United States

Department of

Agriculture

Farmer Cooperative

Service Report 62 Statistics, 2002
Abstract A survey of 3,140 U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives ending their business year during

calendar year 2002 showed a net business volume of $96.8 billion with a net income of

$1.2 billion. These cooperatives had assets totaling $47 billion, about $28 billion of liabilities, and almost $20 billion in equity. Cooperatives continued to be a major employer in rural areas, with 166,000 full-time workers. Business volume by commodity is

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

number of employees are classified according to whether the business is a marketing,

farm supply, or service cooperative. 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.

Key words: cooperatives, statistics, business volume, employees, memberships, balance sheet, net income, financial ratios.

FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2002

Celestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille, 

Jacqueline E. Penn, and E. Eldon Eversull

Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Development,

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.,

STOP 3256, 

Washington, DC 20250-3256, 

Service Report 62

June 2004

On the cover: This year's report features three photos that won awards in 2003 from

the Cooperative Communicators Association(CCA), which sponsors an annual competition to encourage innovative cooperative communications. Clockwise from the upper

left: Photo by Glen Liford, courtesy Tennessee Farmers Cooperative; Photo by David

Lundquist, courtesy CHS/ Land O' Lakes; Photo by Sheryl Meshke, courtesy AMPI.
Preface Farmer cooperative statistics are collected annually to provide information on the

progress and trends among the Nation’s farmer-owned cooperatives. These statistics

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

Acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating farmer cooperative statistics are 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 and part-time and seasonal

employees of farmer cooperatives for business years ending in calendar year 2002.

Cooperatives are classified by principal product marketed and major function. Fishery

and ethanol cooperatives are included as "other product marketing" cooperatives. Both

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

Statistics for 2002 were compiled only on a national basis. State data are collected

every other year (State data for 2001 can be found at this address at our Web site:

www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/sr61.pdf ).

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’ 2002 business year.

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

other cooperatives to maintain confidentiality.

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

87.6 percent of the total gross sales of farmer cooperatives in 2002.

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

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

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

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

II--2002 STATISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Number of Cooperatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Labor Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Business Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Business Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Net Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Selected Financial Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Other Service Cooperatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

TABLES

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

activity, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Table 2–Number of cooperatives, by major function and State, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Table 3–Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm supply

cooperatives, 1996-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 4–Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 2002-1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Table 5–Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer 

cooperatives, by type of cooperative, 2002-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Table 6–Total sales per dollar of total labor expense and average total 

labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type and 

size, 2002-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

ii
Contents Table 7–Total sales per dollar of total labor expense and average total labor expense 

for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives reporting, by region

and size, 2001-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Table 8–Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume,

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 9–Cooperatives' gross and net business volumes by commodity, 2002 . . . . 19

Table 10–Farmer cooperatives' net income, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Table 11–Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 12–Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 2002 . . . . . . . . . 25

Table 13–Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

FIGURES

Figure 1–Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 2–Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 3–Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 4–Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . 9

Figure 5–Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives, by Size, 2002 . . . . . . 9

Figure 6–Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 7–Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 8–Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross Business 

Volume, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 9–Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of

Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 10–Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees,

by Type of Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 11–Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume,

by Size, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 12–Cooperatives' Net Business Volume, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Figure 13–Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives,

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

iii
Contents Figure 14–Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives,

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Figure 15–Cooperatives' Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . 21

Figure 16–Cooperatives' Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1993-2002 . . . . . . 22

Figure 17–Cooperatives' Net Income, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Figure 18–Net Income or Loss, by Type of Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Figure 19–Cooperatives' Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . 25

Figure 20–Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth, by Type

of Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

APPENDIX TABLES

Appendix Table 1–Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1978-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Appendix Table 2–Cooperatives' Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1978-2002 . . 32

Appendix Table 3–U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative 

Memberships, 1978-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Appendix Table 4–Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 2002 . . . . . . . . . 34

Appendix Table 5–Net Income of Farmer Cooperatives, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Appendix Table 6–Combined Balance Sheet Data for Farmer Cooperatives,

1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Appendix Table 7–Farm Credit Association Structure, September 30, 2002 . . . . . 36

Appendix Table 8–Farm Credit System’s Combined Assets, Net Worth, and Net

Income, 1998-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Appendix Table 9–Combined Assets, Net Worth, Net Loans, and Net Income of

CoBank, ACB, 1998-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Appendix Table 10–Number, Participation, and Level of Activity of Rural Electric

Cooperatives, by State, December 31, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Appendix Table 11–Number, Participation, and Level of Activity of Rural 

Credit Unions by State, December 31, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Appendix Table 12–Number, Participation, and Level of Activity of Dairy Herd

Improvement Associations, by State, December 31, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

iv
Contents APPENDIX FIGURES

Appendix Figure 1–Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 2002 . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix Figure 2–U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships,

1978-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix Figure 3–Assets Per Full-Time Employee, by Type of Cooperative,

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Appendix Figure 4–Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees, by Type of

Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Appendix Figure 5–Cooperatives' Gross and Net Business 

Volumes, 1978-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Appendix Figure 6–Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1978-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Appendix Figure 7–Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage Refunds

Received From Other Cooperatives, 1993-2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Appendix Figure 8–Total Net Income or Loss, by Type of Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . 45

Appendix Figure 9–Distribution of Total Losses, by Type of Cooperative, 2002 . . . 46

Appendix Figure 10–Distribution of Total Net Worth, by Type of 

Cooperative, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

v
Highlights There are 3,140 U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives according to the 2002 survey

of marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives by USDA’s Rural

Business-Cooperative Service (RBS). Cooperatives had a gross business volume of

$111.6 billion and a net business volume of $96.8 billion. These cooperatives had a net

income of $1.2 billion, assets totaling $47 billion, about $28 billion of liabilities, and

almost $20 billion in equity. They continued to be a major employer in rural areas with

166,000 full-time workers and 54,000 part-time and seasonal workers.

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

cooperatives was $111.6 billion; net business (excludes inter-cooperative business) was $96.8 billion.

● Total net income was $1.21 billion, which includes inter-cooperative dividends

and refunds of $362.4 million.

● Grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,714 branches.

● Cooperative memberships were 2,793,550, down 7.9 percent from 3,033,907

in 2001.

● Cooperatives employed 166,087 full-time and 54,280 part-time and seasonal

employees.

● Gross value of farm products marketed by cooperatives was $76.6 billion, with

a net value (after eliminating duplication from inter-cooperative business) of

$69.7 billion.

● Gross value of farm supplies handled by farmer cooperatives was $31.5 billion,

with a net value of $23.7 billion.

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

supplies, plus other income totaled $3.4 billion.

● Farmer cooperatives had $47.5 billion in combined assets. Net assets, after

eliminating inter-cooperative investments, was $41.9 billion. This included

investments in CoBank.

● Total liabilities totaled $27.9 billion.

● Net worth, or member and patron equity, was $19.6 billion. Member and patron

equity financed 41.3 percent of total assets.

vi
Highlights 2002 HIGHLIGHTS

2002 2001 Change

Number of cooperatives 3,140 3,229 -89

Memberships 2,793,550 3,033,907 -240,357

Gross business volume (million $) 111,553 123,566 -12,013

Net business volume (million $) 96,750 103,269 -6,519

Net income (million $) 1,210 1,357 -147

Total assets (million $) 47,486 48,465 -979

Net worth (million $) 19,602 20,148 -546

Full-time employees 166,087 165,666 421

Part-time and seasonal employees 54,280 55,078 -798

vii
FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2002

Celestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille,

Jacqueline E. Penn, and E. Eldon Eversull

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

I—DEFINITION OF A FARMER 

COOPERATIVE

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service

(RBS)–part of USDA’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;

(4) The cooperative operates for the mutual interest of members by providing member benefits

on the basis of patronage.

These criteria may result in larger or smaller

numbers of farmer cooperatives than found in lists or

directories of State agencies or cooperative councils.

Year-to-year comparisons with specific commodity groups reflect any differences in lists and classifications in State and Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

RBS classifies each cooperative under one of the

following major functions–marketing, farm supply, or

related-service: fishery and ethanol cooperatives are

classified as other product marketing cooperatives;

wool pools as marketing cooperatives; livestock shipping associations and rice drying cooperatives as service cooperatives.

Marketing cooperatives derive most of their total

dollar volume from the sale of members' farm products. These cooperatives are further classified 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 are also classified as service.

Many cooperatives handle multiple commodities

and provide both marketing and farm supply services,

as well as the facilities and equipment used to perform

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

indicated by their business volume.

Information on other service cooperatives, such

as Farm Credit System banks, rural credit unions, rural

electric cooperatives, and dairy herd improvement

associations, is presented separately.

1
Organizational Membership Structures

Centralized

Of the 3,140 farmer cooperatives in 2002, 3,060

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 and 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

The 53 federated cooperatives–two or more member associations organized to market farm products,

purchase production supplies, or perform bargaining

functions–often operate at points quite distant from

their headquarters. Members are usually local cooperatives, although some are interregional associations

with regional cooperative members.

Mixed

The 27 mixed cooperatives have both individual

farmer-members 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.

II—2002 STATISTICS

Cooperatives' total net business volume was

$96.8 billion in 2002 while net income was $1.21 billion. There were 3,140 agricultural cooperatives in

2002, and they had 2,793,550 members. Together they

had $47 billion in assets with almost $20 billion in

equity. Cooperatives remained a major employer in

rural areas, using 166,000 full-time workers.

Number of Cooperatives

The 2002 survey counted 3,140 marketing, farm

supply, and related-service1 cooperatives, compared

with 3,229 in 2001. Of the 3,140 cooperatives, 1,559 primarily marketed farm products, 1,201 primarily handled farm production supplies, and 380 provided services related to marketing or purchasing activities

(table 1, appendix figure 1). The proportion of marketing, farm supply, and service cooperatives to the total

number of cooperatives remained virtually unchanged

from 2001. Marketing cooperatives comprise about 50

percent of all cooperatives, farm supply, 38 percent,

and service 12, percent of the total (figure 1 and appendix table 1).

There was a net decrease of 89 associations (2.8

percent) from 2001 to 2002, largely reflecting a continuing trend involving merger, acquisition, or dissolution.

The largest decrease was in farm supply cooperatives

(33), followed by grain and oilseed (grain), and service

cooperatives, losing 20 and 9, respectively (figure 2).

Cooperative numbers by marketing, farm supply,

and service functions by State are shown in table 2.

Minnesota had the most marketing cooperatives (137),

followed closely by North Dakota (130). Texas had the

most farm supply and service cooperatives (174).

The 10 leading States in terms of number of cooperatives by function are shown in figure 3. Minnesota

had about the same number each of marketing and

farm supply cooperatives, while Texas had the most

service cooperatives, mainly cotton gins. North Dakota

had the second highest number of cooperatives, with

about 30 more marketing cooperatives than farm supply.

2

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

artificial insemination, livestock shipping, and smililar 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.
Grain and Farm Supply Branches

Many cooperatives operate branches to better

serve their members. Most branches are owned, others

are leased. A number of the branches are formerly

independent cooperatives that served a local community. For economic or other reasons, many were

acquired by or merged with other cooperatives and

operated as branches from which to serve members

and patrons at outlying locations.

Grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives

operated an estimated 5,714 branches–2,122 and 3,592,

respectively (table 3). Grain and oilseed cooperatives

averaged 2.8 branches while farm supply cooperatives

averaged 3 branches per cooperative. In 2001, grain

and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives operated an

estimated 5,583 branches.

In 1996, 2,469 grain and oilseed and farm supply

cooperatives had an estimated 5,355 branches: 2,326

owned by grain and oilseed cooperatives and 3,029 by

farm supply cooperatives. In 2002, grain and oilseed

and farm supply cooperative numbers had dropped to

1,970, but branches had increased by 359 (figure 4).

Figure 5 shows that several of the largest cooperatives (mainly regional) had more branches than all

the smaller (local) cooperatives combined. The 76

largest grain and oilseed cooperatives–9.9 percent of

all grain and oilseed cooperatives–accounted for 42.5

percent of the total number of branches operated by

grain and oilseed cooperatives. The 106 largest farm

supply cooperatives–8.8 percent of all farm supply

cooperatives–had 1,884 branches, or 52.5 percent.

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives totaled an estimated

2,793,550 in 2002, down 7.9 percent from 3,033,907 in

2001 (appendix table 2). By major business activity,

58.6 percent and 19.4 percent were memberships of

farm supply and grain cooperatives, respectively (figure 6). Dairy cooperative memberships were only 2.9

percent of the total, but accounted for 23.8 percent, or

$23 billion, of cooperatives' net business volume in

2002.

Memberships in farmer cooperatives dropped

from 4 million in 1993 to 2.8 million in 2002 (figure 7).

The long-term decline largely reflects the decreasing

number of farms, farmers, and ranchers in the United

States (appendix figure 2). 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

cooperatives. Memberships in marketing cooperatives

dropped 780,909 (42.7 percent) and service coopera3

Table 1— Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 2002

Major business activity Cooperatives Memberships

Number

Beans and peas, dry edible 8 2,211

Cotton 14 43,453

Dairy 198 81,709

Fruits and vegetables 212 32,518

Grains and oilseeds 1 769 542,470

Livestock 66 93,986

Nuts 18 35,831

Poultry 2 19 26,112

Rice 15 12,424

Sugar 3 48 13,910

Tobacco 22 127,807

Wool and mohair 78 11,143

Miscellaneous 92 25,517 ____ ________

Total marketing 1,559 1,049,091

Farm supply 1,201 1,637,061

Service 380 107,398 ____ ________

Total 3,140 2,793,550

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.
tives had a decline of 216,000 (50.3 percent), while

memberships in farm supply cooperatives decreased

339,939 (17.2 percent).

The largest proportions of memberships in farm

supply cooperatives were in the smallest and largest

cooperatives (figure 8). Memberships in marketing

cooperatives were the greatest proportion of total

memberships among those cooperatives with gross

business volumes of $15 million to $99.9 million.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives had an estimated 166,087

full-time employees in 2002, up slightly from 165,666

in 2001 (table 4), but less than the peak of 176,665 in

2000. Farm supply cooperatives had an increase in fulltime employees from 1997 when there was about

48,000 to over 50,000 in 2002. The number of full-time

employees working in marketing cooperatives was

around 120,000 from 1997 through 2000, but fell about

10,000 to 111,337 in 2002. Service cooperatives had a

fairly steady decline between 1997-2002, from 5,850 to

4,004.

By type, marketing cooperatives had 145,639

employees (67 percent of total); farm supply cooperatives had 65,296 (30.6 percent); and related-service

cooperatives had 9,432 (2.4 percent, appendix figure 4).

The number per association, however, was nearly 52.9,

up slightly from 51 in 2001, due to the decline in the

number of cooperatives. The 1,559 marketing cooperatives employed 111,337 persons, about the same as

2001. Livestock and poultry cooperatives, with 34,372,

had the most full-time employees, while dairy cooperatives ranked second (23,654). Together, they accounted for about 35 percent of all full-time cooperative

employees.

The 1,201 farm supply cooperatives employed

50,746 full-time workers, about the same as the 1,234

farm supply cooperatives in 2001. Full-time employees

of the 380 related-service cooperatives totaled 4,004 in

2002, down from 4,039 in 2001.

Larger cooperatives have more employees, but

some types of cooperatives have many more assets per

employee (appendix figure 3). Sugar cooperatives have

the largest amount of assets per employee with

4

Figure 1—Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1993-2002

Number

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Marketing

Farm Supply

Service
$487,000 in assets per employee. Other cooperatives

that process raw products such as livestock and poultry ($106,000 per employee) and fruit and vegetable

cooperatives ($246,000) have more assets than sugar

cooperatives, but they also use many more 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 2002, farmer cooperatives employed an estimated 220,367 full-time and part-time and seasonal

employees, about the same as in 2001 (table 5). Among

marketing cooperatives, those primarily handling

fruits and vegetables had the most employees (37,226),

followed by livestock and poultry (35,574), then dairy

(24,936), and grains and oilseeds (24,459).

Figure 9 shows the number of full-time and parttime and seasonal employees by type of cooperative

for 2002. Farm supply, fruit and vegetable, and livestock and poultry cooperatives used the most employees, cotton cooperatives the fewest. Livestock and

poultry cooperatives had the smallest proportion of

part-time and seasonal employees to total employees.

Fruit and vegetable cooperatives, followed by cotton

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

Cooperatives used 54,280 part-time and seasonal

employees in 2002, down 798, or 1.5 percent, from

2001. The largest decrease was in fruit and vegetable

cooperatives, down 4,055. Other products marketing

cooperatives increased their use of part-time and seasonal employees by 2,078, while farm supply cooperatives increased theirs by 1,584.

In 2002, marketing cooperatives reported 34,302

part-time and seasonal employees, or 63.2 percent of

the total. Marketing cooperatives averaged 22 parttime and seasonal employees per cooperative. Fruit

and vegetable and grain cooperatives, with 24,175,

accounted for about 45 percent of all part-time and

seasonal employees used by cooperatives. Farm supply cooperatives had 14,550 part-time and seasonal

employees, an average of 12 per cooperative.

Most types of marketing cooperatives operated

with more employees than did farm supply coopera5

0

20

40

60

80

100100

80

60

40

20

0

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Based on an RBS list of U.S. farmer cooperatives. Mergers also include consolidations.

“Other” includes cooperatives dropped due to inactivity and unknown and miscellaneous

reasons.

Figure 2—Cooperatives Removed From RBS’ List, 1993-2002

Dissolution

Merger

Other

Acquisition
tives. For example, livestock and poultry cooperatives

averaged nearly 419 employees, rice, 197; fruit and

vegetable, 176; while farm supply cooperatives averaged 54 (figure 10).

Labor Expenses

As with 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, and other employee benefits.

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

6 shows total sales per dollar of total labor expense by

type of cooperative, region, and in some cases, size of

cooperative.

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. Livestock cooperatives accounted

for the highest sales per dollar of labor expense, $71.69

in 2002. Other service cooperatives had the lowest

sales per dollar of labor expense, $2.42.

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 $18.39 to $29.81 in 2002; fruit and vegetable cooperatives from $3.04 to $15.85; grain and

oilseed cooperatives from $19.02 to $23.36; and farm

supply cooperatives from $8.98 to $11.22.

For grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives, total sales per dollar of total labor expense by

region was slightly lower in 2002 (table 7). Grain and

oilseed cooperatives have higher sales per dollar of

labor expense than farm supply cooperatives. Among

the regions, grain and oilseed cooperatives in the

Pacific region had the highest sales per $1 total labor

expense both in 2002 and 2001. Farm supply cooperatives had sales between $8 and $11 per dollar of labor

expense, the exceptions were the Northeast ($6.92) and

Appalachian ($7.76) regions.

The average total labor expense per cooperative

for those reporting in both 2002 and 2001 is shown in

table 6 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.

6

Table 2—Number of cooperatives,1 by major function

and State, 2002 2

Major function ___________________________________________

Farm supply

State Marketing and service Total

Number

Alabama 8 53 61

Arizona 5 4 9

Arkansas 11 41 52

California 98 66 164

Colorado 23 21 44

Florida 32 7 39

Georgia 9 8 17

Hawaii 13 7 20

Idaho 23 14 37

Illinois 114 55 169

Indiana 17 27 44

Iowa 103 54 157

Kansas 94 35 129

Kentucky 15 27 42

Louisiana 16 31 47

Maryland 4 13 17

Massachusetts 7 5 12

Michigan 34 28 62

Minnesota 137 150 287

Mississippi 12 58 70

Missouri 18 45 63

Montana 34 31 65

Nebraska 53 37 90

New Jersey 13 2 15

New Mexico 3 6 9

New York 77 12 89

North Carolina 15 5 20

North Dakota 130 102 232

Ohio 47 23 70

Oklahoma 36 44 80

Oregon 18 14 32

Pennsylvania 39 13 52

South Dakota 61 61 122

Tennessee 8 71 79

Texas 56 174 230

Utah 9 7 16

Virginia 18 39 57

Washington 44 33 77

West Virginia 13 13 26

Wisconsin 38 130 168

Wyoming 7 5 12

Other States 3 47 10 57 ____ _____ _____

United States 1,559 1,581 3,140

1 Centralized and federated cooperatives and those with mixed

organizational structures.

2 Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that

ended in 2002.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any

function. States with at least three cooperatives were: Alaska, 9;

Connecticut, 5; Delaware, 3; Maine, 26; South Carolina, 5; and

Vermont, 5.
The average total labor expense corresponds

directly to cooperative size; therefore, bigger cooperatives generally have higher labor expenses. Most cooperatives had higher total labor expenses in 2002.

Cooperatives that further process raw products, such

as fruit and vegetable, poultry, and sugar cooperatives,

all had higher labor expenses. Labor expenses by

region for grain and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives were higher in the Corn Belt than other regions

(table 7).

Business Size

Most farmer cooperatives, as measured by annual

gross business volume, are relatively small and serve

local areas. Some actively seek regional, national, and

even international markets to increase business volume. Although few in number, larger cooperatives

account for much of cooperatives’ business volume.

They have grown in size partly from mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions.

In 2002, about 75 percent of all farmer cooperatives reported a business volume of less than $15 million. However, they accounted for only 9.1 percent of

the total gross dollar volume (up from 8.5 percent in

2001, table 8 and figure 11). Only 2.2 percent of farmer

cooperatives reported a business volume of at least

$200 million, but they accounted for 63.4 percent of the

total sales.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 3,140 marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives for

2002 was $111.6 billion (table 9), down 9.7 percent from

$123.6 billion in 2001. Gross business volume grew

from $97.7 billion in 1993 to $111.6 billion in 2002;

however, that was down from a record $128.1 billion in

1996 (appendix table 3, appendix figure 5). The volume

increase of $15.9 billion in 1996 was due mainly to

higher prices for grains and oilseeds.

Gross dollar volume of farm products marketed

by cooperatives decreased 8.7 percent, from $84 billion

in 2001 to $76.6 billion in 2002. Gross volume of all

farm supplies handled by cooperatives was $31.5 billion, down 12.8 percent from $36.1 billion in 2001.

Total net business volume of farmer cooperatives

in 2002 was $96.8 billion-- $69.7 billion from farm

products marketed, $23.7 billion from farm supply

sales, and $3.4 billion from services performed and

from other income sources. The total net figure, which

excludes inter-cooperative business, was down 6.3 per7

Figure 3—Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 2002

Number

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3500

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

MN ND TX IL WI CA IA KS SD NE
cent from $103.3 billion in 2001. Cooperatives’ net

business volume reached a high of $106.7 billion in

1997 (appendix table 4, appendix figure 6). Net cooperative business, unadjusted for price change, increased

from $82.9 billion in 1993 to $96.8 billion in 2002. When

adjusted2, net business totaled $76.5 billion in 2002

(figure 12). Consequently, the difference between actual and real net business volume in 2002 was nearly $20

billion. The real net business volume was lower than

the actual value in 2002 due to lower prices received

for farm products and higher prices paid for farm production inputs. The index for prices received for all

farm commodities from 1993 to 2002 dropped 2 points,

while the index for prices paid for farm production

items increased 24 points, hence the large gap between

8

Table 3—Estimated number of branches operated by grain and oilseed and farm supply 

cooperatives, 1996-2002

Asset Group (Million $)

Year

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

Grain and Oilseed Cooperatives

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

2001 406 184 135 64 789

2002 379 173 141 76 769

Branches

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

2001 252 414 672 708 2,046

2002 244 340 637 901 2,122

Farm Supply Cooperatives

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

2001 780 205 146 103 1,234

2002 740 203 152 106 1,201

Branches

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 1,663 3,412

2001 482 494 705 1,856 3,537

2002 436 432 840 1,884 3,592

2 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).
9

Figure 4—Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1993-2002

1,000

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Cooperatives

Branches

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Figure 5—Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives, by Size, 2002

1,000 Cooperatives

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

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

Total Assets (million dollars)

Branches

Cooperatives
actual and real cooperative net business volume when

adjusted by prices paid and prices received for farm

production.

Net volume of farm products marketed also

declined from 2001, from $75 billion to $69.7 billion–a

7.2 percent decline. Net marketing business volume

accounted for 72 percent of total cooperative sales in

2002, virtually unchanged from 2001.

Figure 13 illustrates the leading products marketed by cooperatives based on net marketing business

volume. Dairy (milk and milk products) led with 33.1

percent, followed by grains and oilseeds (excluding

cottonseed) with 25.1 percent, and livestock with 14.2

percent. The proportions of grains and oilseeds and

livestock were up compared with 2001, while milk and

milk products dropped.

Net farm supply volume of $23.7 billion, down

4.4 percent from $24.8 billion, accounted for 24.5 percent of the total net business volume. The leading farm

production supplies handled by cooperatives in terms

of farm supply net business volume were petroleum,

30.2 percent; feed, 22.7; and fertilizer, 18.2 percent (figure 14). While feed and seed sales increased in 2002,

sales of petroleum, fertilizer, "other supplies", and crop

protectants decreased.

Receipts for services provided by marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives, plus

other income, decreased 1.6 percent to $3.4 billion.

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

Marketing sales of four major commodity

groups–dairy; grains and oilseeds; fruits and vegetables; and livestock–were about the same proportion of

marketing sales in both 1993 and 2002, about 83 percent (figure 15). In 1993 and a decade later, net volume

(among commodity groups) was highest for dairy,

with $23 billion ($20.5 billion in 1993), followed by

grains and oilseeds with $17.5 billion in 2002 and $16.5

billion in 1993.

Milk and milk product sales showed the

strongest dollar growth during 1993-2002. There was

steady growth in cooperative sales of milk and milk

products, with a slight decline in 2000 and 2002 due to

lower prices.

10

Figure 6—Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 2002 

Farm Supply 58.6%

Fruit & Vegetable

1.2%

Services 3.8%

Nut 1.3%

Other Marketing 1 2.3%

Cotton 1.6%

Grain & oilseed

19.4%

Percentages are based on 2,793,550 total memberships.

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

Tobacco 4.6%

Livestock & 

Poultry 4.3%

Dairy 2.9%
11

Figure 7—Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1993-2002

Million

0

1

2

3

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

3

2

1

0

Marketing

Farm Supply

Service

Figure 8—Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross Business Volume, 2002

1,000 Memberships

1,000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

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

Gross business volume (million dollars)

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing
12

Table 4—Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 2002-1997

Full-time employees

Commodity ________________________________________________________________________________________

2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997

Number

Cotton 1,993 1,800 1,759 1,787 1,844 1,995

Dairy 23,654 20,714 23,408 24,598 27,056 28,323

Fruits and vegetables 18,657 19,909 25,108 23,329 23,734 22,847

Grains and oilseeds 18,853 19,629 20,309 20,998 23,873 23,538

Livestock and poultry 34,372 35,843 34,592 32,690 28,031 26,399

Rice 2,476 2,364 2,606 2,600 2,655 2,713

Sugar 4,511 4,392 4,523 4,459 4,402 3,473

Other products 6,821 6,335 8,831 8,525 8,474 9,191 _______ _______ ______ _______ ______ _______

Total marketing 111,337 110,986 121,136 118,986 120,069 118,479

Total farm supply 50,746 50,641 51,321 49,466 48,171 47,870

Service 4,004 4,039 4,208 4,499 5,551 5,850 _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______

Total 166,087 165,666 176,665 172,951 173,791 172,199

Figure 9—Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Cooperative Type , 2002

Part-Time and Seasonal

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

1,000 Employees

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

Cotton

Rice

Service

Cotton Gin

Sugar

Other Markerting1

Grain & Oilseed

Dairy

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable

Farm Supply

Full-Time
13

Figure 10— Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Cooperative

Type, 2002

Cotton Gin

Service

Grain & Oilseed

Other Marketing 1

Farm Supply

Dairy

Cotton

Sugar

Fruit & Vegetable

Rice

Livestock & Poultry

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Number

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

Full-Time

Part-Time and Seasonal

Table 5—Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer cooperatives, by type of 

cooperative, 2002-2001

Principal product(s) marketed

Total Full-time employees Part-time and seasonal 1 ___________________ ____________________________ ____________________

or major function 2002 2001 2002 2001 2002 2001

Number

Products marketed

Cotton 2,149 2,526 1,993 1,800 156 726

Dairy 24,936 21,389 23,654 20,714 1,282 675

Fruit and vegetable 37,226 42,533 18,657 19,909 18,569 22,624

Grain and oilseed 2 24,459 25,066 18,853 19,629 5,606 5,437

Livestock and poultry 35,574 36,861 34,372 35,843 1,202 1,018

Rice 2,952 3,230 2,476 2,364 476 866

Sugar 7,597 8,024 4,511 4,392 3,086 3,632

Other products 3 10,746 8,182 6,821 6,335 3,925 1,847

______ _______ _______ _______ ______ _______

Marketing 145,639 147,811 111,337 110,986 34,302 36,825

Farm supply 65,296 63,607 50,746 50,641 14,550 12,966

Service 9,432 9,326 4,004 4,039 5,428 5,287 _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______

Total 220,367 220,744 166,087 165,666 54,280 55,078

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 Excludes cottonseed.

3 Includes dry edible bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool, fishery, and other products marketing cooperatives.
14

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

reporting, by selected type and size, 2002-20011

Type of cooperative Sales per $1 labor expense Average total labor expense

and by size of assets ________________________________________________________________________________

in million $ 2002 2001 Change 2002 2001 Change

Dollars Percent $1,000 Percent

Cotton–all sizes 32.46 35.21 -7.8 3,220.6 2,575.9 25.0

Assets less than $25.0 17.81 19.28 -7.6 1,804.1 1,688.0 6.9

$25.0 - 499.99 40.35 46.25 -12.8 5,581.3 4,055.8 37.6

Cotton gin–all sizes 6.12 6.77 -9.5 744.6 733.0 1.6

Assets of 0.5 - $0.99 5.07 5.91 -14.3 259.1 250.8 3.3

1.0 - 2.49 5.25 5.55 -5.3 397.4 396.1 0.3

2.5 - 99.99 6.46 7.18 -10.0 1,273.4 1,251.3 1.8

Dairy–all sizes 19.56 22.52 -13.1 8,044.0 7,557.4 6.4

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 25.93 33.85 -23.4 174.8 145.3 20.3

2.5 - 24.99 29.81 35.81 -16.8 1,939.5 1,825.2 6.3

25.0 - 499.99 18.39 21.02 -12.5 24,344.8 22,878.4 6.4

Dry bean and pea–all sizes 10.17 12.61 -19.3 2,111.3 2,761.9 -23.6

Fruit and vegetable–all sizes 6.98 7.65 -8.7 17,382.7 17,401.1 -0.1

Assets less than $0.5 15.85 16.46 -3.7 148.7 168.5 -11.7

0.5 - 2.49 3.04 2.99 1.5 800.6 775.6 3.2

2.5 - 24.99 10.96 10.45 4.8 1,388.2 1,426.1 -2.7

25.0 - 99.99 7.40 7.58 -2.3 9,107.7 8,962.2 1.6

100.0 and more 6.84 7.60 -9.9 83,367.6 83,552.2 -0.2

Fruit and vegetable–all sizes 6.98 7.65 -8.7 17,382.7 17,401.1 -0.1

Fresh–all sizes 8.42 8.16 3.1 2,724.4 2,718.5 0.2

Processed–all sizes 5.48 5.94 -7.8 37,854.4 35,742.1 5.9

Fresh and processed–all sizes 8.24 9.16 -10.1 81,995.6 87,172.1 -5.9

Grain and oilseed–all sizes 19.62 19.98 -1.8 1,731.3 1,602.7 8.0

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 23.36 23.45 -0.4 220.1 210.3 4.7

2.5 - 24.99 19.29 19.79 -2.5 1,117.4 1,057.0 5.7

25.0 - 99.99 19.02 19.45 -2.2 4,810.5 4,488.4 7.2

100.0 - 499.99 21.93 21.80 0.6 17,111.0 14,280.7 19.8

Livestock–all sizes 71.69 77.12 -7.0 333.8 309.1 8.0

Poultry–all sizes 4.19 4.06 3.2 163,492.3 163,940.0 -0.3

Sugar–all sizes 7.07 7.58 -6.8 47,441.0 47,910.0 -1.0

Tobacco–all sizes 28.38 31.72 -10.5 49.7 48.1 3.2

Fishery–all sizes 9.94 10.15 -2.1 500.1 464.1 7.8

Other products–all sizes 7.46 8.47 -11.8 2,450.6 2,283.2 7.3

Other service–all sizes 2.42 2.53 -4.6 1,236.2 1,176.9 5.0

Continued
In the farm supply group, petroleum, feed, and

fertilizer sales were especially important (figure 16).

They accounted for about 71 percent of cooperatives'

total farm supply sales in both 1993 and 2002.

Cooperatives’ sales of petroleum, feed, fertilizer, and

crop protectants grew steadily until 1998. In 2002,

petroleum, fertilizer, and crop protectant sales all

dropped due to a combination of lower prices and

decreased usage. Feed sales rebounded strongly after

sliding downward from 1997 through 2001. Seed sales

remained fairly stable until increases in 2000 through

2002.

Net marketing of farm products totaled $60.9 billion in 1993, and increased annually through 1996.

Since 1997, the net marketing dollar volume declined,

as prices paid for many farm commodities dropped. In

2001, prices rose slightly and net business volume

increased to $75 billion, but volume fell in 2002 to

$69.7 billion as prices fell. Farm supply sales increased

every year, from $19.2 billion in 1993 to $25.2 billion in

1997, then dropped to $23 or $24 billion from 1998

through 2002. Service receipts (includes other income

and revenue) increased from $2.7 billion in 1993 to $3.9

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

$3.4 billion in 2002.

Net Income

Total net income (adjusted for losses and before

taxes) for all cooperatives in 2002 was $1.21 billion,

including inter-cooperative dividends and refunds

(table 10). Cooperatives operating strictly on a pooling

basis were excluded. Net income was down 10.9 percent from the $1.36 billion in 2001. Patronage refunds

received from other cooperatives, including CoBank,

totaled $362.4 million, up 14.7 percent from $317.6 million in 2001 (appendix figure 7).

Net income was $1.36 billion in 1993, then fluctuated annually while setting a record at $2.36 billion in

1995, and falling to $1.21 billion in 2002 (appendix

table 5 and figure 17). Net income received from operations and from other cooperatives has varied over

time. Both reflected better economic times in agriculture in the mid-1990s compared with conditions in the

early 90s and more recent years. In 1993, refunds from

other cooperatives totaled $373 million, or 27.5 percent

of total net income. In 2002, refunds had risen to 30

percent of total net income.

Marketing cooperatives' total net income of

$762.7 million was down 5.8 percent from the $809.5

million generated in 2001. The drop in net income was

in fruit and vegetable and dairy cooperatives. Grain

and dairy cooperatives with the largest net incomes

together accounted for almost half of all cooperative

net income (44.8 percent, figure 18).

Total net income of farm supply cooperatives was

$337.8 million in 2002, down 21.3 percent from $429

million in 2001. They accounted for 27.9 percent of

cooperatives' total net income in 2002, compared with

31.6 percent in 2001 (appendix figure 8). Income from

their own operations, excluding patronage refunds

from other cooperatives and CoBank, was $191.1 million, down 38.8 percent from $312.1 million in 2001.

Farmer cooperatives' net income from their operations in 2002 totaled $847.2 million, down 18.5 percent from $1,039.3 million. Nearly 30 percent, or $362.4

million, of total net income ($1,209.6 million) was generated by other cooperatives and CoBank, up 14.1 per15

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

reporting, by selected type and size, 2002-20011, Continued

Type of cooperative Sales per $1 labor expense Average total labor expense

and by size of assets ________________________________________________________________________________

in million $ 2002 2001 Change 2002 2001 Change

Dollars Percent $1,000 Percent

Farm supply–all sizes 9.88 10.50 -5.9 1,568.0 1,508.9 3.9

Assets of less than $0.5 11.22 12.15 -7.7 78.6 79.5 -1.1

0.5 - 0.99 8.98 9.56 -6.1 174.8 171.7 1.8

1.0 - 2.49 9.22 9.69 -4.9 373.7 374.4 -0.2

2.5 - 24.99 9.58 10.39 -7.8 1,572.1 1,511.7 4.0

25.0 - 99.99 10.56 10.85 -2.7 8,733.0 8,356.1 4.5

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, and employee benefits for cooperatives reporting both years. The average total labor expense is

derived by dividing total wages and benefits by the number of cooperatives where the information was provided. Sales includes receipts

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

included.
16

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

farm supply cooperatives reporting, by region1 and size, 2002-20012

Type of cooperative Sales per $1 labor expense Average total labor expense

and by region and size of assets ________________________________________________________________________________

in million $ 2002 2001 Change 2002 2001 Change

Dollars Percent $1,000 Percent

Grain and Oilseed Cooperatives:

Corn Belt–all sizes 19.88 20.56 -3.3 2,258.6 2,047.1 10.3

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 30.29 29.40 3.0 216.6 217.4 -0.4

2.5 - 24.99 19.49 20.32 -4.1 1255.7 1,171.9 7.2

25.0 - 99.99 18.26 19.48 -6.3 5,108.4 4,722.7 8.2

100.0 - 499.99 22.82 22.57 1.1 20,601.5 16,970.2 21.4

Lake States–all sizes 19.86 19.80 0.3 1,570.3 1,528.5 2.7

Assets of 1.0 - $24.99 20.47 20.21 1.3 840.0 815.5 3.0

25.0 - 499.99 19.36 19.47 -0.5 5,368.1 5,235.8 2.5

Northern Plains–all sizes 17.96 18.08 -0.7 1,392.3 1,303.1 6.8

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 20.66 20.29 1.8 215.3 198.6 8.4

2.5 - 24.99 18.49 18.53 -0.2 1,084.1 1,020.1 6.3

25.0 - 99.99 17.03 17.30 -1.6 5,205.3 4,839.6 7.6

Mountain–all sizes 14.79 16.18 -8.6 996.7 911.6 9.3

Southern Plains–all sizes 18.48 16.35 13.0 853.7 820.9 4.0

Assets of 1.0 - $2.49 14.91 14.77 0.9 260.7 244.7 6.5

2.5 - 99.99 19.08 16.61 14.8 1,372.5 1,325.1 3.6

Pacific–all sizes 30.56 31.84 -4.0 797.6 852.6 -6.5

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 23.76 30.97 -23.3 172.3 156.6 10.0

2.5 - 24.99 31.38 31.93 -1.7 1,422.9 1,548.6 -8.1

Farm Supply Cooperatives:

Northeast–all sizes 6.92 7.41 -6.6 854.0 816.9 4.5

Appalachian–all sizes 7.76 8.16 -4.9 1,076.1 1,027.0 4.8

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 8.30 8.38 -0.9 290.4 295.1 -1.6

2.5 - 24.99 7.71 8.14 -5.3 1,468.9 1,393.0 5.4

Southeast–all sizes 9.50 9.45 0.5 366.6 368.8 -0.6

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 9.90 9.27 6.7 208.4 214.6 -2.9

2.5 - 24.99 9.28 9.55 -2.9 630.4 626.0 0.7

Delta States–all sizes 10.49 10.89 -3.7 595.9 592.2 0.6

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 9.10 9.41 -3.3 451.9 469.5 -3.7

2.5 - 24.99 11.52 12.09 -4.7 783.0 751.7 4.2

Continued
17

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

and farm supply cooperatives reporting, by region1 and size, 2002-20012, continued

Type of cooperative Sales per $1 labor expense Average total labor expense

and by region and size of assets ________________________________________________________________________________

in million $ 2002 2001 Change 2002 2001 Change

Dollars Percent $1,000 Percent

Corn Belt–all sizes 10.50 11.23 -6.5 3,185.4 2,967.5 7.3

Assets of 0.5 - $0.99 8.42 8.96 -6.0 157.8 152.8 3.3

1.0 - 2.49 10.21 10.88 -6.1 369.1 368.2 0.3

2.5 - 24.99 9.98 10.92 -8.6 2,215.7 2,083.7 6.3

25.0 and more 10.93 11.50 -5.0 10,660.8 9,838.0 8.4

Lake States–all sizes 9.08 9.71 -6.5 1,506.0 1,487.5 1.2

Assets of less than $0.5 11.84 12.42 -4.7 40.4 38.2 5.9

0.5 - 0.99 7.76 8.41 -7.7 140.2 136.6 2.7

1.0 - 2.49 9.07 9.97 -9.0 296.4 296.4 0.0

2.5 - 24.99 8.94 9.54 -6.2 1,514.0 1,498.4 1.0

25.0 - 99.99 9.56 10.30 -7.2 5,579.1 5,471.3 2.0

Northern Plains–all sizes 10.58 11.04 -4.2 885.7 857.6 3.3

Assets of less than $0.5 13.46 14.75 -8.7 88.7 89.8 -1.2

0.5 - 0.99 8.94 9.71 -8.0 168.4 164.6 2.3

1.0 - 2.49 9.28 9.95 -6.6 304.8 295.8 3.0

2.5 - 24.99 10.86 11.59 -6.3 1,036.7 977.5 6.1

25.0 - 99.99 10.07 9.52 5.8 5,128.0 5,477.1 -6.4

Southern Plains–all sizes 9.94 10.04 -1.0 703.9 702.5 0.2

Assets of 0.5 - $0.99 10.71 11.66 -8.1 203.6 193.2 5.4

1.0 - 2.49 9.93 10.17 -2.4 411.8 417.3 -1.3

2.5 - 24.99 9.86 9.85 0.2 1,272.2 1,270.3 0.1

Mountain–all sizes 9.83 10.27 -4.3 1,597.4 1,602.6 -0.3

Assets of 0.5 - $0.99 11.03 11.93 -7.5 117.4 120.7 -2.8

1.0 - 2.49 10.39 11.38 -8.7 346.5 319.1 8.6

2.5 - 99.99 9.79 10.21 -4.1 2,191.1 2,203.8 -0.6

Pacific–all sizes 8.77 9.82 -10.7 1,638.4 1,615.5 1.4

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 7.75 8.45 -8.4 378.8 401.4 -5.6

2.5 - 24.99 8.87 9.97 -11.0 2,448.1 2,395.9 2.2

1 The States included in each region are as follows.

Region State

Northeast ME, 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

2 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 labor expenses.
18

Table 8—Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume, 20021

Cooperatives Dollar volume Memberships2

________________________ ___________________________ __________________________

Volume group Percent Gross 3 Percent Number Percent

Million $ Number of total (million $) of total (1,000) of total

Less than 5.0 1,503 47.9 2,735 2.5 479 17.1

5 - 9.9 586 18.7 4,129 3.7 573 20.5

10 - 14.9 262 8.3 3,275 2.9 183 6.5

15 - 24.9 278 8.9 5,439 4.9 223 8.0

25 - 49.9 259 8.2 9,134 8.2 305 10.9

50 - 99.9 131 4.2 9,051 8.1 186 6.6

100 - 199.9 52 1.7 7,096 6.4 77 2.8

200 - 499.9 33 1.1 10,146 9.1 132 4.7

500 - 999.9 22 0.7 16,459 14.8 192 6.9

1,000 and more 14 0.4 44,088 39.5 445 15.9 _____ ____ _______ ____ ______ _____

Total4 3,140 100.0 111,553 100.0 2,794 100.0

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 11— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume, by Size, 2002

Percent 

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)

Cooperatives

Dollar volume
19

Table 9–Cooperatives' gross and net business volumes by commodity, 2002 1

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

Million $ Percent Million $ Percent

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible) 101.4 0.1 98.8 0.1

Cotton 2,526.9 2.3 2,461.3 2.5

Dairy 25,891.1 23.2 23,037.7 23.8

Fruits and vegetables 8,435.4 7.6 7,337.9 7.6

Grains and oilseeds 2 20,147.9 18.1 17,474.4 18.1

Livestock 9,901.1 8.9 9,901.1 10.2

Nuts 947.2 0.8 935.5 1.0

Poultry 3 2,467.2 2.2 2,402.8 2.5

Rice 750.9 0.7 748.4 0.8

Sugar 2,440.4 2.2 2,440.4 2.5

Tobacco 226.7 0.2 226.7 0.2

Wool and mohair 7.8 0.0 4 7.8 0.0 4

Other products 5 2,773.7 2.5 2,583.1 2.7

———— ——— ———— ———

Total farm products 76,617.9 68.7 69,655.8 72.0

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants 3,116.9 2.8 2,712.8 2.8

Feed 6,685.8 6.0 5,373.4 5.6

Fertilizer 5,150.7 4.6 4,314.7 4.5

Petroleum 11,383.9 10.2 7,157.1 7.4

Seed 1,592.4 1.4 1,085.5 1.1

Other supplies 6 3,589.2 3.2 3,035.3 3.1

———— ——— ———— ———

Total farm supplies 31,519.0 28.3 23,678.8 24.5

Services and other income:

Trucking, cotton ginning, storage,

grinding, locker plants,

miscellaneous 7 3,415.8 3.1 3,415.8 3.5

————— ——— ———— ————

Total business 111,552.6 100.0 96,750.4 100.0

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

2 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed oil is included in other marketings while cottonseed meal is included in feed.

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

4 Less than 0.05 percent.

5 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.

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

hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified.

7 Charges for services related to marketing or purchasing, but not included in the volume reported for those activities, plus other income.
20

Figure 12—Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1993-2002

0

20

40

60

80

00

20

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

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

Billion dollars

Actual 

Real 1

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Figure 13— Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 2002

Grain & Oilseed 25.1%

Rice 1.1%

Milk & Milk Products 

33.1%

Percentage based on a total net marketing business volume of $69.7 billion.

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

Cotton 3.5%

Sugar 3.5%

Other marketing1 3.9%

Nut 1.3%

Livestock 14.2%

Fruit & Vegetable 10.5%

Tobacco 0.3%

Poultry 3.4%
21

Figure 14— Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 2002

Feed 22.7%

Fertilizer 18.2%

Percentages are based on a total net farm supply business volume of $23.7billion.

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

and other.

Crop Protectants 11.5%

Other Supplies1 12.8%

Seed 4.6%

Petroleum 30.2%

Figure 15— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1993-2002

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Billion dollars

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Grains & Oilseeds

Milk & Milk Products

Livestock

Fruits and Vegetables
22

Figure 16— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1993-2002

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Billion dollars

Petroleum

Feed

Fertilizer

Crop Protectants

Seed

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Table 10—Farmer cooperatives' net income, 2002 1

Principal product(s) Income Income

marketed and Total net from own from other

major function Cooperatives 2 income operations cooperatives 3

Number ------------Million $------------

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 89.6 87.0 2.6

Dairy 198 283.6 225.4 58.2

Fruits and vegetables 212 -147.8 -165.8 18.0

Grains and oilseeds 4 769 258.7 182.1 76.6

Livestock and poultry 85 69.1 24.3 44.8

Rice 15 6.6 5.9 .7

Sugar 48 71.2 70.2 .9

Other products 5 218 131.8 125.8 6.0 _____ _____ _____ _____

Total marketing 1,559 762.7 554.8 207.9

Total farm supply 1,201 337.8 191.1 146.7

Service 380 109.1 101.3 7.8 _____ _____ _____ _____

Total 3,140 1,209.6 847.2 362.4

1 Adjusted for losses and before taxes. Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

3 Includes patronage refunds from CoBank.

4 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed oil is included in other marketings while cottonseed meal is included in farm supplies (feed).

5 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, and other products.
23

Figure 17— Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1993-2002

0

5

0

5

0

5

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

1 Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other farmer cooperatives, CoBank, and Banks for Cooperatives.

Billion dollars

From Own

Operations

From Other

Cooperatives1

2.5

2

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

Total Net Income

Figure 18— Net Income or Loss, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

From Own Operations

From Other Cooperatives 1

-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

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 products marketing cooperatives.

Fruit and Vegetable 

Rice

Livestock & Poultry

Sugar

Cotton

Service

Other Marketing 2

Grain & Oilseed

Dairy

Farm Supply
cent from $317.6 million in 2001. Marketing cooperatives' net income from other cooperatives, including

CoBank, totaled $207.9 million, up 19.9 percent from

$173.4 million. Grain cooperatives' net income from

other cooperatives totaled $76.6 million, down 10 percent from $85.1 million in 2001.

Income before adjusting for losses was $1,873.6

million, compared with $1,798.9 million in 2001. Losses

totaled $664 million in 2002, up about 50 percent from

$444 million in 2001. The number of cooperatives with

losses was up significantly, from 623 to 706, or an

increase of 13.3 percent. Increased losses for 2002

stemmed mainly from fruit and vegetable cooperatives, which went from a $20.7 million loss in 2001 to

$312.9 million in 2002. Grain and oilseed and livestock

and poultry cooperatives also had losses of at least $50

million in 2002 (appendix figure 9).

Marketing cooperative losses totaled $429.6 million in 2002, compared with $242.3 million in 2001.

Losses among farm supply cooperatives increased

from $196.2 million to $220.3 million. Related-service

cooperative losses totaled $14.4 million in 2002, compared with $5.5 million the year before.

Balance Sheet

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives

totaled $47.5 billion in 2002, down 2 percent from $48.5

billion in 2001 (table 11). Total assets of cooperatives,

excluding inter-cooperative investments, was down 3.1

percent to $41.9 billion, compared with $43.3 billion in

2001. Cooperatives’ total assets grew from $33.4 in

1993 to $47.5 in 2002 (appendix table 6 and figure 19),

reflecting growth in their own operations and investments in other cooperatives. In 1993, nearly $3 billion

(8.9 percent of total assets) was invested in other cooperatives, including CoBank. In 2002, these investments

were $5.5 billion, up $2.5 billion from 1993, or 11.7 percent of total assets.

Total liabilities was $27.9 billion, down 1.5 percent from $28.3 billion in 2001 (table 12). Cooperatives’

24

Table 11—Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 2002 1

Principal product(s) Investments in

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

major function Cooperatives 2 operations other cooperatives 3 assets percent of total

Number —————————————Million $-———————————— Percent

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 870.2 31.2 901.4 3.5

Dairy 198 7,800.2 711.0 8,511.2 8.4

Fruits and vegetables 212 4,422.2 171.4 4,593.7 3.7

Grains and oilseeds 4 769 6,873.7 1,122.7 7,996.4 14.0

Livestock and poultry 85 3,231.6 412.4 3,643.9 11.3

Rice 15 481.6 16.4 498.0 3.3

Sugar 48 2,088.4 108.1 2,196.4 4.9

Other products 5 218 2,519.7 65.4 2,585.1 2.5 _____ ________ ______ _______ ——

Total marketing 1,559 28,287.6 2,638.5 30,926.1 8.5

Total farm supply 1,201 12,677.1 2,818.2 15,495.4 18.2

Service 380 981.9 82.3 1,064.2 7.7 _____ ________ ______ _______ ——

Total 3,140 41,946.6 5,539.1 47,485.7 11.7

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Many cooperatives have multi-product and multi-functional operations. Most are classified according to predominant commodity or function

as indicated by business volume.

3 Also includes investments in CoBank.

4 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed oil is included in other marketings while cottonseed meal is included in farm supplies (feed).

5 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, and other products.
25

Table 12—Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 2002 1

Principal product(s) marketed Total Total Net

and major function Cooperatives assets liabilities worth

Number -----------------------------------Million $-------------------------------------

Products marketed:

Cotton 14 901.4 561.6 339.8

Dairy 198 8,511.2 5,197.7 3,313.5

Fruits and vegetables 212 4,593.7 3,207.4 1,386.2

Grains and oilseeds 2 769 7,996.4 4,581.0 3,415.4

Livestock and poultry 85 3,643.9 2,640.9 1,003.0

Rice 15 498.0 221.0 276.9

Sugar 48 2,196.4 1,223.9 972.5

Other products 3 218 2,585.1 1,232.3 1,352.8 _____ _______ _______ _______

Total marketing 1,559 30,926.1 18,865.9 12,060.2

Total farm supply 1,201 15,495.4 8,517.9 6,977.5

Service 380 1,064.2 499.5 564.7 _____ _______ _______ _______

Total 3,140 47,485.7 27,883.3 19,602.4

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed oil is included in other marketings while cottonseed meal is included in farm supplies (feed).

3 Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool, cottonseed, and other products.

Figure 19— Cooperatives’ Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, 1993-2002

0

5

0

5

0

5

0

5

0

5

0

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

Billion dollars

Assets

Liabilities

Net Worth

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0
total liabilities grew from $18.6 billion in 1993 (55.7

percent of total assets) to 58.7 percent of total assets in

2002.

A measure of balance sheet strength is the proportion of assets financed by net worth or equity capital. Net worth, or member and patron equity, was

$19.6 billion, down by $545 million from $20.1 million

in 2001. The proportion of total assets financed by

member and patron equity was virtually unchanged at

41.3 percent compared to 41.6 percent in 2001. As

assets and liabilities increased over the 10-year period

on cooperative balance sheets, net worth has fallen. In

dollar terms, net worth rose from $14.8 billion in 1993

to $19.6 billion in 2002, but the proportion of assets

financed by net worth fell from 44.3 percent to 41.3

percent during that time period.

Net worth, or member and patron equity, for all

marketing cooperatives totaled $12.1 billion, down 2.5

percent from 2001. Marketing cooperatives accounted

for 61.5 percent of farmer cooperatives' combined net

worth, about the same as 2001, when it was 61.4. Net

worth for farm supply cooperatives totaled $7 billion,

down 2.8 percent from $7.2 billion in 2001. Their net

worth accounted for almost 36 percent of the total

(appendix figure 10). For marketing cooperatives, the

highest percentage of total assets represented by net

worth shown in figure 20 (55.6 percent) was for those

marketing rice. Service cooperatives ranked second

with 53.1 percent. The lowest, 27.5 percent, was for

cooperatives marketing livestock and poultry.

Marketing and farm supply cooperatives had 39 percent and 45 percent, respectively, of their assets

financed by net worth.

Of the $47.5 billion in total assets, marketing

cooperatives accounted for $30.9 billion, down 2.9 percent from 2001. Cooperatives primarily handling

grains and oilseeds had the second largest assets ($8

billion in 2002, up 7.7 percent from $7.4 billion in 2001)

and maintained the largest proportion of their assets as

investments in other cooperatives in both 2002 (14 percent) and 2001 (16.1 percent). Assets of marketing

cooperatives, excluding investments in other cooperatives and CoBank, totaled $28.3 billion, down 2.7 percent from $29.1 billion in 2001.

Farm supply cooperatives had total assets of

$15.5 billion, unchanged from 2001. Excluding intercooperative investments, total assets decreased 3.7 percent, from $13.2 billion in 2001 to $12.7 billion.

Selected Financial Ratios

Financial ratios express relationships between

items in the financial and income statements of a busi26

Figure 20— Percentage of Assets Financed by Net Worth, by Cooperative Type, 2002

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable

Cotton

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Sugar

Farm Supply

Other marketing1

Service

Rice

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other products marketing cooperatives.
27

Table 13—Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 2002

Net Total

Type of cooperative Return worth to Return sales to Times

and by size of assets on total total on total total Current interest

in million $ assets 2 assets 3 sales 4 assets 5 ratio 6 earned 7

-------------------------- Percent ---------------------- ------------------------ Number ------------------------

Cotton–all sizes 8.5 39.1 3.6 2.4 1.2 4.9

Assets less than $25.0 13.1 51.8 7.8 1.7 2.5 n/a

25.0 - 499.99 8.2 38.4 3.4 2.4 1.2 n/a

Cotton gin–all sizes 14.5 66.2 12.7 1.1 1.6 13.5

Assets less than $0.99 8.0 66.0 4.1 1.9 1.7 1.6

1.0 - 2.49 16.5 68.0 12.7 1.3 1.4 9.8

2.5 - 99.99 14.4 65.9 13.5 1.1 1.7 15.7

Dairy–all sizes 3.1 38.1 1.0 3.1 1.2 3.0

Assets less than $2.49 3.7 57.8 0.4 8.4 1.4 14.2

2.5 - 24.99 7.0 34.3 0.9 7.5 1.2 11.9

25.0 - 99.99 4.3 44.7 0.6 6.8 1.3 4.4

100.0 and more 2.9 37.8 1.1 2.8 1.2 2.9

Dry beans and peas–all

sizes 4.9 40.8 3.9 1.3 1.4 3.5

Fruit and vegetable–all sizes -2.0 24.8 -1.1 1.9 1.6 3.6

Assets less than $0.5 -8.6 40.1 -0.6 13.4 1.4 8.8

0.5 - 2.49 1.3 48.5 0.1 13.9 2.0 1.6

2.5 - 24.99 3.7 41.8 1.1 3.3 1.4 3.9

25.0 - 99.99 2.1 28.7 1.1 1.8 1.1 1.5

100.0 and more -2.7 23.7 -1.5 1.8 1.8 3.8

Fresh only–all sizes 3.8 44.6 1.7 2.2 1.4 n/a

Assets less than $1.0 15.1 68.1 4.5 3.3 2.3 n/a

1.0 - 2.49 -1.7 33.0 -0.4 4.4 1.8 n/a

2.5 - 24.99 5.4 46.4 1.6 3.4 1.5 n/a

25.0 - 499.99 3.8 44.7 1.8 2.1 1.3 n/a

Processed only–all sizes 7.1 28.6 4.4 1.6 1.4 n/a

Assets less than $99.99 1.3 10.1 0.8 1.7 1.1 n/a

100.0 and more 7.6 30.4 4.7 1.6 1.5 n/a

Fresh and processed–all

sizes -14.6 11.7 -7.6 1.9 2.3 n/a

Grain and oilseed–all sizes8 2.7 44.2 1.2 2.3 1.2 2.6

Assets of 0.5 - $2.49 1.2 63.2 0.4 3.0 1.8 3.3

2.5 - 24.99 2.5 49.0 1.0 2.4 1.3 2.9

25.0 - 99.99 2.4 39.7 1.1 2.2 1.2 2.4

100.0 - 499.99 5.0 38.6 2.6 2.0 1.3 2.6

Livestock–all sizes -1.3 23.6 -0.3 4.5 1.3 0.6

Assets of less than $25.0 4.9 52.6 0.8 5.9 1.4 6.9

25.0 and more -1.3 23.3 -0.3 4.5 1.3 0.6

continued
ness operation and help in analyzing a cooperative's

economic and financial situation. Ratios can indicate

problem areas, serve as guidelines for planning, and

aid in formulating actions. However, ratio interpretation is largely subjective.

Six financial ratios were used to measure cooperative performance or financial condition—return on

total assets, net worth-to-total assets, return on total

sales, total sales-to-total assets, the current ratio, and

times interest earned.

The return on total assets and return on total

sales ratios indicate profitability. The net worth-to-total

assets ratio shows a cooperative's ability to meet longterm financial obligations. The total sales-to-total

assets ratio (asset turnover ratio) indicates how efficiently a cooperative is using its assets. The current

ratio measures a cooperative's ability to meet short-run

obligations. Times interest earned shows the number

of times interest charges were covered by net income.

Table 13 presents the values of these ratios.

Extreme high and low values were excluded so those

used would be more representative of the cooperatives

reporting. Ratios are also shown by selected asset category for those cooperatives where sufficient informa28

Table 13—Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 2002 1, Continued

Net Total

Type of cooperative Return worth to Return sales to Times

and by size of assets on total total on total total Current interest

in million $ assets 2 assets 3 sales 4 assets 5 ratio 6 earned 7

-------------------------- Percent ---------------------- ------------------------ Number ------------------------

Nut–all sizes 2.7 37.0 1.3 2.1 1.6 2.0

Poultry–all sizes 8.3 36.2 3.6 2.3 1.8 3.4

Sugar–all sizes 3.5 45.2 3.3 1.0 1.2 2.4

Other products–all sizes 9 1.4 43.5 1.0 1.3 1.1 7.3

Assets of less than $25.0 -0.8 44.6 -0.5 1.6 1.2 4.5

25.0 and more 2.2 43.0 1.8 1.2 1.1 7.4

Other service–all sizes 10 15.8 59.7 10.7 1.5 1.7 7.3

Assets of less than $2.5 0.6 58.6 0.4 1.5 1.8 4.5

2.5 and more 19.7 60.0 13.3 1.5 1.7 7.4

Artificial insemination–all

sizes 8.1 60.7 2.4 3.4 1.8 n/a

Farm supply–all sizes 0.5 38.2 0.3 1.7 1.4 1.1

Assets of less than $0.5 -5.5 66.7 -1.8 3.0 2.4 -1.9

0.5 - 0.99 -1.9 72.7 -0.9 2.2 2.7 -1.7

1.0 - 2.49 1.2 68.0 0.6 2.2 2.1 1.8

2.5 - 24.99 3.2 57.1 1.7 1.9 1.5 3.5

25.0 - 99.99 2.3 44.3 1.2 1.8 1.2 2.4

100.0 - 499.99 5.5 47.0 3.2 1.7 1.4 2.4

500.0 and more -2.1 22.9 -1.5 1.4 1.3 0.8

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 ratios. Extreme values not representative of the group were excluded. 2 Calculated by dividing net income (before taxes) by total 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 (before taxes) 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.

7 The ratio was calculated by summing net income before taxes and interest expense and dividing by interest expense for each grouping. 8 Excludes cottonseed.

9 Includes other products marketing and fishery cooperatives. 10 Includes cooperatives providing services such as storage, transportation, and rice drying.
tion 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 total assets (net income/total

assets) varied considerably. It was negative for large

livestock, smaller other products, large and small fruit

and vegetable, and large and small farm supply cooperatives. The ratio was highest (19.7) for large other

service cooperatives and cotton gins (14.5). For dairy,

the ratio was highest for those cooperatives with assets

between $2.5 and $24.99 million. Among grain cooperatives, the largest return came to the largest cooperatives.

The net worth-to-total assets ratio (net worth/

total assets) ranged from a low of 10 percent for the

smallest processing fruit and vegetable cooperatives to

a high of 73 percent for small farm supply cooperatives. Large livestock, fruit and vegetable, and farm

supply cooperatives all had net worth to total assets of

23 percent. Generally, as cooperatives become larger

and/or do more processing, fewer of their assets are

financed by members, which lowers the net worth-toassets ratio.

The return on total sales (net income before

taxes/total sales) ranged from a negative 1.8 percent

for small farm supply cooperatives to a high of 13 percent for larger other service and larger cotton gin cooperatives. Few cooperative groups generated a return

on sales above 3 percent (only 12 of the 41 groups

shown in table 13).

The total sales-to-total assets ratio (total

sales/total assets) ranged from a high of 13.9 for the

small fresh fruit and vegetable cooperatives to a low of

1 for the sugar cooperatives. Among most 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 cooperatives that engage in these types of

activities. The high total sales-to-total assets ratios for

smaller fruit and vegetable 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 1.1 for other products cooperatives, to 2.5 for smaller farm supply and smaller

cotton cooperatives. Almost all sizes and types of

cooperatives have a current ratio of less than 2, which

is considered low.

Times interest earned ((net income before taxes +

interest expense)/interest expense) varied most by

type of cooperative, with a negative value for small

farm supply cooperatives with losses to a high of

almost 16 for large cotton gin cooperatives. Farm supply cooperatives averaged a 1.1 times interest earned.

This means that farm supply cooperatives had net

incomes before taxes just slightly larger than their

interest expenses.

IV—OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES

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 agricultural businesses and other entities in 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.

Information on their structure, assets, net worth, and

income can be found in appendix tables 7-9.

Rural Electric Cooperatives

Rural electric cooperatives provide electricity primarily to rural customers. There are electric distribution cooperatives and generation and transmission

cooperatives. The 644 rural electric cooperatives in

2002 served about 11 million customers in 43 States

(appendix table 10).

Rural Credit Unions

The 512 rural credit unions reported 3.7 million

members and savings of more than $21 billion. Rural

credit unions supply financial services to members in

rural areas. Their number, members, and savings are

listed by State in appendix table 11.

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA)

test dairy herds to maintain accurate records. The

records include production and genetic records of

cows and sires. In 2002, DHIA had almost 28,000 member herds and 4.2 million cows were tested (appendix

table 12).

29
30

APPENDIX TABLES
31

Appendix Table 1—Number of cooperatives by major business activity, 2002-1993

Major business activity 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

Products marketed: NumberBean and pea (dry edible) 8 9 8 8 8 8 9 10 10 10Cotton 14 14 14 15 15 16 16 16 17 16Dairy 198 204 208 221 228 236 237 241 247 258Fruit and vegetable 212 220 232 231 249 259 267 281 288 282Grain and oilseed 1 769 789 826 896 964 1,014 1,066 1,090 1,159 1,193

Livestock 66 70 74 81 80 88 89 94 100 106Nuts 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 21 21 20Poultry 2 19 19 19 15 18 20 16 18 17 13

Rice 15 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 21 21Sugar 3 48 48 48 48 52 51 49 51 52 55Tobacco 22 24 25 25 26 26 26 26 25 25Wool and mohair 78 80 83 84 91 88 97 98 100 107Other products 92 96 101 90 97 99 102 109 116 108

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm products 1,559 1,606 1,672 1,749 1,863 1,941 2,012 2,074 2,173 2,214Total farm supplies 1,201 1,234 1,277 1,313 1,347 1,386 1,403 1,458 1,496 1,547Total related services 380 389 397 404 441 464 469 474 505 483

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total business 3,140 3,229 3,346 3,466 3,651 3,791 3,884 4,006 4,174 4,244

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.
32 Appendix Table 2—Cooperative memberships, by major business activity, 2002-1993

Major business activity 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

Products marketed: ThousandsBean and pea (dry edible) 2.2 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9 4.0 3.3 2.5 2.5Cotton 43.5 45.9 45.4 43.8 41.3 42.7 42.6 41.9 40.2 37.8Dairy 81.7 91.0 96.9 90.7 92.9 104.9 111.4 117.3 124.7 122.4Fruit and vegetable 32.5 37.8 41.1 40.9 44.0 44.0 46.8 49.1 50.6 50.9Grain and oilseed 1 542.5 581.5 615.3 657.9 728.7 745.0 783.4 805.9 828.5 876.8

Livestock 94.0 105.3 132.1 137.1 161.5 236.0 278.8 273.6 330.6 340.6Nuts 35.8 40.1 41.7 43.7 46.0 41.7 48.0 48.4 49.0 50.5Poultry 2 26.1 19.1 29.2 29.2 36.3 34.3 32.3 28.6 30.0 24.7

Rice 12.4 13.9 12.2 11.8 12.9 14.0 14.8 15.9 16.8 16.9Sugar 3 13.9 16.3 15.6 15.7 15.9 13.8 11.8 15.3 12.5 13.2Tobacco 127.8 165.7 165.9 170.0 172.8 172.9 266.7 270.1 275.3 261.1Wool and mohair 11.1 12.6 13.0 15.4 17.9 16.7 17.5 19.7 24.8 27.7Other products 25.5 28.0 31.9 23.9 25.3 29.0 24.2 22.5 19.7 4.5

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm products 1,049.1 1,160.0 1,243.0 1,282.8 1,398.4 1,497.8 1,682.4 1,711.5 1,805.2 1,829.5Total farm supplies 1,637.1 1,745.8 1,717.8 1,731.4 1,773.7 1,743.2 1,794.7 1,845.5 1,935.6 1,977.3Total related services 107.4 128.1 124.3 159.1 180.6 183.1 186.5 210.3 245.3 216.4

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total business 2,793.6 3,033.9 3,085.1 3,173.3 3,352.6 3,424.2 3,663.6 3,767.3 3,986.0 4,023.3

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.
33

Appendix Table 3—Cooperatives’ gross business volume, by type of cooperative, 2002-1993

Major business activity 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

Products marketed: Billion $Beans and peas (dry edible) .1 .2 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2Cotton 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.2 3.0 3.1 2.7 2.9 2.5 2.0Dairy 25.9 29.4 25.8 28.5 27.8 26.3 26.0 23.7 23.1 22.7Fruits and vegetables 8.4 9.7 10.1 10.1 9.9 9.8 9.9 9.9 9.3 8.9Grains and oilseeds 20.1 22.6 22.9 21.7 25.3 28.8 33.9 25.2 21.2 19.1Livestock 9.9 9.6 8.0 7.4 7.6 7.5 6.7 6.5 6.8 5.7Nuts .9 .9 .7 .9 .9 .9 1.0 .9 1.0 .9Poultry 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.6Rice .8 .8 .8 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 .8Sugar 2.4 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.0 2.0 1.9 2.1Tobacco .2 .4 .6 .3 .3 .6 1.4 1.2 .4 .6Wool and mohair .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0Other products 2.8 3.0 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.3 3.4 2.7 3.0 2.3

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm products 76.6 84.0 80.4 80.5 84.5 85.9 90.3 77.9 72.1 66.8

Supplies purchased:Crop protectants 3.1 3.6 4.0 3.8 4.1 4.4 3.9 3.6 3.5 3.0Feed 6.7 5.5 6.6 6.4 7.2 8.1 7.4 6.6 6.5 6.3Fertilizer 5.2 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.8 8.9 8.7 7.9 7.4 6.2Petroleum 11.4 14.1 13.3 8.1 8.8 10.6 9.8 8.1 8.4 8.3Seed 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.1 1.0 .9 .9 .8 .8 .8Other supplies 3.6 4.0 4.1 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.1 3.9 3.8 3.6

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm supplies 31.5 36.1 36.8 30.9 33.0 37.1 34.7 31.0 30.4 28.2Services and otherincome 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.9 3.5 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.0 2.7

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total business 111.6 123.6 120.7 115.3 121.0 126.7 128.1 112.2 105.5 97.7
34 Appendix Table 4–Cooperatives’ net business volume, by type of cooperative, 2002-1993

Major business activity 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

Products marketed: Billion $Beans and peas (dry edible) .1 .2 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2Cotton 2.5 2.4 2.7 2.1 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.8 2.5 1.9Dairy 23.0 26.2 22.7 26.0 25.3 23.4 22.9 21.8 21.5 20.5Fruits and vegetables 7.3 8.8 9.6 9.3 9.4 9.3 9.4 9.3 8.4 8.4Grains and oilseeds 17.5 18.1 18.4 17.1 21.3 24.6 27.7 19.9 17.6 16.5Livestock 9.9 9.6 8.0 7.3 7.4 7.5 6.7 6.5 6.8 5.7Nuts .9 .9 .7 .9 .9 .9 1.0 .9 1.0 .9Poultry 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.1 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.4Rice .7 .8 .8 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 .8Sugar 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.4 2.3 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8Tobacco .2 .4 .6 .3 .3 .6 1.4 1.2 .4 .6Wool and mohair .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0Other products 2.6 2.9 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.5 2.9 2.3

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm products 69.7 75.0 72.1 72.0 76.6 77.8 79.4 69.3 65.5 60.9

Supplies sold:Crop protectants 2.7 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.1 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.2Feed 5.4 4.0 4.7 4.7 5.4 6.0 5.4 5.0 4.8 4.7Fertilizer 4.3 5.0 4.6 4.8 5.2 5.4 5.2 4.7 4.5 3.8Petroleum 7.2 8.4 7.5 6.3 6.6 6.8 6.3 5.2 5.3 5.2Seed 1.1 1.1 .9 .8 .7 .7 .7 .6 .6 .6Other supplies 3.0 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.5 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.0 2.9

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total farm supplies 23.7 24.8 24.1 23.2 24.6 25.2 23.7 21.2 20.8 19.2Services and otherincome 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.9 3.5 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.0 2.7

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Total business 96.8 103.3 99.7 99.1 104.7 106.7 106.2 93.8 89.3 82.9
35

Appendix Table 5—Net income of farmer cooperatives, 1993-20021

From own From other

Year operations cooperatives2 Total

Million $

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

20013 1,039 318 1,357

2002 847 362 1,210

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.

3 Revised
36

Appendix Table 6—Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1993-2002

Assets Investments

from own in other Total Total Net

Year operations cooperatives 1 assets liabilities worth

Million $

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

2001 43,270 5,195 48,465 28,317 20,148

2002 41,947 5,539 47,486 27,883 19,602

Percent of total assets

1993 91.1 8.9 100.0 55.7 44.3

1994 91.2 8.8 100.0 56.6 43.4

1995 92.0 8.0 100.0 58.7 41.3

1996 91.6 8.4 100.0 59.2 40.8

1997 90.7 9.3 100.0 57.9 42.1

1998 90.0 10.0 100.0 57.1 42.9

1999 88.8 11.2 100.0 57.5 42.5

2000 89.8 10.2 100.0 59.2 40.8

2001 89.3 10.7 100.0 58.4 41.6

2002 88.3 11.7 100.0 58.7 41.3

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

Appendix Table 7—Farm Credit Association Structure, September 30, 20021

District or

bank affiliation PCA ACA FLCA

Number

CoBank, ACB - 4 -

AgFirst FCB - 24 -

AgriBank, FCB 1 17 1

FCB of Wichita 3 13 4

FCB of Texas - 12 10

Western FCB - 12 1

AgAmerica, FCB - 2 - __ __ __

Total 4 84 16

- = No bank affiliation.

1 PCA = Production Credit Association, ACA = Agricultural Credit Association, FLCA = Federal Land Credit Association, ACB=Agricultural

Credit Bank, the successor Bank resulting from a BC/FCB merger. During 2002, the remaining Federal Land Bank Associations became

direct lenders through conversions to FLCAs. Included in the changes were the reorganizations in which a majority of the ACAs adopted the

ACA Parent structure.

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Accountability Report FY 2002, McLean, VA, p. 48.

Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statement - 2002, Jersey City, NJ, p. 24.
37

Appendix Table 8—Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net worth, and net income, 1998-20021

Year Assets Net worth Net income

Million $

1998 84,139 12,522 1,251

1999 88,692 13,319 1,233

2000 94,036 14,397 1,422

2001 100,810 15,999 1,785

2002 110,647 17,089 1,773

1 Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statement, 2002, Federal Farm Credit Banks, Funding Corporation, Jersey City, NJ, Feb. 23, 2002,

p. 3.

Appendix Table 9—Combined assets, net worth, net loans and net income of CoBank, ACB, 1998-20021

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million $

1998 22,104 1,671 17,513 145

1999 24,089 1,665 18,398 121

2000 24,255 1,791 19,230 185

2001 25,160 2,197 19,944 221

2002 26,961 2,293 20,817 234

1 As of December 31 of each year. Source: CoBank, ACB, Creating Customer Value in the 21st Century, 2002 Annual Report, Englewood,

CO.
38

Appendix Table 10—Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric1 cooperatives, by State, 

December 31, 20022

Members Members

State Cooperatives (consumers) Revenue State Cooperatives (consumers) Revenue

Number 1,000 Million $ Number 1,000 Million $

Alabama 19 395 964 Montana 23 98 149

Alaska 8 56 148 Nebraska 3 9 143

Arizona 6 136 316 New Mexico 16 189 260

Arkansas 16 305 1,010 New York 4 17 15

California 3 16 26 North Carolina 24 758 1,833

Colorado 19 329 1,098 North Dakota 21 124 926

Florida 11 473 1,367 Ohio 20 306 412

Georgia 38 1,242 3,141 Oklahoma 17 235 516

Idaho 4 34 47 Oregon 7 39 81

Illinois 7 52 149 Pennsylvania 10 159 337

Indiana 24 262 1,004 South Carolina 20 552 1,547

Iowa 28 126 449 South Dakota 29 132 251

Kansas 27 156 459 Tennessee 19 767 1,189

Kentucky 25 704 1,742 Texas 39 609 1,593

Louisiana 10 316 434 Virginia 12 395 717

Maine 3 14 10 Washington 5 34 59

Michigan 7 215 202 Wisconsin 16 131 343

Minnesota 37 416 989 Wyoming 9 63 156

Mississippi 15 425 1,058 Other States 3 4 207 307

Missouri 38 472 1,575 ___ ______ ______

United States 644 10,976 27,030

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.
39

Appendix Table 11—Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit unions 1, by State, 

December 31, 2002 2

State Cooperatives Members Savings State Cooperatives Members Savings

Number 1,000 Million $ Number 1,000 Million $

Alabama 7 22 98 New Hampshire 2 1 1

Arizona 4 20 63 New Jersey 3 46 250

Arkansas 2 4 17 New York 22 141 1,026

California 46 677 4,859 North Carolina 7 23 60

Colorado 11 23 98 North Dakota 27 98 668

Florida 13 68 290 Ohio 12 37 88

Georgia 9 36 136 Oklahoma 4 7 44

Hawaii 11 109 862 Oregon 7 33 164

Idaho 7 15 67 Pennsylvania 16 29 103

Illinois 9 69 389 Rhode Island 3 86 886

Indiana 13 48 524 South Carolina 6 10 34

Iowa 6 7 24 Tennessee 7 16 51

Kansas 14 61 263 Texas 30 112 477

Kentucky 6 30 112 Utah 8 17 66

Louisiana 8 17 55 Vermont 2 20 56

Maine 7 25 108 Virginia 5 42 200

Maryland 5 64 369 Washington 11 157 879

Massachusetts 2 1 1 West Virginia 2 5 13

Michigan 22 374 1,634 Wisconsin 56 689 3,760

Minnesota 34 238 1,456 Wyoming 2 3 7

Mississippi 4 12 35 Other States 3 3 29 166

Missouri 3 8 22 Other 4 7 18 89

Montana 8 36 184 __ _____ _____

Nebraska 14 21 124

Nevada 5 50 418 United States 512 3,655 21,299

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 two cooperatives – Alaska, Connecticut, and Delaware.

4 Puerto Rico and Guam.
40

Appendix Table 12—Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd improvement associations 1, by State,

December 31, 2002 2

Members Cows Members Cows

State (herds) tested State (herds) tested

Number 1,000 Number 1,000

Alabama 42 7.5 Nebraska 211 30.3

Arizona 56 85.5 Nevada 17 9.9

Arkansas 63 8.4 New Hampshire 101 10.0

California 1,063 914.3 New Jersey 69 6.7

Colorado 68 44.6 New Mexico 33 57.2

Connecticut 106 12.1 New York 2,492 326.7

Delaware 36 4.4 North Carolina 226 37.0

Florida 95 63.0 North Dakota 58 6.4

Georgia 217 53.2 Ohio 1,032 108.4

Hawaii 3 2.0 Oklahoma 100 15.9

Idaho 197 129.0 Oregon 258 71.3

Illinois 579 54.8 Pennsylvania 4,481 339.4

Indiana 449 46.2 Rhode Island 6 .4

Iowa 1,115 104.7 South Carolina 77 14.9

Kansas 278 49.1 South Dakota 210 25.7

Kentucky 260 24.5 Tennessee 246 30.5

Louisiana 111 15.4 Texas 239 119.1

Maine 142 13.8 Utah 194 41.2

Maryland 394 41.1 Vermont 463 58.4

Massachusetts 108 10.8 Virginia 508 70.6

Michigan 856 144.8 Washington 241 72.0

Minnesota 2,932 262.6 West Virginia 57 6.6

Mississippi 68 10.6 Wisconsin 6,545 579.2

Missouri 448 41.1 Wyoming 3 .8

Montana 55 8.4 _____ _____

United States 3 27,784 4,232.6

1 Source: Agricultural Research Service, USDA.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, with 176 members and 42,140 cows tested.
41

APPENDIX FIGURES
42

Appendix Figure 1— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 2002

Grain & Oilseed 24.5%

Dairy 6.3%

Livestock & Poultry 2.7%

Fruit & Vegetable 6.7%

Other Marketing1 8.9%

Percentages based on a total of 3,140 cooperatives.

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

Cotton 0.4%

Service 12.1%

Farm Supply 38.2%

Appendix Figure 2— U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1978-2002

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1978 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000 2002

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

Million

Farms

Memberships 1

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
43

Appendix Figure 3— Assets Per Full-Time Employee, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

Livestock & Poultry

Rice

Fruit & Vegetable

Service

Farm Supply

Dairy

Other Marketing1

Grain & Oilseed

Cotton

Sugar

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Thousand dollars

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

Appendix Figure 4— Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

Sugar 2.7%

Fruit & Vegetable 11.2%

Livestock & Poultry 20.7%

Other Marketing1 4.1%

Percentages are based on a total of 166,087 full-time employees.

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

Dairy 14.2%

Rice 1.5%

Grain & Oilseed 11.4%

Cotton 1.2%

Service 2.4%

Farm Supply 30.6%
44

Appendix Figure 5— Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1978-2002

0

20

40

60

80

00

20

40

1978 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000 2002

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

Billion dollars

Gross 1

Net 2

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Appendix Figure 6— Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1978-2002

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

00

10

1978 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 2000 2002

1 Total includes value of related services and other income.

Billion dollars

Total 1

Marketing

Farm Supply

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
45

Appendix Figure 7—Cooperatives’ Investments in Other Cooperatives and Patronage Refunds Received from

Other Cooperatives,1 1993-2002

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 2001 2002

1 Includes other farmer cooperatives and CoBank.

Billion dollars

Investments

Refunds

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Appendix Figure 8—Distribution of Total Net Income, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

Fruit & Vegetable

Rice

Cotton

Service

Grain & Oilseed 

Other Marketing 1

Dairy

Farm Supply

Percentage based on net income of $1.21 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, livestock, poultry, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, sugar, fishery, and other products marketing cooperatives.

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Percent of total
46

Appendix Figure 9—Distribution of Total Losses, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

Other Marketing 1

Dairy

Service

Livestock & Poultry

Grain & Oilseed

Farm Supply

Fruit & Vegetable

Percentage based on losses of $664.3 million.

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

0 10 20 30 40 50

Percent of Total
47

Appendix Figure 10— Distribution of Total Net Worth, by Type of Cooperative, 2002

Grain & Oilseed 17.4%

Rice 1.4%

Dairy 16.9%

Sugar 5.0%

Fruit & Vegetable 7.1%

Livestock & Poultry 5.1%

Service 2.9%

Farm Supply 35.6%

Cotton 1.7%

Other Marketing1 6.9%

Percentages are based on total net worth of $19.6 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, wool and mohair, tobacco, fishery, and other products marketing cooperatives.
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Business–Cooperative Service

Stop 3250

Washington, D.C. 20250-3250

www.rurdev.usda.gov

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.