service 397 97.6 75.1 22.5 ——— ———— ———— ————

Combined total4 3,346 1,276.2 1,041.1 235.1

1 Includes number of cooperatives operating on a strictly pooling basis, but not their pool proceeds.

2 Includes patronage refunds from CoBank.

3 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, and miscellaneous products. 4 Totals may not add due to rounding.
2000. Fruit and vegetable cooperatives, again, suffered

significant losses, $93.5 million in 2000 compared to

$85 million in 1999.

Marketing cooperative losses totaled $245.9 million in 2000, compared with $153.6 million in 1999.

Related-service cooperative losses totaled $7.2 million,

compared with $6.4 million. Losses among farm supply cooperatives dropped from $124.1 million in 1999

to $100.7 million in 2000.

Balance Sheet

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives

totaled more than $49.7 billion in 2000, up 4.3 percent

from $47.7 billion in 1999 (table 11).Total assets of

cooperatives, excluding inter- cooperative investments, was up 5.4 percent to $44.6 billion, compared

with $42.3 billion in 1999.

Total liabilities was $29.4 billion, up 7.4 percent

from $27.4 billion in 1999. Net worth, or member and

patron equity, was $20.3 billion, the same as in 1999.

The proportion of total assets financed by member and

patron equity decreased from 42.5 percent to 40.8 percent.

Net worth, or member and patron equity,forall

marketing cooperatives totaled $12.7 billion, down 1.3

percent from 1999. Marketing cooperatives accounted

for 62.4 percent of farmer cooperatives' combined net

worth, down from 63.3 percent in 1999. Net worth for

farm supply cooperatives totaled $7.1 billion, up 2.7

percent from $6.9 billion in 1999. Their net worth

accounted for nearly 35 percent of the total. For marketing cooperatives, the highest percentage of total

assets represented by net worth shown in figure11 (47

percent) was for those marketing rice. Grain and

oilseed cooperatives ranked second with 46.8 percent.

The lowest, 25.1 percent, was for cooperatives marketing primarily fruits and vegetables. Marketing and

farm supply cooperatives had 38.5 percent and 44.5

percent, respectively, of their assets financed by net

worth.

Of the $49.7 billion in total assets, marketing

cooperatives accounted for $32.9 billion, up 1.7 percent

from 1999 (table 12). Cooperatives primarily handling

grains and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed) had total

assets of $7.3 billion in 2000, up 3.7 percent from $7 billion in 1999. Among the marketing cooperatives, those

primarily handling grains and oilseeds also maintained the largest proportion of their assets as investments in other cooperatives in both 2000 (16 percent)

and 1999 (16.4 percent). Dairy cooperatives had 9.5

percent of their assets invested in other cooperatives,

down from 15 percent in 1999.

21

Figure 10— Net Income or Loss, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

From Own Operations

From Other Cooperatives1

-100 -50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Dollars (million)

1 Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other farmer cooperatives, and CoBank. 2 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Livestock & Poultry

Sugar

Rice

Cotton

Fruit and Vegetable 

Service

Other Marketing2

Grain & Oilseed

Farm Supply

Dairy
22

Table 11— Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 20001

Principal product(s) marketed

and major function Co-ops Total assets Total liabilities Net worth 

Number – – – – – – – – – – Million dollars – – – – – – – – – –

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 877.2 492.8 384.4

Dairy 208 7,543.1 4,456.3 3,086.8

Fruits & vegetables 232 5,775.5 4,326.6 1,448.9

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 826 7,272.6 3,867.4 3,405.2

Livestock and poultry 93 4,882.8 3,462.9 1,419.9

Rice 16 548.6 291.0 257.6

Sugar 48 2,250.2 1,308.2 942.0

Other products2 235 3,727.6 2,016.6 1,711.0 — — — ––———— ————— -—————

Total marketing 1,672 32,877.6 20,221.8 12,655.9

Total farm supply 1,277 15,924.6 8,834.9 7,089.7

Total related-service 397 920.0 390.2 529.7 — — — ––———— ————— -—————

Combined total 3,346 49,722.2 29,446.9 20,275.3

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, and miscellaneous products.

Figure 11— Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth, by Type of Cooperative,

2000

Fruit & Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

Dairy

Sugar

Cotton

Farm Supply

Other marketing1

Grain & Oilseed

Rice

Service

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Assets of marketing cooperatives, excluding

investments in other cooperatives and CoBank, totaled

$30.1 billion, up 3.2 percent from $29.2 billion in 1999.

Farm supply cooperatives had total assets of

$15.9 billion, compared with $14.4 billion in 1999, up

10.3 percent. Excluding inter-cooperative investments,

total assets increased 11.1 percent, from $12.3 billion in

1999 to $13.7 billion.

Selected Financial Ratios

Financial ratios express relationships between

items in the financial and income statements of a business operation and help in analyzing a cooperative's

economic and financial situation.

Financial ratios can indicate problem areas, serve

as guidelines for planning, and aid in formulating

actions. However, both items used to calculate a ratio

are subject to considerable variation. Ratio interpretation is largely subjective.

Six financial ratios were selected to indicate cooperative performance or financial condition--return on

assets, net worth-to-assets, return on sales, total salesto-assets, the current ratio, and times interest earned.

The return on assets and return on sales ratios

indicate profitability. The net worth-to- assets ratio

shows a cooperative's ability to meet long-term financial obligations. The total sales- to-assets ratio (asset

turnover ratio) indicates how efficiently a cooperative

is using its assets. The current ratio (current assets

divided by current liabilities) best measures a cooperative's ability to meet short-run obligations. Times interest earned shows the number of times interest charges

were earned or covered.

Tables 13 and 14 present the values of these

ratios. Extreme high and low values were excluded so

those used would be morerepresentative of the cooperatives reporting. Ratios are also shown by selected

asset category for those cooperatives where sufficient

information was available. These ratios offer cooperative leaders a general barometer to use in comparing

their operations with others of the same type (and/or

size).

The return on assets (net income/assets) varied

considerably. It was negative for sugar, small grain,

large livestock, smaller related service, small dairy,

small farm supply, and poultry cooperatives. The ratio

was highest (37.9) for the smallest group of cotton ginning cooperatives. For dairy, the ratio was highest for

those cooperatives with assets of $25 million to $99.9

23

Table 12— Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 20001

Principal product(s) Investments in

marketed and Co-ops2 Assets of own Investments in Total other co–ops as

major function operations other co–ops 3 assets percent of total

Number – – – – – – – – – – Million dollars – – – – – – – – – – Percent

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 848.9 28.3 877.2 3.2

Dairy 208 6,830.0 713.1 7,543.1 9.5

Fruits & vegetables 232 5,594.3 181.2 5,775.5 3.1

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 826 6,112.4 1,160.2 7,272.6 16.0

Livestock and poultry 93 4,322.1 560.7 4,882.8 11.5

Rice 16 532.6 16.0 548.6 2.9

Sugar 48 2,207.7 42.5 2,250.2 1.9

Other products4 235 3,645.8 81.8 3,727.6 2.2 ———— ————— ————— —————

Total farm products 1,672 30,093.8 2,783.8 32,877.6 8.5

Total farm supplies 1,277 13,710.1 2,214.5 15,924.6 13.9

Total selected services 397 831.5 88.4 920.0 9.6 ———— ————— ————— —————

Combined total 3,346 44,635.5 5,086.8 49,722.2 10.2

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Many cooperatives have multiproduct and multifunctional operations. Most are classified according to predominant commodity or function, as

indicated by business volume.

3 Also includes investments in CoBank.

4 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, and miscellaneous products.
24

Table 13— Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 20001

Type of co–op Return Net worth Return Sales Current

and asset group (mil. dol.) on assets2 to assets3 on sales4 to assets5 ratio6

– – – – – – – – – – Percent – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Number – – – – –

Cotton 7.6 43.5 2.2 3.4 1.4

Less than 25.0 10.7 39.0 4.8 2.2 1.5

25.0 and more 7.3 44.0 2.0 3.6 1.4

Dairy7 4.6 41.1 1.3 3.7 1.3

Less than 1.0 -2.6 59.1 -0.4 6.5 1.7

1.0- 2.49 5.2 50.9 0.8 6.8 1.4

2.5- 24.99 7.1 43.0 0.8 8.6 1.2

25.0 - 99.99 7.2 41.0 1.1 6.5 1.2

100.0 and more 4.2 41.0 1.3 3.2 1.3

Fruit and vegetable 1.8 26.3 1.1 1.7 1.4

Less than 0.5 10.8 66.0 0.4 28.1 2.2

0.5- 0.99 -3.5 42.3 -0.9 3.8 1.6

1.0- 2.49 3.6 58.4 1.1 3.2 1.7

2.5- 24.99 8.2 40.2 2.6 3.1 1.3

25.0 - 99.99 0.3 23.2 0.2 1.3 1.0

100.0 and more 1.6 25.5 1.0 1.6 1.6

Fruit and vegetable 1.8 26.3 1.1 1.7 1.4

Fresh only 3.8 38.7 1.7 2.3 1.2

Less than 0.5 10.6 66.4 0.4 28.9 2.3

0.5- 0.99 -6.2 35.6 -2.4 2.6 1.5

1.0- 2.49 0.5 62.4 0.1 4.0 1.5

2.5- 24.99 7.7 42.3 2.3 3.4 1.3

25.0 - 499.99 2.8 37.0 1.6 1.8 1.2

Processed only 1.4 22.9 1.1 1.3 1.6

Less than 99.99 -1.2 14.8 -0.6 1.9 1.1

100.0 and more 1.5 23.1 1.2 1.3 1.6

Fresh and processed 1.6 30.7 0.5 3.3 1.2

Less than 2.49 10.3 63.9 2.6 4.0 2.4

2.5- 24.99 12.3 40.9 4.0 3.1 1.2

25.0 - 499.99 -0.6 28.4 -0.2 3.4 1.2

Grain and oilseed8 4.0 46.8 1.7 2.3 1.2

Less than 0.99 -0.4 70.9 -0.1 3.5 2.4

1.0- 2.49 4.4 66.5 1.3 3.3 1.9

2.5- 24.99 4.2 52.4 1.7 2.5 1.3

25.0 - 99.99 4.1 44.9 1.8 2.3 1.2

100.0 - 499.99 3.0 23.4 1.7 1.8 0.9

Livestock7 -0.8 28.4 -0.2 3.9 1.1

Less than 2.49 5.3 49.3 0.2 24.4 1.5

2.5- 24.99 3.2 44.4 0.8 3.9 1.1

25.0 and more -0.8 28.3 -0.2 3.9 1.1

C ontinued
25

Table 13— Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 20001(continued)

Type of co–op Return Net worth Return Sales Current

and asset group (mil. dol.) on assets2 to assets3 on sales4 to assets5 ratio6

– – – – – – – – – – Percent – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Number – – – – –

Nut 1.7 36.2 1.1 1.5 1.6

Poultry -4.5 28.2 -1.6 2.8 1.1

Rice 2.1 29.8 1.3 1.7 1.2

Sugar -0.5 41.9 -0.5 0.9 1.1

Tobacco 9.6 68.8 0.5 18.0 3.6

Misc. marketing 3.3 48.7 1.3 2.5 1.4

Fishery 5.8 33.1 3.7 1.5 1.7

Farm supply 1.6 42.6 0.8 2.0 1.3

Less than 0.5 2.8 57.3 1.0 2.8 1.9

0.5- 0.99 0.5 71.3 0.2 2.5 2.8

1.0- 2.49 3.1 70.1 1.5 2.1 2.2

2.5- 24.99 3.4 58.7 1.7 2.0 1.5

25.0 - 99.99 2.4 43.2 1.3 1.9 1.3

100.0 - 499.99 5.4 45.4 3.1 1.7 1.3

500.0 and more 0.7 36.3 0.3 2.0 1.2

Artificial insemination 0.8 57.8 0.3 2.9 1.7

Cotton gins 18.3 64.5 13.9 1.3 1.7

Less than 0.5 37.9 24.0 16.2 2.3 1.0

0.5- 0.99 7.3 70.6 4.2 1.8 2.2

1.0- 2.49 14.8 71.9 9.6 1.5 2.0

2.5 and more 19.5 62.9 15.9 1.2 1.6

Other service9 6.5 48.5 7.2 0.9 1.5

Less than 0.5 4.0 84.8 3.5 1.1 3.1

0.5- 0.99 -1.5 59.4 -0.7 2.1 1.0

1.0- 2.49 21.6 62.3 24.0 0.9 2.0

2.5- 24.99 6.5 48.5 7.2 0.9 1.5

1 Based on cooperatives reporting. Excludes strictly pooling cooperatives. Ratios were calculated by adding the individual items and dividing.

The same cooperatives were included in each group to calculate all five ratios. Extreme values not representative of the group were

excluded.

2 Includes net income before any income taxes are deducted. Calculated by dividing net income by total assets (return on assets).

3 Net worth, or member equity, is the book value of the assets owned by members. The ratio was calculated by dividing total net worth by total

assets.

4 Total sales includes service receipts, other income, and patronage refunds received from other cooperatives, and CoBank. The return on

sales was found by dividing net income by total sales.

5 Calculated by dividing total sales by total assets.

6 The current ratio was derived by dividing current assets by current liabilities. Data were taken from annual reports where provided. 7 Includes bargaining cooperatives.

8 Excludes cottonseed.

9 Includes cooperatives providing primarily services related to storage, transportation, livestock shipping, and rice drying.
million, similar to what was reported in 1999. Among

grain cooperatives, the largest return (although small)

came from those in the range of $1 to 2.5 million.

The net worth-to-assets ratio ranged from a low

of 14.8 percent for the smallest processing fruit and

vegetable cooperatives to a high of 84.8 percent for the

smallest related-service cooperatives. Generally,as

cooperatives become larger and/or do more processing, a declining percentage of their assets is financed

by members, resulting in a lower net worth-to-assets

ratio.

The return on sales (net income/total sales)

ranged from a negative 2.4 percent for the smaller fruit

and vegetable cooperatives to a high of 24 percent for

the larger related-service cooperatives. Few cooperative groups generated a return on sales above 3 percent

(only 13 of the 66 groups shown in table 13).

The sales-to-assets ratio ranged from a high of

28.9 for the small fresh fruit and vegetable cooperatives to a low of 0.9 for the sugar and related-service

cooperatives. Among dairy,fruit and vegetable, grain,

and cotton ginning cooperatives, the ratio tended to

decrease as cooperative size increased. Generally,this

reflects the large investment in processing or manufacturing equipment typical of the larger dairy and fruit

and vegetable cooperatives. The sales-to-assets ratios

26

Table 14—Times intererst earned for cooperatives, by selected type and size, 20001

Type of co-op Times interest Type of co-op Times interest

and asset group earned and asset group earned

Million Dollars Dollars Million Dollars Dollars

Cotton 3.2 Nut 1.6

Less than 25.0 3.7 Poultry -0.3

25.0 and more 3.2 Rice 4.0

Sugar 0.9

Dairy 3.7 Tobacco 4.4

Less than 1.0 -1.1 Misc. marketing 3.6

1.0 - 2.49 12.3 Fishery 2.0

2.5 - 24.99 7.5

25.0 -499.99 5.7 Farm supply 1.7

100.0 and more 3.4 Less than 0.5 2.2

0.5 - 0.99 0.7

Fruit and vegetable 1.5 1.0 - 2.49 3.0

Less than 0.5 7.0 2.5 - 24.99 2.5

0.5 - 0.99 -0.04 125.0 - 99.99 1.7

1.0 - 2.49 4.0 100.0 - 499.99 3.3

2.5 - 24.99 3.9 500.00 and more 1.4

25.0 - 99.99 1.5

100.0 and 499.99 1.4 Cotton gin 11.5

Less than 0.5 13.7

Grain and oilseed2 2.8 0.5 - 0.99 8.6

Less than 1.0 0.1 1.0 - 2.49 8.4

1.0 - 2.49 3.9 2.5 - 99.99 2.4

2.5 - 24.99 2.8

25.0 - 99.99 2.7 Other service3 0.9

100.0 and 499.99 3.4 Less than 0.5 -2.5

0.5 - 0.99 0.9

Livestock 0.8 1.0 - 24.99 1.0

Less than 25.0 2.0 25.0 - 99.99 0.9

25.0 and more 0.8

1 Based on cooperatives reporting. The ratio was calculated by summing net income before taxes and interest expense and dividing by

interest expense for each grouping. Extreme values not representative of the group were excluded. 2 Excludes cottonseed.

3 Includes cooperatives providing services such as storage, transportation, and rice drying.
for farm supply cooperatives varied little with cooperative size. Most are less involved in manufacturing or

processing than the larger marketing cooperatives.

The generally high sales-to-assets ratios for the

smaller and some types of cooperatives is due to bargaining activity or other marketing functions not

requiring major investments in plant and equipment.

The current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) ranged from a low of 0.9 for grain cooperatives

with assets greater than $100, to 3.6 for tobacco cooperatives. Smaller cooperatives’ current liabilities are generally low, but become larger in relation to current

assets as business grows.

Times interest earned varied by type and size of

cooperative, as shown in table 14. By type of cooperative, the ratio ranged from a low of 0.8 for livestock

cooperatives to a high of 11.5 for cotton ginning cooperatives. This indicates that the net income of livestock

cooperatives would not have covered their interest

charges, whereas cotton gins could have covered their

interest charges 11.5 times.

By size of cooperative, the ratio varied significantly by type of cooperative. For example, among

dairy cooperatives, the times interest earned ratio

ranged from -1.1 for those cooperatives with total

assets less than $1 million to 12.3 for those cooperatives with total assets ranging from $1 million to $2.5

million. No significant relationship existed between

size of cooperative and times interest earned.

Problems and Issues

Two open-ended questions were included in the

2000 annual survey of farmer cooperatives to identify

what management considered to be the major problem

or issue facing their cooperative presently and in the

next year or two, how to address them, and needed

research and education. The questions were as follows.

"In the past year,what did your management consider

to be the major problem or issue facing your cooperative?" And, "What does your management see as the

major problem or issue facing your cooperative in the

next year or two?"

Questionnaires with these questions were sent to

3,058 farmer cooperatives. Responses to the past-year

problems or issues totaled 1,147, or 37.5 percent, and

1,128, or 36.9 percent regarding future problems. Some

cooperatives identified more than one problem—"Low

farm income and excessive government regulations" or

"Imports, retail consolidation, and prices."

Seventeen problem areas or classifications were

identified. A report summarizing the information for

all cooperatives, by type of cooperative, cooperative

size, and region of the country is pending.

Some preliminary findings are as follows.

Low commodity prices, the agricultural economy,

and operational difficulties were the most frequently

mentioned problems faced in 2000. More than twofifths (44.5 percent) of the responses identified these

areas as their major problems. Among the three, low

commodity prices, with nearly one-fifth of the

responses, was the most frequently cited. This included low prices for cotton, cottonseed, sweet potatoes,

almonds, apples, pears, fresh fruit, milk, sugar, grains,

and eggs.

The agricultural economy was the second most

often cited problem (14.2 percent). Cooperative managers were concerned about the depressed farm econom y, loss of acreage and farmers, the number of dairy

farmers quitting business and leaving the farm, producer profitability, size of farms getting bigger, farmers bypassing local cooperatives for supplies and sales,

shrinking ag market, and too many big farmers. As a

result of the changing structure of agriculture, many

cooperatives found their sales and profitability declining.

Cooperative operational problems was the third

most frequently cited. Nearly 11 percent of the

responses fell into this category.Problems cited were

more diverse than those included in the other categories: working capital, financing, debt management,

equity management, increasing sales, marketing,

acquisition of another company and adding its operations to ours, working through merger, loss of feed

customers, reducing our expenses by closing smaller

branches to meet larger farmer needs more competitively, understanding and responding to our strengths

and weaknesses, and identifying and persuading

directors to pursue nontraditional income opportunities.

Cooperative managers don’t expect much change

in the next year or two. More than 45 percent of the

responses mentioned the agricultural economy, low

commodity prices, and operational problems. Nearly

one fifth (18.8 percent) identified the agricultural economy. Consequently, the "agricultural economy" was

ranked by frequency of responses as the number- one

problem cooperative managers anticipate facing in the

next year or two, followed by low commodity prices

(16.6 percent) and operational problems (10 percent).

A third (31.8 percent) identified low margins,

increasing costs, labor, and competition most frequent27
ly as the second set of future problems. Responses

ranged from 8.8 percent for low margins to 6.7 percent

for labor problems.

The responses suggest several interrelationships

among the problems and issues. For example, increasing costs, especially rising costs of labor, plus increasing competition make it difficult for many cooperatives to maintain the kind of margins needed to

operate successfully. Managers also acknowledged

that farms have become larger, and volumes per farm

have increased (as number of farms has declined), but

this has resulted in an increase by "farmers bypassing

local cooperatives for supplies and sales" and going

directly to terminals and manufacturers.

Cooperatives’ Use of the Internet

Two questions on cooperatives’ use of the

Internet were also included in the annual survey to

measure use of the Internet in purchasing and/or sales

activities. "Did your cooperative make any purchases

on the Internet (E-Commerce) in fiscal 2000?" And,

"Did your cooperative make any sales on the Internet

(E-Commerce)in fiscal 2000?" E-Commerce was

defined as "...the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web."

Forty-six or 1.5 percent of the 3,058 cooperatives

surveyed responded. Twenty-three or less than 1 percent responded to the question on Internet sales.

Cooperatives making Internet purchases were asked

the percentage of farm supplies (feed, petroleum, etc.)

and farm commodities (crops and livestock) they

acquired via the Internet. In similar fashion, cooperatives that had Internet sales were asked the percentages for farm supplies and for farm commodities.

The results showed that, via the Internet, purchases were $24.7 million for farm supplies and only

$3.4 million for farm commodities. Internet sales of

farm supplies totaled $3.2 million and for farm commodities, $13.1 million.

Analysis of the respondents’ data implies that

cooperatives’ use of the Internet in buying and selling

activities was minimal. Other (nonsurvey) information

shows that cooperatives do use the Internet to obtain

weather, commodity prices, and other information. In

some cases, personal computers are made available for

use by members and nonmember patrons. However,

the extent of computer use for activities not related to

buying and selling activities is not known.

III—Cooperative Trends, 1991-2000

Although the number of cooperatives decreased

during the past decade, their dollar business volume

increased, until recent years. Cooperatives continue to

adjust to the changing economic environment through

dissolution, merger, consolidation, acquisition, and the

sale of assets. In some cases, farmers organized newgeneration cooperatives and formed joint ventures and

alliances to become involved in value-added activities.

In 1991, the net business volume of 4,494 cooperatives

totaled $76.6 billion. A decade later, net business volume generated by 3,346 cooperatives was $99.7 billion.

Number of Cooperatives

The total number of marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives declined from 4,494 in

1991 to 3,346 in 2000 (table 15 and figure 12).

Marketing cooperatives declined from 2,384 to 1,672,

farm supply cooperatives from 1,689 to 1,277, and service cooperatives from 421 to 397.

From 1991 through 2000, 1,803 cooperatives

(about 180 per year) wereremoved from RBS' list of

farmer cooperatives. Of those, 42.7 percent were dissolved, 35.3 percent merged or consolidated, 14 percent were acquired by other cooperatives or investorowned firms, and the remaining 8 percent were

removed for other reasons (figure 13).

Even while cooperatives were disappearing fro m

RBS’ list, newly formed ones or others not previously

listed were added. From 1991 through 2000, 486 cooperatives (about 49 per year) were added. Forty-four

cooperatives were added during 2000, the largest

increase since 1994.

Grain and Farm Supply Branches

In 1995, 2,548 grain and farm supply cooperatives

had an estimated 5,101 branches, 2,172 owned by grain

cooperatives and 2,929 by farm supply cooperatives. In

2000, grain and farm supply cooperative numbers had

dropped to 2,103, but branches had increased to 5,327

(table 16 and figure 14).

Average number of branches per cooperative was

2 in 1995 and 2.5 in 2000. Larger cooperatives, particularly the farm supply cooperatives, accounted for most

of the branches. Of those with assets of $25 million or

more in 2000, 44 farm supply cooperatives had an estimated 1,678 branches and 59 grain cooperatives had

517 branches.

28
Memberships

Memberships in farmer cooperatives dropped

from 4.1 million in 1991 to 3.1 million in 2000 (table 17

and figure 15). The long-term decline largely reflects

the decreasing number of farms, farmers, and ranchers

in the United States. Many farmers are members of

more than one cooperative and each membership is

counted. Consequently, the number of memberships

exceeds the number of farmers. Duplication in membership cannot be eliminated with current reporting

methods.

Member classification depends on the type of

cooperative used and may not be related to the member's product(s) marketed or supplies purchased. For

example, a member may market only one of the farm

products handled by the cooperative or use a cooperative classified in the marketing group to purchase one

or more production items. A member's business with

the cooperative, therefore, may not be in the group

that represents the cooperative's major business volume (the criterion for classifying cooperatives in this

report). The membership, however, will be included

arbitrarily in that classification.

During the past decade, memberships in relatedservice and marketing cooperatives decreased at more

than twice the rate of memberships in farm supply

29

Table 15— Number of farmer cooperatives, 1991-2000

Year1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

Number

1991 2,384 1,689 421 4,494

1992 2,218 1,618 479 4,315

1993 2,214 1,547 483 4,244

1994 2,173 1,496 505 4,174

1995 2,074 1,458 474 4,006

1996 2,012 1,403 469 3,884

1997 1,941 1,386 464 3,791

1998 1,863 1,347 441 3,651

1999 1,749 1,313 404 3,466

2000 1,672 1,277 397 3,346

1 Prior to 1991, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, 

Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998.

Figure 12— Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1991-2000

0

0

0

0

0

0

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Number

Marketing

Farm Supply

Service

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
cooperatives. Memberships in marketing cooperatives

dropped 599,400 (32.5 percent) while memberships in

farm supply cooperatives decreased 306,931 (15.2 percent).

Employees

Farmer cooperatives had an estimated 176,665

full-time employees in 2000, up from 172,951 in 1999

(table 18) and greater than the 1995 peak of 175,399.

The number of full-time employees working in marketing and related-service cooperatives declined

between 1995-2000. However, full-time employees

increased among farm supply cooperatives for that

same period.

Overall, the trend appears to be the same, with

marketing and related-service cooperatives decreasing

their use of full-time employees and farm supply cooperatives increasing their use. This is, in part, related to

many grain cooperatives being reclassified as farm

supply cooperatives, largely because of sharply declining grain prices during the past 3 to 4 years.

Business Volume

Net cooperative business, unadjusted for price

change, increased from $76.6 billion in 1991 to $99.7

billion in 2000 (table 19). When adjusted, 3 net business

totaled $98 billion in 2000 (figure 16). Consequently,

the difference between actual and real net business

volume in 2000 was nearly $1.7 billion. The real net

business volume was slightly lower than the actual

value in 2000 due to lower prices received for farm

products. Prices received for all farm commodities

from 1991 to 2000 dropped 2.8 percent, while prices

paid for production items increased 15.7 percent fro m

1991 to 2000. However, farm supply net business volume and service receipts and other income accounted

for only 27.7 percent of the total net business volume

in 2000. 

Marketing sales of four major commodity

groups--dairy; grains and oilseeds, excluding cottonseed; fruits and vegetables; and livestock--decreased as

a proportion of marketing sales, from 82.9 percent in

1991 to 81.5 percent in 2000 (figure 17). In 1991 and a

decade later, net volume (among commodity groups)

was highest for dairy. In terms of net volume, dairy

was the leader with $22.7 billion ($18.8 billion in 1991),

30

Figure 13— Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1991-2000

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Based on a list of U.S. farmer cooperatives maintained by RBS. Mergers also include consolidations. Other includes cooperatives

dropped due to inactivity and unknown and miscellaneous reasons.

Number

Merger

Dissolution

Acquisition

Other

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

3 Marketing sales was deflated by the index of producer prices

received for "all farm products" (1991 = 100). Supply sales and

service receipts and other income were deflated by the index of

prices paid by farmers for "production items," excluding interest,

taxes, and wages (1991 = 100).
31

Table 16— Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm supply cooperatives, 1995-2000 

Asset Group (million dollars)

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Year Less than 5 5 - 9.9 10 - 24.9 25 or more Total

Grain Cooperatives

1995 658 223 174 35 1,090

1996 618 229 176 43 1,066

1997 616 196 155 47 1,014

1998 550 216 150 48 964

1999 512 187 147 50 896

2000 435 183 149 59 826

Branches

1995 399 440 756 577 2,172

1996 387 505 743 691 2,326

1997 364 463 717 706 2,250

1998 292 517 774 716 2,299

1999 295 422 685 761 2,163

2000 280 428 690 517 1,915

Farm Supply Cooperatives

1995 1,134 211 97 16 1,458

1996 1,064 213 109 17 1,403

1997 1,022 232 109 23 1,386

1998 928 277 112 30 1,347

1999 933 223 121 36 1,313

2000 886 208 139 44 1,277

Branches

1995 571 502 460 1,396 2,929

1996 542 523 526 1,438 3,029

1997 481 579 576 1,576 3,183

1998 528 548 570 1,672 3,318

1999 423 547 534 1,663 3,167

2000 518 493 723 1,678 3,412

Figure 14— Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1992-2000

1,000

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1992 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Branches

Cooperatives

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
followed by grains and oilseeds with $18.4 billion in

2000. In 1996 and 1997, higher grain prices helped

grain and oilseed cooperatives top the other commodity groups.

Milk and milk product sales showed the

strongest absolute dollar growth during 1991-2000.

Prior to 1997, grain and oilseed sales surged due to

strong demand, but subsequently dropped.

In the farm supply group, petroleum, feed, and

fertilizer sales were especially important (figure 18).

They accounted for 71.7 percent of cooperatives' total

farm supply sales in 1991 and 69.4 percent in 2000.

Their overall importance dropped due to increased

sales of crop protectants and "other." In 1991, crop protectants and "other" accounted for 25.2 percent of farm

supply sales versus 26.8 percent in 2000.

Cooperatives’ sales of petroleum, feed, fertilizer,

and crop protectants grew steadily until 1998. In 1999

and 2000, feed and fertilizer sales dropped, due to

decreased demand. Seed sales remained fairly stable

until increases in 1999 and 2000.

Net marketing of farm products totaled $56.2 billion in 1991 and increased annually through 1996.

Since 1997, the net marketing dollar volume has

declined as demand for farm commodities has

dropped. In 2000, net business volume of farm products marketed rose slightly,from $72 billion in 1999 to

$72.1 billion (table 20). Aggregate farm supply sales

increased every year,from $17.9 billion in 1991 to $25.2

billion in 1997, dropped in 1998 and 1999, then rose

again in 2000. Service receipts (includes other income

and revenue) increased from $2.5 billion in 1991 to $3.9

billion in 1999, the highest on record, then dropped to

$3.5 billion in 2000.

Gross business volume grew from $90.8 billion in

1991 to $120.7 billion in 2000, up from $115.3 billion in

1999, but down from a record $128.1 billion in 1996.

The volume increase ($15.9 billion) in 1996 was due

mainly to higher prices for grains and oilseeds.

Net Income

Starting with $1.57 billion in 1991, total net

income fluctuated annually setting a record at $2.36

billion in 1995 (table 21 and figure 19). It dipped in

1996, climbed back in 1997, but then dropped significantly to $1.28 billion in 2000. Low prices and margins

along with increased losses with overproduction in

agriculture were major factors.

Net income received from operations and fro m

other cooperatives varied over time. Both reflected better economic times in agriculture in the mid-1990s

compared with conditions in the early and late 1990s.

32

Figure 15— Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1991-2000

0

0

0

0

0

0

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Million

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

5

4

3

2

1

0
In 1991, refunds from other cooperatives totaled $418

million, or 26.6 percent of total net income. In 2000,

refunds were $235.1 million, or 18.4 percent of total net

income.

Balance Sheet

Cooperatives’ total assets grew by $18.4 billion,

from $31.3 billion in 1991 to $49.7 billion in 2000 (table

22 and figure20),reflecting growth in their own operations and investments in other cooperatives. In 1991,

nearly $3.4 billion (10.8 percent of total assets) was

invested in other cooperatives, including CoBank. In

2000, these investments were $5.1 billion, up $1.7 billion from 1991, or 10.2 percent of total assets.

Cooperatives’ total liabilities also grew fro m

$17.2 billion in 1991 (55.1 percent of total assets) to

$29.4 billion, up $12.2 billion in 10 years.

Total liabilities financed 59.2 percent of total

assets in 2000. The strength of a balance sheet depends

on the proportion of assets financed by net worth or

equity capital. In 1991, cooperatives’ net worth totaled

$14 billion, financing 44.9 percent of total assets. By

2000, total net worth climbed to nearly $20.3 billion,

but financed only 40.8 percent of cooperatives’ assets.

During the decade, the proportion of net worth used to

finance total assets peaked at 44.9 percent in 1991,

declining to a low of 40.8 percent in 1996 and 2000.

Most would say farmer cooperatives, overall, have a

strong balance sheet, but the trend toward increased

use of debt and less equity capital to finance assets is

of some concern.

IV—Other Service Cooperatives

In 2000, service cooperatives, other than those

directly related to marketing and purchasing, included

farm credit system cooperatives, rural electric cooperatives,rural credit unions, and dairy herd improvement

associations.

Farm Credit System

The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide

network of financial cooperatives that lends to agriculture and rural America. FCS provides credit and related services to farmers, ranchers, producers and harvesters of aquatic products, rural homeowners, certain

farm-related businesses, agricultural and aquatic cooperatives, rural utilities, and certain foreign and domestic entities in connection with international transactions.

By 2000, FCS was represented by 38 Federal Land

Credit Associations (FLCAs), 28 Production Credit

Associations (PCAs), and 67 Agricultural Credit

Associations (ACAs) (table 23). The combined assets of

FCS for 2000 totaled $94 billion--up 6 percent fro m

$88.7 billion in 1999 (table 24). Net worth was $14.4 billion, up 8.1 percent from 1999, and net income was

$1.42 billion, up from $1.23 billion, or 15.3 percent.

Of the 38 FLCAs operating on Jan. 1, 2001, 11

were in the Farm Credit Bank (FCB) of Wichita and 10

each in the AgriBank, FCB, and FCB of Texas Districts.

FLCAs (former FLBAs) were authorized by the

Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 and given direct-lending authority by FCBs.

PCAs provide farmers and ranchers with shortand intermediate-term loans for various purposes,

such as operating expenses, farm equipment and livestock purchases, and farm buildings and other capital

improvements. Of the 28 PCAs, 11 were located in the

AgriBank, FCB, District and 8 in the FCB of Wichita.

ACAs resulted from the merger of FLBAs or

FLCAs with PCAs and offer both long-and short-term

loans. Of the 67 ACAs operating on Jan. 1, 2001, 24

were in AgFirst, FCB, territory and 11 in the AgriBank,

FCB, district. The FCBs provide loans and support services to ACAs, FLCAs, and PCAs within their districts.

CoBank, ACB, provides short-, intermediate-, and

long-term credit to agricultural cooperatives, rural

utility systems, and other rural businesses nationwide.

It also provides credit to the Farm Credit Associations

serving agricultural producers in the Northeast.

CoBank, ACB, is owned by about 2,300 stockholders,

consisting of U.S. farmer cooperatives, rural utilities,

33

Table 17— Memberships in marketing, farm supply,

and related-service cooperatives, 1991–2000

Period1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

1,000

1991 1,842 2,025 191 4,059

1992 1,839 2,020 212 4,072

1993 1,830 1,977 216 4,023

1994 1,805 1,936 245 3,986

1995 1,712 1,846 210 3,767

1996 1,682 1,795 187 3,664

1997 1,498 1,743 183 3,424

1998 1,398 1,774 181 3,353

1999 1,283 1,731 159 3,173

2000 1,243 1,718 124 3,085

1 Prior to 1991, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, 

Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998.
ACAs, and other businesses serving rural America.

CoBank also finances U.S. agricultural exports and

provides international banking services for farmer

cooperatives.

The combined assets of CoBank increased fro m

$24.1 billion in 1999 to $24.3 billion in 2000, or nearly

0.7 percent. Net worth totaled nearly $1.8 billion, up

from $1.7 billion, or 7.6 percent. As of Jan. 1, 2001,

CoBank had net loans of $19.2 billion and net income

of $185 million, up from $121 million in 1999, or 52.9

percent (table 25).

Rural Electric Cooperatives

Rural electric cooperatives decreased in number

from 672 in 1999 to 614 in 2000. Consumer members,

however,increased to 10.7 million from 10.5 million,

but revenue decreased to $14.7 billion (table 26) fro m

$23.7 billion in 1999. Texas and Minnesota had the

most associations, with 36 each (11.7 percent of the

total), while Georgia had the most consumer members,

with 1,112 (10.4 percent), and the largest revenue, at

$1,112 million (10.5 percent).

Rural Credit Unions

The 569 rural credit unions reported 3.8 million

members and savings of more than $18 billion. There

were 595 credit unions in 1999. Number of members

was down from 3.9 million, but savings was up slightly. Wisconsin, with 61, had the most associations, or

10.7 percent of the total, while California had the most

members (800,000) and credit union savings ($4.6 billion). California, Wisconsin, and Michigan accounted

for nearly1.8 million memberships (46.8 percent of the

total) and $8.7 billion in savings, or 48.3 percent of the

total (table 27).

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA)

had 31,196 memberships in 2000 (table 28), down fro m

33,539 in 1999. The DHIAs tested nearly 4.3 million

cows in 2000, down slightly from 1999. Wisconsin

(7,691), Pennsylvania (4,604), Minnesota (3,487), and

New York (2,721), combined, accounted for 59.3 percent of total members, down from 59.6 percent in 1999.

About 20.9 percent (893,300 ) of the cows tested were

in California, up from 20.4 percent in 1999.

34

Table 18— Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 1995-2000

Full-time Employees

Commodity ——————— ---- ————————————————————————— - - ———————————————— -

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Number

Cotton 2,136 1,787 1,995 1,844 1,787 1,759

Dairy 29,828 27,621 28,323 27,056 24,598 23,408

Fruits & vegetables 24,944 26,456 22,847 23,734 23,329 25,108

Grains & oilseeds 24,811 25,981 23,538 23,873 20,998 20,309

Livestock & poultry 28,635 28,453 26,399 28,031 32,690 34,592

Rice 2,785 2,636 2,713 2,655 2,600 2,606

Sugar 3,422 3,482 3,473 4,402 4,459 4,523

Other products 7,590 7,109 9,191 8,474 8,525 8,831 ————— ————— ————— —————— —--——— —-———

Marketing 124,151 123,525 118,479 120,069 118,986 121,136

Farm supply 45,302 45,566 47,870 48,171 49,466 51,321

Service 5,946 5,704 5,850 5,551 4,499 4,208 ————— ————— ————— —————— —-——— ——-— —

Total 175,399 174,795 172,199 173,791 172,951 176,665
35

Table 19— Cooperatives’ net business volume,1991

and 20001

Net Business Volume

Function 1991 2000

Million dollars 

Products marketed: 

Beans and peas (dry edible) 219.2 146.7

Cotton 2,343.3 2,730.5

Dairy 18,819.1 22,720.6

Fruits and vegetables 8,170.3 9,570.0

Grains and oilseeds2 14,471.8 18,369.6

Livestock 5,110.7 8,042.7

Nuts 823.2 720.6

Poultry 1,170.7 2,133.4

Rice 705.7 814.8

Sugar 1,839.5 2,680.8

Tobacco 570.7 563.1

Wool and mohair 13.7 4.4

Other products3 1,945.0 3,567.6

————— —————

Total farm products 56,202.9 72,064.7

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants 1,825.3 3,027.6

Feed 4,096.9 4,691.1

Fertilizer 3,631.4 4,574.4

Petroleum 5,117.6 7,456.7

Seed 552.2 915.7

Other supplies 2,692.7 3,419.1 ————— ——————

Total farm supplies 17,916.0 24,084.5

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, misc. 2,517.3 3,510.2

————— ——————

Total business 76,636.3 99,659.4

1 Excludes inter-cooperative business volume. Totals may not add

due to rounding.

2 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed sales were included with cotton.

Cottonseed meal and oil sales were included with feed and other

products, respectively.

3 Includes value of processed oilseeds.
36

Figure 16— Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1991-2000

0

0

0

0

0

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

1 Actual sales were adjusted for price change based on 1991 = 100.

Billion dollars

Actual

Real1

110

100

90

80

70

Figure 17— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1991-2000

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Billion dollars

Milk & Milk Products

Grains & Oilseeds

Fruits & Vegetables

Livestock

30

25

20

15

10

5

0
37

Figure 18— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1991-2000

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Billion dollars

Petroleum

Feed

Fertilizer

Crop Protectants

Seed

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
38

Table 20— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 1991–20001

Gross volume Net volume

—————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————

Farm Farm Farm Farm

Period2 products supplies Services3 Total products supplies Services3 Total

Billion dollars

1991 61.4 26.8 2.5 90.8 56.2 17.9 2.5 76.6

1992 63.8 27.0 2.6 93.4 58.2 18.5 2.6 79.3

1993 66.8 28.2 2.7 97.7 60.9 19.2 2.7 82.9

1994 72.1 30.4 3.0 105.5 65.5 20.8 3.0 89.3

1995 77.9 31.0 3.3 112.2 69.3 21.2 3.3 93.8

1996 90.3 34.7 3.1 128.1 79.4 23.7 3.1 106.2

1997 85.9 37.1 3.6 126.7 77.8 25.2 3.6 106.7

1998 84.5 33.0 3.5 121.0 76.6 24.6 3.5 104.7

1999 80.5 30.9 3.9 115.3 72.0 23.2 3.9 99.1

2000 80.4 36.8 3.5 120.7 72.1 24.1 3.5 99.7

Percent

1991 67.7 29.5 2.8 100 73.3 23.4 3.3 100

1992 68.3 28.9 2.8 100 73.4 23.4 3.2 100

1993 68.4 28.8 2.8 100 73.5 23.2 3.3 100

1994 68.4 28.8 2.8 100 73.4 23.3 3.3 100

1995 69.5 27.6 2.9 100 73.9 22.6 3.5 100

1996 70.5 27.1 2.4 100 74.8 22.3 2.9 100

1997 67.8 29.3 2.9 100 72.9 23.7 3.4 100

1998 69.9 27.2 2.9 100 73.2 23.5 3.3 100

1999 69.8 26.8 3.4 100 72.7 23.4 3.9 100

2000 66.6 30.5 2.9 100 72.3 24.2 3.5 100

1 Gross includes and net excludes inter-cooperative business. Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Prior to 1991, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998. Data for prior years are not entirely

comparable due to revisions in statistical procedures.

3 Services related to marketing or supply purchasing, but not included in the volumes reported for these activities. Beginning with 1990, other

income and revenue were included with service receipts.
39

Table 21— Net income of farmer cooperatives, 

1991–20001

From own From other

Year operations cooperatives2 Total

Million dollars

1991 1,152 418 1,570

1992 1,034 406 1,440

1993 985 373 1,358

1994 1,571 392 1,963

1995 1,766 597 2,363

1996 1,475 773 2,248

1997 1,557 757 2,314

1998 1,169 573 1,742

1999 944 384 1,328

2000 1,041 235 1,276

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. Excludes income from

cooperative pooling operations.

2 Dividends and patronage refunds received from other marketing,

farm supply, and related–service cooperatives, CoBank, and

Banks for Cooperatives, where applicable.

Figure 19— Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1991-2000

0

00

00

00

00

00

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

1 Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other farmer cooperatives and CoBank.

Billion dollars

From Own

Operations

From Other

Cooperatives1

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0
40

Table 22— Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1991–2000

Assets Investments

from own in other Total Total Net

Year operations co–ops1 assets liabilities worth

Million dollars 

1991 27,887 3,381 31,268 17,227 14,040

1992 28,967 3,027 31,994 17,780 14,213

1993 30,484 2,962 33,446 18,634 14,812

1994 32,784 3,176 35,960 20,339 15,621

1995 37,046 3,228 40,274 23,643 16,631

1996 39,011 3,577 42,588 25,195 17,392

1997 39,922 4,074 43,996 25,459 18,537

1998 41,884 4,676 46,560 26,606 19,954

1999 42,330 5,352 47,682 27,418 20,263

2000 44,635 5,087 49,722 29,447 20,275

Percent of total assets

1991 89.2 10.8 100 55.1 44.9

1992 90.5 9.5 100 55.6 44.4

1993 91.1 8.9 100 55.7 44.3

1994 91.2 8.8 100 56.6 43.4

1995 92.0 8.0 100 58.7 41.3

1996 91.6 8.4 100 59.2 40.8

1997 90.7 9.3 100 57.9 42.1

1998 90.0 10.0 100 57.1 42.9

1999 88.8 11.2 100 57.5 42.5

2000 89.8 10.2 100 59.2 40.8

1 Includes investments in other farmer cooperatives, CoBank, and Banks for Cooperatives, where applicable.

Figure 20— Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Liabilities, 1991-2000

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

Billion dollars

Liabilities

Net Worth

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0
41

Table 23— Farm Credit Association Structure, 

Jan 1, 20011

District or bank affiliation P C A A C A FLCA

Number

CoBank, ACB - 4 -

AgFirst FCB - 24 -

AgriBank, FCB 11 11 10

FCB of Wichita 8 7 11

FCB of Texas 3 10 10

Western FCB 5 10 6

AgAmerica, FCB 1 1 1 -— -— -—

Total 28 67 38

- = No bank affiliation.

1 PCA = Production Credit Association, ACA = Agricultural Credit

Association, FCB=Farm Credit Bank, FLCA = Federal Land Credit

Association, ACB=Agricultural Credit Bank, the successor Bank

resulting from a BC/FCB merger. During 2000, the remaining

Federal Land Bank Associations became direct lenders through

conversions to FLCAs. Included in the net changes through

January 1, 2001, were the reorganizations in which a majority of

the ACAs adopted the ACA Parent structure.

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Accountability Report FY

2000, McLean, VA, p. 33

Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statement - 2000

Jersey City, NJ, p. 27

Table 24— Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net

worth, and net income, 1996-20001

Year Assets Net worth Net income

Million dollars

1996 74,917 10,729 1,201

1997 78,144 11,694 1,267

1998 84,139 12,522 1,251

1999 88,692 13,319 1,233

2000 94,036 14,397 1,422

1 Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statement, 2000,

Federal Farm Credit Banks, Funding Corporation, Jersey City, NJ,

Feb. 23, 2001, p. 3.

Table 25— Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and

net income of CoBank, ACB, 1996-20001

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million dollars

1996 20,771 1,504 16,871 145

1997 21,207 1,600 16,821 164

1998 22,104 1,671 17,513 145

1999 24,089 1,665 18,398 121

2000 24,255 1,791 19,230 185

1 As of December 31 of each year. Source: CoBank, ACB, Creating

Customer Value in the 21st Century, 2000 Annual Report,

Englewood, CO.
42

Table 26— Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric1 cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 20002

State Cooperatives Members Revenue State Cooperatives Members Revenue

Number 1,000 Mil. dol. Number 1,000 Mil. dol.

Alabama 18 385 533

Alaska 8 54 143

Arizona 5 130 184

Arkansas 14 297 443

California 3 16 20

Colorado 17 305 423

Florida 10 450 576

Georgia 35 1,112 1,545

Idaho 4 31 39

Illinois 7 54 81

Indiana 22 251 319

Iowa 26 134 212

Kansas 29 154 254

Kentucky 24 682 1,062

Louisiana 10 306 421

Maine 3 14 10

Michigan 7 211 180

Minnesota 36 403 465

Mississippi 14 415 615

Missouri 32 460 513

Montana 21 95 104

Nebraska 2 9 20

New Mexico 16 185 253

New York 4 16 14

North Carolina 23 730 960

North Dakota 18 120 205

Ohio 20 298 356

Oklahoma 18 266 328

Oregon 8 54 81

Pennsylvania 10 163 179

South Carolina 19 540 804

South Dakota 28 129 173

Tennessee 20 837 1,211

Texas 36 598 805

Virginia 12 377 581

Washington 5 33 50

Wisconsin 16 136 135

Wyoming 9 60 133

Other States3 5 206 315

— — ——— ———

United States 614 10,716 14,744

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives – Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont, and West Virginia.
43

Table 27— Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit unions,1 by State, Dec. 31, 20002

State Cooperatives Members Savings State Cooperatives Members Savings

Number 1,000 Mil. dol. Number 1,000 Mil. dol.

Alabama 8 22 87

Arizona 4 19 52

Arkansas 3 9 35

California 50 800 4,637

Colorado 13 21 85

Florida 14 113 431

Georgia 10 36 102

Hawaii 13 104 640

Idaho 9 18 54

Illinois 11 66 303

Indiana 14 50 413

Iowa 6 7 20

Kansas 15 75 243

Kentucky 7 31 88

Louisiana 8 16 44

Maine 7 21 89

Maryland 5 61 292

Massachusetts 3 7 19

Michigan 23 385 1,387

Minnesota 35 218 1,145

Mississippi 4 13 36

Missouri 6 21 61

Montana 9 32 143

Nebraska 15 21 94

Nevada 5 46 316

New Jersey 5 9 16

New Mexico 3 46 196

New York 27 188 880

North Carolina 13 29 70

North Dakota 28 94 580

Ohio 12 36 73

Oklahoma 4 7 32

Oregon 9 65 228

Pennsylvania 19 33 88

Rhode Island 3 85 686

South Carolina 3 9 59

South Dakota 7 11 33

Tennessee 7 15 41

Texas 31 108 391

Utah 9 15 51

Vermont 3 22 54

Virginia 6 53 189

Washington 12 157 734

West Virginia 3 5 10

Wisconsin 61 614 2,685

Other States3 7 31 134 — — ——— ———

United States 569 3,845 18,043

1 Source: Credit Union National Association, Inc. (Includes federally chartered and State-chartered credit unions.) 

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives – Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Wyoming
44

Table 28— Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd improvement associations,1 by State, 

Dec. 31, 20002

Members Cows Members Cows

State (herds) tested State (herds) tested

Number 1,000 Number 1,000

Alabama 57 9.5

Arizona 61 85.5

Arkansas 76 7.6

California 1,118 893.3

Colorado 80 49.4

Connecticut 119 13.5

Delaware 28 4.0

Florida 109 70.0

Georgia 223 54.7

Hawaii 5 2.7

Idaho 223 97.2

Illinois 662 57.1

Indiana 511 45.6

Iowa 1,300 112.0

Kansas 312 38.2

Kentucky 296 27.4

Louisiana 135 19.1

Maine 161 15.8

Maryland 407 38.3

Massachusetts 118 11.0

Michigan 993 151.8

Minnesota 3,487 296.4

Mississippi 76 12.3

Missouri 518 48.2

Montana 54 7.9

Nebraska 263 33.9

Nevada 19 9.1

New Hampshire 108 10.6

New Jersey 82 7.5

New Mexico 28 42.9

New York 2,721 324.9

North Carolina 234 39.2

North Dakota 77 7.8

Ohio 1,100 102.7

Oklahoma 127 17.2

Oregon 274 55.7

Pennsylvania 4,604 327.2

Rhode Island 6 .4

South Carolina 82 15.8

South Dakota 285 30.6

Tennessee 281 34.6

Texas 304 129.1

Utah 230 48.1

Vermont 509 57.0

Virginia 538 71.3

Washington 263 75.5

West Virginia 61 6.4

Wisconsin 7,691 623.7

Wyoming 7 1.3 ————— --

United States3 31,196 4,282.2

1 Source: Agricultural Research Service, USDA. Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands with 173 members and 41,219 cows tested.
45

Appendix Tables
46

Appendix Table 1— Number of co-ops,1 and memberships,2 by major business activity and State,19993

State Hqts. in State Memberships State Hqts. in State Memberships

Continued

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 3 666

North Dakota 3 1,000

Other States 2 1,130 –— — — —

United States 8 2,796

COTTON4

California 3 1,537

Mississippi 3 2,786

Texas 4 24,081

Other States 5 15,152

Foreign5 - 198 –— –———

United States 15 43,754

DAIRY

California 8 1,215

Illinois 4 2,609

Iowa 8 4,717

Massachusetts 3 243

Minnesota 35 17,097

New Mexico 5 316

New York 67 6,433

North Dakota 5 1,108

Ohio 5 845

Oregon 3 794

Pennsylvania 19 2,612

Texas 4 1,913

Virginia 4 1,187

Wisconsin 30 25,266

Other States 21 24,320 –—– – – — — —

United States 221 90,675

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 4 752

Arkansas 3 98

California 67 18,652

Colorado 9 471

Florida 23 1,738

Hawaii 7 343

Idaho 4 2,002

Maine 5 544

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Massachusetts 3 312

Michigan 14 3,379

Minnesota 3 221

New Jersey 9 713

New York 9 975

North Carolina 4 72

North Dakota 3 214

Ohio 5 457

Oregon 11 1,101

Pennsylvania 6 555

Texas 3 247

Washington 19 5,367

Other States 20 2,572

Foreign5 - 91 –—– – — — —

United States 231 40,876

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED6

California 3 231

Colorado 15 9,091

Idaho 5 1,141

Illinois 110 94,841

Indiana 19 29,224

Iowa 106 87,897

Kansas 113 113,038

Michigan 6 2,758

Minnesota 94 52,651

Mississippi 5 2,711

Missouri 17 22,637

Montana 12 3,121

Nebraska 60 61,592

North Dakota 119 45,786

Ohio 41 28,899

Oklahoma 41 30,821

South Dakota 60 36,813

Texas 37 17,577

Washington 21 11,568

Other States 12 5,524 –—–– ––———

United States 896 657,921
47

Appendix Table 1— Number of co-ops,1 and memberships,2 by major business activity and State,19993 (continued)

State Hqts. in State Memberships State Hqts. in State Memberships

Continued

LIVESTOCK

Alabama 6 5,240

Hawaii 4 81

Idaho 3 4,355

Illinois 3 19,122

Indiana 3 2,081

Kentucky 4 868

Mississippi 4 4,225

Missouri 6 5,366

North Dakota 8 567

Ohio 4 7,425

Virginia 4 810

West Virginia 3 426

Wisconsin 5 60,617

Other States 24 25,871 – — –———––

United States 81 137,054

NUT7

California 7 6,764

Other States 11 36,985 – — –———––

United States 18 43,749

POULTRY8

California 3 82

Utah 3 65

Other States 9 28,954

Foreign5 - 89 –— –———

United States 15 29,190

RICE

California 5 1,789

Louisiana 3 186

Texas 6 918

Other States 3 8,905

Foreign5 - 1 –— –———

United States 17 11,799

SUGAR9

Idaho 7 2,051

Louisiana 9 583

Michigan 7 2,117

Minnesota 3 2,467

Montana 3 517

Wyoming 4 455

Other States 15 7,511

Foreign5 - 2 –— –———

United States 48 15,703

TOBACCO7

Kentucky 5 76,989

North Carolina 7 24,852

Tennessee 7 67,112

Virginia 3 739

Other States 3 334 – — –––———

United States 25 170,026

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho 4 159

Montana 19 861

North Dakota 4 412

Ohio 3 1,518

Pennsylvania 14 1,901

Utah 3 125

Virginia 8 590

West Virginia 10 899

Wyoming 3 183

Other States 16 8,710

Foreign5 - 82 –— –———

United States 84 15,440

MISCELLANEOUS10

Alaska 9 1,603

California 10 1,383

Florida 6 325

Georgia 3 80

Hawaii 6 562

Maine 15 924

Minnesota 5 11,069

Mississippi 3 186

North Dakota 6 2,322

Washington 5 707

Other States 22 4,695 ––— – — — —

United States 90 23,856

TOTAL MARKETING

Alabama 10 14,498

Alaska 9 1,815

Arizona 5 2,191

Arkansas 11 12,460

California 113 34,903

Colorado 27 12,936

Florida 32 5,696

Georgia 8 23,931

Hawaii 21 1,300

Idaho 25 10,249

Illinois 119 116,926

Indiana 23 32,774

Iowa 121 99,245
48

Appendix Table 1— Number of co-ops1, and memberships,2 by major business activity and State,19993 (continued)

State Hqts. in State Memberships State Hqts. in State Memberships

Continued

TOTAL MARKETING (Continued)

Kansas 113 116,201

Kentucky 12 80,984

Louisiana 17 3,946

Maine 22 1,878

Maryland 4 789

Massachusetts 8 846

Michigan 34 13,636

Minnesota 143 85,225

Mississippi 18 11,782

Missouri 25 32,734

Montana 38 5,016

Nebraska 68 65,505

New Jersey 13 2,647

New Mexico 5 1,259

New York 82 9,630

North Carolina 19 27,635

North Dakota 151 55,582

Ohio 59 39,183

Oklahoma 45 41,832

Oregon 20 5,348

Pennsylvania 42 5,167

South Carolina 4 3,040

South Dakota 62 41,333

Tennessee 8 69,266

Texas 61 50,694

Utah 10 2,759

Vermont 5 1,614

Virginia 21 26,517

Washington 50 19,262

West Virginia 14 1,530

Wisconsin 40 87,382

Wyoming 7 1,016

Other States 5 2,214

Foreign5 - 463 –––— ––––———

United States 1,749 1,282,839

FARM SUPPLY

Alabama 48 39,208

Arkansas 36 42,468

California 19 14,686

Colorado 19 19,677

Florida 6 8,823

Georgia 5 2,377

Idaho 14 8,334

Illinois 66 78,077

Indiana 30 42,532

Iowa 67 75,918

Kansas 22 16,961

FARM SUPPLY (Continued)

Kentucky 28 147,137

Louisiana 19 6,529

Maryland 15 70,647

Massachusetts 5 4,371

Michigan 23 11,344

Minnesota 142 96,651

Mississippi 37 86,153

Missouri 45 109,267

Montana 35 23,704

Nebraska 39 26,848

New Jersey 3 4,636

New York 11 1,805

North Dakota 114 57,853

Ohio 20 13,225

Oklahoma 28 18,633

Oregon 14 19,288

Pennsylvania 7 28,262

South Dakota 74 60,713

Tennessee 70 68,265

Texas 48 33,106

Utah 6 5,642

Virginia 35 142,171

Washington 30 11,919

West Virginia 13 73,498

Wisconsin 102 97,009

Wyoming 6 4,129

Other States 12 155,185

Foreign5 - 4,326 –—–– ––––———

United States 1,313 1,731,377

SERVICE11

Alabama 5 180

Arizona 4 855

Arkansas 6 1,110

California 49 4,015

Georgia 3 365

Hawaii 5 107

Illinois 4 255

Louisiana 12 1,819

Michigan 5 4,808

Minnesota 20 5,026

Mississippi 21 7,304

New Mexico 4 1,504

New York 5 6,335

North Carolina 5 108

North Dakota 3 5,000

Ohio 4 3,562

Oklahoma 21 8,146
49

Appendix Table 1— Number of co-ops,1 and memberships,2 by major business activity and State,19993 (continued)

State Hqts. in State Memberships State Hqts. in State Memberships

SERVICE11 (Continued)

Pennsylvania 7 11,579

Texas 142 34,264

Virginia 3 5,620

Washington 4 2,722

Wisconsin 49 21,299

Other States 23 33,124 ––— – – — — —

United States 404 159,107

TOTAL

Alabama 63 53,886

Alaska 9 1,815

Arizona 9 3,376

Arkansas 53 56,038

California 181 53,604

Colorado 47 32,613

Connecticut 4 2,728

Delaware 3 43,422

Florida 39 26,050

Georgia 16 26,673

Hawaii 28 2,768

Idaho 40 18,583

Illinois 189 195,258

Indiana 55 75,409

Iowa 189 180,168

Kansas 137 133,269

Kentucky 41 231,862

Louisiana 48 12,294

Maine 24 8,348

Maryland 21 71,953

Massachusetts 13 5,551

Michigan 62 29,788

Minnesota 305 186,902

Mississippi 76 105,239

Missouri 71 142,771

Montana 73 28,720

Nebraska 110 92,353

New Jersey 18 7,347

New Mexico 10 2,974

New York 98 17,770

North Carolina 26 98,404

North Dakota 268 118,435

TOTAL (Continued)

Ohio 83 55,970

Oklahoma 94 68,611

Oregon 35 24,638

Pennsylvania 56 45,008

South Carolina 6 3,458

South Dakota 136 107,046

Tennessee 79 139,124

Texas 251 118,064

Utah 17 10,013

Vermont 5 5,981

Virginia 59 174,308

Washington 84 33,903

West Virginia 27 75,083

Wisconsin 191 205,690

Wyoming 13 5,145

Other States 4 30,121

Foreign5 --- 4,789 –—––– ––––———

United States 3,466 3,173,323

1 Includes centralized and federated cooperatives and those with

mixed organizational structures.

2 Includes farmer-members (entitled to vote for directors), but not

nonvoting patrons. (Duplication in these membership figures

occurs because many farmers belong to more than one

cooperative.) Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that

ended in 1999. States listed are those with more than two

cooperatives or where disclosure is not a problem.

4 Cotton ginning cooperatives are included as service

cooperatives.

5 Includes memberships located in other countries.

6 Excludes soybean meal and oil.

7 Membership fluctuates annually and is affected by the extent to

which producers participate in price stabilization programs.

8 Includes eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

9 Includes sugar, sugarcane, sugar beets, honey, maple syrup,

molasses, and sorghum. 10 Includes forest products, hay, hops, nursery stock, coffee, and

other farm products not separately classified. 11 Cooperatives providing services such as cotton ginning,

livestock shipping, storing, grinding, drying, and artificial

insemination.
50

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

PRODUCTS MARKETED:

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 28,880 28,880

North Dakota 34,220 34,220

Other States 111,811 111,811 ————— —————

United States 174,910 174,910

COTTON

California 338,669 301,339

Mississippi 344,347 335,916

Texas 643,255 603,575

Other States 848,669 842,516

Foreign3 164 90 ————— —————

United States 2,175,104 2,083,436

DAIRY

California 2,391,308 2,227,535

Illinois 1,556,857 1,332,245

Iowa 1,479,705 1,339,633

Massachusetts 61,851 59,296

Minnesota 3,538,065 3,077,872

New Mexico 445,266 445,261

New York 1,919,806 1,595,244

North Dakota 299,275 269,538

Ohio 171,496 167,011

Oregon 368,274 365,447

Pennsylvania 417,285 384,182

Texas 778,184 778,134

Virginia 384,041 351,796

Wisconsin 6,016,152 5,375,842

Other States 8,550,276 8,155,556

Foreign3 83,300 74,554 ————— —————

United States 28,461,141 25,999,144

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 329,596 269,241

Arkansas 902 902

California 3,474,530 3,148,643

Colorado 20,239 20,239

Florida 1,166,016 1,061,925

Hawaii 12,626 12,626

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Idaho 325,974 325,974

Maine 7,608 7,608

Massachusetts 504,928 504,928

Michigan 754,320 608,765

Minnesota 1,680 1,680

New Jersey 192,405 192,405

New York 596,669 492,360

North Carolina 31,567 30,411

North Dakota 13,280 13,280

Ohio 5,797 5,797

Oregon 441,857 437,449

Pennsylvania 360,796 345,989

Texas 49,526 49,526

Washington 1,069,619 1,052,079

Other States 679,937 640,424

Foreign3 63,306 63,306 ————— —————

United States 10,103,179 9,285,557

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED

California 17,886 17,886

Colorado 245,902 219,298

Idaho 74,986 49,333

Illinois 1,937,955 1,796,586

Indiana 540,602 520,887

Iowa 3,246,310 2,706,494

Kansas 2,428,666 1,863,224

Michigan 93,916 87,265

Minnesota 3,028,311 2,162,165

Mississippi 99,614 97,834

Missouri 900,105 539,806

Montana 294,975 175,777

Nebraska 2,382,799 1,796,787

North Dakota 1,531,751 1,163,718

Ohio 793,111 770,065

Oklahoma 472,981 330,938

South Dakota 1,156,173 953,379

Texas 689,855 436,886

Washington 487,736 430,194

Other States 1,113,111 880,156

Foreign3 212,139 114,372 —————— ——————

United States 21,748,886 17,113,050
51

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

LIVESTOCK

Alabama 58,490 58,490

Hawaii 17,490 17,490

Idaho 81,420 81,420

Illinois 473,529 473,438

Indiana 115,107 115,098

Kentucky 117,388 117,388

Mississippi 52,320 52,320

Missouri 890,096 890,096

North Dakota 95,529 95,529

Ohio 460,160 460,160

Virginia 17,666 17,666

West Virginia 3,245 3,245

Wisconsin 526,085 526,077

Other States 4,462,191 4,410,063

Foreign3 376 376 ————— —————

United States 7,371,091 7,318,854

NUTS

California 602,102 602,102

Other States 297,008 297,008

———— ————

United States 899,111 899,111

POULTRY4

California 37,256 37,256

Utah 114,732 114,732

Other States 2,073,892 2,073,892

————— —————

United States 2,225,880 2,225,880

RICE

California 217,711 217,711

Louisiana 21,179 21,179

Texas 60,682 60,682

Other States 612,160 612,160

———— ————

United States 911,732 911,732

SUGAR

Idaho 474,175 474,175

Louisiana 353,946 202,547

Michigan 103,740 103,740

Minnesota 728,081 728,081

Montana 61,962 61,962

Wyoming 41,178 41,178

Other States 922,995 922,995

Foreign3 5,314 5,314 ————— —————

United States 2,691,391 2,539,992

TOBACCO

Kentucky 133,615 133,615

North Carolina 109,145 109,145

Tennessee 27,550 27,550

Virginia 4,559 4,559

Other States 3,554 3,554 ———— ————

United States 278,422 278,422

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho 11 11

Montana 224 224

North Dakota 10 10

Ohio 678 235

Pennsylvania 112 112

Utah 692 692

Virginia 26 26

West Virginia 135 135

Wyoming 157 157

Other States 6,989 4,662

Foreign3 87 87 - ——— --———

United States 9,121 6,350

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING5

Alaska 14,119 14,119

California 91,664 91,664

Florida 18,231 18,231

Georgia 6,050 6,050

Hawaii 26,572 26,572

Maine 31,859 31,859

Minnesota 920,260 810,166
52

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING5 (Continued)

Mississippi 137,475 120,447

North Dakota 197,694 197,694

Washington 87,543 74,133

Other States 1,898,039 1,728,164

Foreign3 26,813 26,402 ————— —————

United States 3,456,319 3,145,501

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED

Alabama 706,811 706,785

Alaska 14,495 14,495

Arizona 949,078 883,380

Arkansas 1,206,982 1,194,894

California 7,328,083 6,799,736

Colorado 497,514 470,911

Florida 2,114,760 1,968,093

Georgia 1,387,585 1,340,123

Hawaii 95,283 92,077

Idaho 1,134,005 1,108,352

Illinois 4,028,635 3,654,165

Indiana 1,108,416 1,008,123

Iowa 6,073,909 5,354,438

Kansas 4,093,908 3,528,022

Kentucky 366,517 364,617

Louisiana 651,920 438,089

Maine 98,113 95,839

Maryland 194,035 169,140

Massachusetts 570,759 568,203

Michigan 1,707,249 1,539,374

Minnesota 8,571,499 7,082,996

Mississippi 710,559 682,767

Missouri 4,003,112 3,614,577

Montana 428,821 309,623

Nebraska 3,863,529 3,266,602

New Jersey 222,141 221,001

New Mexico 536,011 535,769

New York 2,872,867 2,441,145

North Carolina 579,016 536,358

North Dakota 2,593,092 2,195,322

Ohio 1,677,851 1,622,999

Oklahoma 1,152,622 1,007,188

Oregon 1,281,292 1,175,412

Pennsylvania 878,293 830,383

South Carolina 112,160 108,589

South Dakota 1,850,348 1,558,521

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED (Continued)

Tennessee 151,720 138,347

Texas 2,961,504 2,615,597

Utah 210,790 195,101

Vermont 416,484 408,176

Virginia 469,349 437,104

Washington 2,701,409 2,610,720

West Virginia 42,768 40,134

Wisconsin 7,156,158 6,481,057

Wyoming 63,376 62,901

Other States 279,961 220,195

Foreign3 391,500 284,501 ————— —————

United States 80,506,288 71,981,941

FARM SUPPLIES PROVIDED:

CROP PROTECTANTS

Alabama 76,511 28,434

Arkansas 99,802 83,236

California 28,938 28,755

Colorado 44,013 41,232

Florida 15,316 11,805

Georgia 193,722 188,963

Idaho 28,636 20,144

Illinois 476,224 301,045

Indiana 168,290 160,106

Iowa 481,081 380,386

Kansas 133,663 118,893

Kentucky 59,628 53,475

Louisiana 26,174 22,300

Maryland 16,928 15,933

Massachusetts 2,339 2,339

Michigan 30,681 29,834

Minnesota 323,664 263,001

Mississippi 33,150 28,498

Missouri 112,255 85,933

Montana 40,086 31,603

Nebraska 212,021 177,112

New Jersey 4,801 4,801

New York 35,419 34,507

North Dakota 147,742 120,103

Ohio 100,210 100,004

Oklahoma 24,780 23,688

Oregon 54,397 47,509

Pennsylvania 31,100 31,100

South Dakota 157,591 131,956
53

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

CROP PROTECTANTS (Continued)

Tennessee 120,347 65,042

Texas 63,024 60,612

Utah 11,213 11,035

Virginia 29,353 24,809

Washington 72,122 60,674

West Virginia 884 884

Wisconsin 170,560 131,859

Wyoming 8,874 8,726

Other States 94,179 87,099

Foreign3 26,759 840 ––––——— ––––———

United States 3,756,479 3,018,275

FEED

Alabama 263,928 228,724

Arkansas 103,677 79,012

California 157,821 107,580

Colorado 55,732 41,067

Florida 90,307 88,484

Georgia 285,619 281,326

Idaho 35,826 10,517

Illinois 250,515 188,676

Indiana 101,665 85,891

Iowa 960,511 650,494

Kansas 226,131 167,029

Kentucky 57,589 51,965

Louisiana 41,692 27,049

Maryland 41,252 38,556

Massachusetts 18,707 18,707

Michigan 63,746 61,145

Minnesota 604,214 420,152

Mississippi 82,863 53,268

Missouri 214,496 158,005

Montana 18,857 18,450

Nebraska 234,824 158,613

New Jersey 14,588 14,469

New York 129,218 121,263

North Dakota 56,216 44,431

Ohio 120,657 119,631

Oklahoma 86,334 64,833

Oregon 126,407 37,526

Pennsylvania 106,980 106,257

South Dakota 218,976 179,752

Tennessee 185,282 111,062

Texas 168,508 121,695

Utah 74,524 70,754

FEED (Continued)

Virginia 122,279 113,706

Washington 114,811 39,955

West Virginia 18,851 17,202

Wisconsin 462,008 289,175

Wyoming 6,888 6,170

Other States 324,854 266,094

Foreign3 136,482 66,912 ––––——— ––––———

United States 6,383,838 4,725,594

FERTILIZER

Alabama 106,041 65,268

Arkansas 110,609 87,431

California 105,663 94,500

Colorado 113,784 93,730

Florida 132,638 44,237

Georgia 69,799 58,946

Idaho 61,685 40,416

Illinois 742,559 415,740

Indiana 263,891 209,884

Iowa 790,378 500,807

Kansas 354,083 285,234

Kentucky 130,979 105,667

Louisiana 28,041 24,233

Maryland 27,252 25,638

Massachusetts 3,360 3,360

Michigan 55,056 50,439

Minnesota 609,418 358,865

Mississippi 57,198 47,900

Missouri 323,851 225,478

Montana 92,778 62,926

Nebraska 407,408 301,907

New Jersey 6,422 6,422

New York 60,900 54,112

North Dakota 354,210 203,830

Ohio 203,347 140,411

Oklahoma 136,871 95,680

Oregon 114,014 90,085

Pennsylvania 44,002 43,857

South Dakota 254,979 167,937

Tennessee 218,588 105,624

Texas 226,566 143,789

Utah 28,442 26,883

Virginia 78,629 74,311

Washington 95,257 76,540

West Virginia 11,553 9,359
54

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

FERTILIZER (C ontinued)

Wisconsin 284,719 193,122

Wyoming 26,225 21,814

Other States 156,703 140,832

Foreign3 363,930 61,392 - ———— - - ————

United States 7,251,827 4,758,603

PETROLEUM

Alabama 5,394 4,665

Arkansas 64,938 57,075

California 6,049 4,851

Colorado 240,186 179,988

Florida 6,965 6,790

Georgia 55,256 43,603

Idaho 112,241 95,430

Illinois 508,820 417,297

Indiana 373,357 279,410

Iowa 734,837 522,885

Kansas 899,544 321,019

Kentucky 134,477 85,481

Louisiana 9,364 8,544

Maryland 56,698 51,487

Massachusetts 11,675 11,675

Michigan 91,825 80,083

Minnesota 712,220 543,442

Mississippi 18,336 16,303

Missouri 429,060 391,454

Montana 207,832 179,308

Nebraska 471,912 376,582

New Jersey 26,389 26,389

New York 186,910 182,510

North Dakota 336,612 288,090

Ohio 110,336 97,568

Oklahoma 150,965 109,539

Oregon 168,271 151,795

Pennsylvania 168,729 166,927

South Dakota 273,185 239,992

Tennessee 137,210 98,379

Texas 146,197 102,218

Utah 57,289 47,187

Virginia 166,058 144,544

Washington 203,649 179,684

West Virginia 6,378 6,378

PETROLEUM (C ontinued)

Wisconsin 551,439 484,625

Wyoming 114,149 104,007

Other States 95,742 91,813

Foreign3 91,774 60,790 ————— —————

United States 8,142,266 6,259,807

SEED

Alabama 66,868 15,143

Arkansas 28,446 28,253

California 17,792 17,792

Colorado 4,090 4,089

Florida 19,855 15,910

Georgia 6,367 5,856

Idaho 20,703 6,181

Illinois 111,449 67,215

Indiana 35,995 26,032

Iowa 103,810 62,304

Kansas 14,401 14,401

Kentucky 30,616 28,830

Louisiana 9,498 9,370

Maryland 9,878 9,240

Massachusetts 1,100 1,100

Michigan 9,404 9,404

Minnesota 64,306 48,170

Mississippi 18,776 18,521

Missouri 91,694 35,630

Montana 10,006 6,779

Nebraska 20,752 15,912

New Jersey 2,121 2,121

New York 17,128 17,128

North Dakota 33,565 28,723

Ohio 29,330 29,330

Oklahoma 4,777 4,777

Oregon 12,014 12,014

Pennsylvania 14,339 14,339

South Dakota 26,959 21,796

Tennessee 68,588 37,777

Texas 16,577 16,577

Utah 3,201 3,144

Virginia 26,501 25,097

Washington 25,636 24,023

West Virginia 4,267 4,011
55

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

SEED (Continued)

Wisconsin 52,722 33,778

Wyoming 627 624

Other States 32,229 30,182

Foreign3 5,607 552 ————— ————

United States 1,071,992 752,122

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES6

Alabama 116,632 103,322

Arkansas 61,749 58,877

California 99,876 76,767

Colorado 69,273 59,225

Florida 170,667 166,225

Georgia 87,841 81,378

Idaho 40,883 38,234

Illinois 137,753 97,059

Indiana 80,034 68,397

Iowa 243,751 183,790

Kansas 114,718 86,875

Kentucky 84,764 73,832

Louisiana 16,753 15,801

Maryland 39,641 36,132

Massachusetts 13,266 13,222

Michigan 106,022 102,041

Minnesota 262,306 222,648

Mississippi 53,583 51,359

Missouri 119,371 75,119

Montana 72,820 69,963

Nebraska 125,668 108,379

New Jersey 35,849 34,936

New York 156,367 152,157

North Dakota 116,651 109,274

Ohio 88,828 82,051

Oklahoma 43,323 35,065

Oregon 163,777 159,685

Pennsylvania 149,560 149,152

South Dakota 105,497 94,922

Tennessee 258,295 145,399

Texas 96,177 83,168

Utah 47,411 44,381

Virginia 169,526 145,370

Washington 158,201 127,739

West Virginia 9,904 9,904

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES6 (Continued)

Wisconsin 249,551 242,808

Wyoming 54,225 53,265

Other States 207,871 189,785

Foreign3 44,437 15,176 ————–– ————––

United States 4,272,821 3,662,883

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES

Alabama 635,375 445,556

Arkansas 469,222 393,884

California 416,139 330,245

Colorado 527,078 419,331

Florida 435,748 333,451

Georgia 698,605 660,072

Idaho 299,975 210,921

Illinois 2,227,319 1,487,032

Indiana 1,023,231 829,719

Iowa 3,314,367 2,300,666

Kansas 1,742,539 993,451

Kentucky 498,052 399,250

Louisiana 131,522 107,296

Maryland 191,650 176,986

Massachusetts 50,447 50,402

Michigan 356,735 332,947

Minnesota 2,576,129 1,856,279

Mississippi 263,907 215,849

Missouri 1,290,727 971,618

Montana 442,381 369,030

Nebraska 1,472,585 1,138,503

New Jersey 90,169 89,137

New York 585,942 561,676

North Dakota 1,044,995 794,451

Ohio 652,709 568,996

Oklahoma 447,050 333,582

Oregon 638,881 498,615

Pennsylvania 514,709 511,630

South Dakota 1,037,186 836,355

Tennessee 988,311 563,283

Texas 717,048 528,060

Utah 222,080 203,383

Virginia 592,347 527,837

Washington 669,676 508,614
56

Appendix Table 2— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volume,1 by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

—————–––––————————— ————–––––———————--——— State

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

See footnotes next page

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES (Continued)

West Virginia 51,837 47,739

Wisconsin 1,770,999 1,375,366

Wyoming 210,987 194,606

Other States 911,577 805,806

Foreign3 668,988 205,662 ————— —————

United States 30,879,223 23,177,285

SERVICES PROVIDED:7

Alabama 17,252 17,252

Arizona 23,858 23,858

Arkansas 54,421 54,421

California 693,568 693,568

Georgia 6,337 6,337

Hawaii 8,248 8,248

Illinois 174,840 174,840

Louisiana 18,807 18,807

Michigan 52,753 52,753

Minnesota 366,614 366,614

Mississippi 50,809 50,809

New Mexico 3,467 3,467

New York 232,470 232,470

North Carolina 24,438 24,438

North Dakota 51,565 51,565

Ohio 85,309 85,309

Oklahoma 45,725 45,725

Pennsylvania 11,027 11,027

Texas 257,212 257,212

Virginia 31,746 31,746

Washington 205,828 205,828

Wisconsin 162,042 162,042

Other States 1,326,757 1,326,757

————— —————

United States 3,905,094 3,905,094

TOTAL:

Alabama 1,359,438 1,169,594

Alaska 92,867 76,496

Arizona 1,002,570 927,983

Arkansas 1,730,624 1,643,198

California 8,437,790 7,823,548

Colorado 1,063,167 928,817

Connecticut 228,238 175,897

Delaware 98,885 89,741

Florida 2,668,142 2,419,178

Georgia 2,092,527 2,006,532

TOTAL: (Continued)

Hawaii 122,525 103,807

Idaho 1,446,412 1,331,705

Illinois 6,430,795 5,316,036

Indiana 2,225,018 1,931,213

Iowa 9,665,341 7,932,170

Kansas 5,973,848 4,658,873

Kentucky 873,968 773,265

Louisiana 802,249 564,193

Maine 205,558 203,284

Maryland 391,835 352,277

Massachusetts 630,330 627,730

Michigan 2,116,737 1,925,074

Minnesota 11,514,242 9,305,888

Mississippi 1,025,276 949,425

Missouri 5,568,086 4,860,441

Montana 878,274 685,725

Nebraska 5,474,400 4,543,391

New Jersey 315,157 312,984

New Mexico 566,459 554,906

New York 3,691,278 3,235,290

North Carolina 908,477 825,510

North Dakota 3,689,653 3,041,338

Ohio 2,415,868 2,277,303

Oklahoma 1,645,397 1,386,496

Oregon 1,962,678 1,716,532

Pennsylvania 1,404,029 1,353,040

South Carolina 255,424 246,516

South Dakota 2,943,710 2,451,052

Tennessee 1,168,383 729,982

Texas 3,935,764 3,400,868

Utah 495,847 461,461

Vermont 480,544 471,561

Virginia 1,093,442 996,687

Washington 3,576,913 3,325,162

West Virginia 95,435 88,703

Wisconsin 9,089,199 8,018,466

Wyoming 275,669 258,813

Other States 101,652 96,004

Foreign3 1,060,487 490,163 ————— —————

U.S. 115,290,605 99,064,320
57

Appendix Table 2

1 Data covering operations of cooperatives whose business years ended in calendar 1999. Includes independent local cooperatives,

federations, centralized regionals, and those with mixed organizational structures. Products marketed were allocated to the States in which

they were originated and farm supply sales were allocated to the States in which they were sold; service volume and other income were

allocated to the States of origin when services related to farm products marketed or to the State of destination when related to farm supplies

sold.

2 Gross business volume includes sales between cooperatives while net business volume excludes such sales. States listed had more than

two cooperatives handling the commodity or farm supply or where disclosure was not a problem. Totals may not add due to rounding. 3 Includes value of farm products imported, farm supplies exported, services related to imported farm products or exported farm supplies,

sales to domestic military installations, or sales of farm products not received directly from member-patrons.

4 Includes eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

5 Includes forest products, hay, hops, nursery stock, fish, coffee, seed marketed for growers, and other farm products not separately classified.

Also includes manufactured food products and resale items marketed by cooperatives.

6 Includes building supplies, containers and packaging supplies, farm machinery and equipment, animal health products, automotive supplies,

food, hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified. 7 Income from services related to marketing and purchasing activities not included in the volumes reported for these activities.
58

Appendix Figures
59

Appendix Figure 1— Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1976-2000

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

10

1976 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000

1 Total includes value of related services and other income.

Billion dollars

Total1

Marketing

Farm Supply

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Appendix Figure 2— Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1976-2000

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1976 78 82 81 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000

1 Includes inter-cooperative business. 2 Excludes inter-cooperative business.

Billion dollars

Gross1

Net2

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
60

Appendix Figure 3— U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1976-2000

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1976 78 82 81 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000

1 Memberships were higher than farm numbers because many farmers belonged to more than one cooperative.

Million

Memberships1

Farms

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Appendix Figure 4— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 2000

Grain & Oilseed 24.7%

Dairy 6.2%

Livestock & Poultry 2.8%

Fruit & Vegetable 6.9%

Other Marketing1 8.9%

Percentage based on 3,346 cooperatives.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, wool and mohair, nuts, rice, sugar, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Cotton 0.4%

Service 11.9%

Farm Supply 38.2%
61

Appendix Figure 5— Distribution of Total Net Income, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

R ice

Cotton

Fruit & Vegetable

Service

Other co-op1

Grain & Oilseed 

Farm Supply 

Dairy 

Percentage based on net income of $1.28 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, rice, sugar, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Appendix Figure 6— Distribution of Total Losses, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Cotton

Service

Dairy

Other marketing1

Sugar

Grain & Oilseed 

Fruit & Vegetable

Farm Supply

Livestock & poultry 

Percentage based on losses of $353.9 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, rice, sugar, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
62

Appendix Figure 7— Distribution of Total Net Worth, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Grain & Oilseed 16.8%

Dairy 15.2%

Livestock & Poultry 7.0%

Fruit & Vegetable 7.1%

Cotton 1.9%

Sugar 4.7%

Percentage based on total net worth of $20.3 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Rice 1.3%

Service 2.6%

Farm Supply 35.0%

Other marketing1 8.4%

Appendix Figure 8— Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Grain & Oilseed 11.5%

Rice 1.5%

Dairy 13.2%

Sugar 2.6%

Fruit & Vegetable 14.2%

Livestock & Poultry 19.6%

Percentage based on 176,665 full-time employees.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Cotton 1.0%

Service 2.4%

Farm Supply 29.0%

Other Marketing1 5.0%
63

Appendix Figure 9— Assets Per Full-Time Employee, by Type of Cooperative, 2000

Livestock & Poultry

Rice

Service

Fruit & Vegetable

Farm Supply

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Other Marketing1

Sugar

Cotton

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Thousand dollars

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Appendix Figure 10— Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage Refunds Received from Other

Cooperatives1 1991-2000

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1991 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000

1 Includes other farmer cooperatives, CoBank, and Banks for Cooperatives.

Billion dollars

Investments

Refunds

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Business–Cooperative Service

Stop 3250

Washington, D.C. 20250-3250

Rural Business–Cooperative Service (RBS) provides research,

management, and educational assistance to cooperatives to

strengthen the economic position of farmers and other rural

residents. It works directly with cooperative leaders and

Federal and State agencies to improve organization,

leadership, and operation of cooperatives and to give guidance

to further development.

The cooperative segment of RBS (1) helps farmers and other

rural residents develop cooperatives to obtain supplies and

services at lower cost and to get better prices for products they

sell; (2) advises rural residents on developing existing

resources through cooperative action to enhance rural living;

(3) helps cooperatives improve services and operating

efficiency; (4) informs members, directors, employees, and the

public on how cooperatives work and benefit their members

and their communities; and (5) encourages international

cooperative programs. RBS also publishes research and

educational materials and issues Rural Cooperatives magazine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits

discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of

race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability,

political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family

status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for

communication of program information (braille, large print,

audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at

(202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director,

Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or

call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal

opportunity provider and employer.