AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

USDA Rural Development

Service Report 81
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 

Service Report 81

December 2018

The 2017 agricultural cooperative statistics database was developed by Charita 

Coleman, James Wadsworth, and Judith Rivera of USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service. This report was prepared by James Wadsworth and Charita Coleman.

USDA Rural Development invites you to explore a wide variety of cooperative 

information on the Internet. Rural Development’s website is: www.rd.usda.gov. 

Aggregated agricultural cooperative statistics (1913-2017) can be provided in Excel 

format by request from: coopinfo@wdc.usda.gov. The USDA Home Page is: 

www.usda.gov

On the cover: Seed corn is harvested outside of Bode, Iowa, in September 2017. On the 

horizon is a grain facility operated by New Cooperative, headquartered in Fort Dodge, 

Iowa. Front and back covers: USDA photos by Preston Keres

Cooperative Programs

Rural Development

U.S. Department of Agriculture

STOP 3256

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250 3256

Service Report 81
CONTENTS

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................3

Definitions for terms used in report.............................................................................................................................4

Section I: Overall Financials ..........................................................................................................................................................5

Table 1—Summary comparison of U.S. agricultural cooperatives, selected statistics, 2017 and 2016 ......................................6

Table 2—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016............................................................................................7

Table 3—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017 ...........................................................................8

Table 4—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017.................................................9

Table 5—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by size, 2017 ..............................................................................................11

Table 6—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016 ..................................................................................................12

Table 7—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017..................................................................................13

Table 8—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017 .......................................................14

Table 9—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by size, 2017.....................................................................................................15

Table 10—Combined financial ratios, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017 and 2016..............................................................16

Table 11—Combined financial ratios, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary product marketed and by size, 2017.....................................17

Section II: Number of Co-ops, Memberships, and Employees................................................................................19

Table 12—Number of ag co-ops, by operating type and State, also memberships by State, 2017..............................................20

Table 13—Number of U.S. ag co-ops and memberships, by type, 2017 ..........................................................................................21

Table 14—U.S. ag co-ops, gross business, and memberships, by sales volume group, 2017 ......................................................22

Table 15—Full-time and part-time employees, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2017 and 2016.................................................................23

Table 16—Number of U.S. ag co-ops memberships, employees, and branches, by size, 2017....................................................24

Section III: Section III: Business Volume and Losses............................................................................................................25

Table 17—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017 ..................................................26

Table 18—Net business volume, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016 .......................................................................................................33

Table 19—Losses, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016 ................................................................................................................................34

Section IV: Top 100 Agricultural Cooperatives..........................................................................................................35

Table 20—Abbreviated income statement for Top 100 ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016 ..........................................................................36

Table 21—Abbreviated balance sheet, Top 100 ag co-ops, 2017 & 2016..........................................................................................37

Table 22—Top 100 ag co-ops financial ratios, 2017 and 2016.............................................................................................................38

Table 23—Top 100 ag co-ops share compared to all U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016.....................................................................39

Table 24—Top 100 Ag Co-ops ranked by total gross business revenue, 2017 and 2016 ................................................................40

Section V: Benchmark Statistics for Cooperative Comparisons.......................................................................................39

Table 25—Common-size income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2017 .....................................................................................46

Table 26—Common-size income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017 ........................................47

Table 27—Common-size balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017..........................................................................48

Table 28—Common-size balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary product marketed, 2017.....................................................49

Table 29.1—Grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017...............................................................50

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 1
Table 29.2—Mixed grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ...................................................53

Table 29.3—Dairy marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ...............................................................56

Table 29.4—Cotton marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017.............................................................58

Table 29.5—Cotton ginning co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017..................................................................59

Table 29.6—Fresh fruit and vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017...............................................60

Table 29.7—Fresh and processed fruit and vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ...................62

Table 29.8—Processed fruit and vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017......................................63

Table 29.9—Livestock marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017........................................................64

Table 29.10—Poultry marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017..........................................................65

Table 29.11—Fish and seafood marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ........................................66

Table 29.12—Rice marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017...............................................................67

Table 29.13—Sugar marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017............................................................68

Table 29.14—Nut marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ................................................................69

Table 29.15—Local food co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017.......................................................................70

Table 29.16—Miscellaneous marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, 2017 ..........................................................71

Table 29.17—Farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017....................................................................72

Table 29.18—Mixed farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ........................................................75

Table 29.19—Artificial insemination co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 ..................................................78

Table 29.20—Miscellaneous service co-ops, common-size financial statements, 2017 ...............................................................79

Section V: Statistical Trends ..........................................................................................................................................................83

Table 30—Number, memberships, and business volume, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2008-2017 ..................................84

Table 31—Number of employees, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2008-2017..............................................................................................85

Table 32—Data used in trend analysis, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017 ...............................................................................................86

Table 33—Percent changes of data used in trend analysis, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008-2017................................................................87

Figure 1 – Number of U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017 ...............................................................................................................................88

Figure 2 – Memberships of U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017.....................................................................................................................88

Figure 3 – Number of employees, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017..........................................................................................................89

Figure 4 – Net and gross business volume, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017.........................................................................................89

Figure 5 – Net sales of grain and dairy commodities, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017........................................................................90

Figure 6 – Net sales of fruit, livestock, and sugar commodities, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017 .....................................................90

Figure 7 – Net sales of petroleum, feed, and fertilizer, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017......................................................................91

Figure 8 – Net sales of crop protectants and seed, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017 ...........................................................................91

Figure 9 – Net operating margin and net income, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017 ..............................................................................92

Figure 10 – Total assets, liabilities, and equity, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008 to 2017...................................................................................92

Figure 11—Total assets of Top 100 U.S. ag co-ops, 2008-2017...........................................................................................................93

Figure 12—Total revenue of Top 100 U.S. ag co-ops, 2008-2017........................................................................................................93

Appendix...........................................................................................................................................................................94

Note 1: Methodology..................................................................................................................................................................................94

Note 2: Financial glossary .........................................................................................................................................................................94

Note 3: Financial ratios ..............................................................................................................................................................................96

2 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2016
INTRODUCTION

Agricultural cooperative statistics are collected 

annually and published to provide information 

on the position and trends among the Nation’s 

farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives. These 

statistics are used for cooperative benchmarking, 

research, technical assistance, education, planning, 

and public policy. The collection, analysis, and 

dissemination of cooperative statistics by the 

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

are authorized by the Cooperative Marketing Act 

of 1926.

Aggregate statistics are reported for cooperative 

business years ending in calendar year 2017. 

The information was collected by a mail survey 

of all organizations identified by USDA Rural 

Development’s Cooperative Programs as farmer, 

rancher, or fishery cooperatives. See Note 1 

in the appendix for further explanation of the 

methodology used. Note 2 provides a financial 

glossary of the terms calculated in the financial 

tables. 

USDA depends on the responses from ag 

cooperatives to its annual survey to develop a 

detailed and comprehensive set of statistics on 

agricultural cooperatives. The time and effort 

taken by cooperatives to provide information 

to USDA, and the timeliness with which it is 

furnished, are greatly appreciated.

This report presents agricultural cooperative 

statistics for 2017 in table and chart format and 

consists of six sections: (I) overall financials; (II) 

number of co-ops, memberships, and employees; 

(III) business volume, top co-ops, and losses; (IV) 

Top 100 cooperatives; (V) benchmark statistics 

for comparing cooperatives; and (VI) statistical 

trends. Selected highlights are provided at the 

beginning of each section, and associated tables 

follow. 

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 3
4 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

DEFINITIONS

TYPE OR COMMODITY NOTES

Marketing Cooperatives —A majority of business volume is from the sale of members’ commodities.

Products marketed:2 —Cooperatives are also further classified by the majority of business volume from the sale of a particular commodity

• Bean and pea (dry edible)

• Cotton —Sales of cottonseed meal are included in feed sales; oil sales are included in “other marketing” sales.

• Cotton ginning —Cottonseed accounts for majority of marketing.

• Dairy —Includes milk and dairy products.

• Fish

• Fruit and vegetable —Includes fresh and processed fruit and vegetables.

• Grain and oilseed —Excludes oilseed meal and oil. Oilseed meal is included in feed sales while oil sales are included in other 

marketing sales.

• Livestock 

• Poultry —Includes chicken, eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

• Rice

• Sugar —Includes sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, maple syrup, molasses, and sorghum and related products. 

Other marketing —Includes forest commodities, hay, hops, seed marketed for growers, nursery stock, bioenergy (e.g. ethanol), 

coffee, manufactured food products, and other farm products not classified separately. 

Farm supply cooperatives —A majority of business volume is from the sale of farm supplies.

Farm products:

• Crop protectants —Chemicals applied to crops for weed and pest control.

• Feed —Animal feed.

• Fertilizer —Liquid and solid fertilizer for crops.

• Petroleum —Includes all types of petroleum products and lubricants as well as bioenergy fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

•Seed —Seed for crops.

Other supplies —Includes building materials, containers and packaging supplies, machinery and equipment, meats and groceries, 

automotive supplies, hardware, chicks, artificial insemination supplies and other supplies not separately 

identified.

Service cooperatives —All business volume is from providing services such as livestock shipping, crop storage, grinding, and/or drying. 

Sales include charges for services related to marketing or purchasing, but not included in the volume reported 

for those activities.

Membership structures —Cooperative organizations can be described according to how their members are organized. All three types are 

included in the cooperative numbers presented in this report.

• Centralized —Individual agricultural producer members only.

• Federated —Centralized cooperatives and/or associations are members.

• Mixed —Both individual producers and cooperative/associations are members.

1

Marketing, farm supply, and service are identified as “operating types” of co-ops.

2

The nature of marketing provided further identifies co-ops into categories according to the primary product marketed. Some cooperatives have multiple sources of 

revenue, so the “primary product” category may change from year to year as the relative level of business volume from each source changes.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 5

SECTION I: Overall Financial Statistics

This section (Tables 1-11) provides an overall summary, followed by income statements, balance sheets, 

and financial ratios of U.S. agricultural cooperatives for 2017. Some of the analysis is categorized by type 

(operating type and by primary product marketed), and size. 

Summary Highlights

• Overall gross business volume for ag co-ops increased by $6.1 

billion in 2017, reversing a 2-year downward trend (Table 1).

• There were 1,871 agricultural cooperatives in 2017.

• There were 82 fewer ag co-ops in 2017 than in 2016; 

the decrease was largely due to merger activity and some 

dissolutions.

• By type, there were 30 fewer marketing cooperatives, 50 fewer 

supply, and 2 fewer service co-ops.

• Ag co-ops had 1,890,057 voting members in 2017, 11,361 fewer 

than in 2016.

• Ag co-ops had 138,635 full-time employees in 2017, up 2,018 

from 2016. Part-time or seasonal labor fell by 408. These 

changes resulted in a net increase of 1,610 in total co-op 

employees, to 188,979.

Operations

• Total gross business volume rose from $191.1 billion in 2016 to 

$197.1 billion in 2017. Total assets and member equity were a 

record $93.5 billion and $42.6 billion, respectively, in 2017.

• Net income before taxes dropped from $7.1 billion in 2016 to 

$6.2 billion in 2017. 

• Total marketing volume of $119.8 billion in 2017 was up by $5.2 

billion from 2016 (Table 2). 

• Total supply sales were $71.7 billion, up by $706 million.

• Service and other operating income was $4.2 billion in 2017, up 

$359.6 million from 2016.

• Total expense of $19.4 billion increased by 5.9 percent.

• Among expenses, interest costs increased the most, up 33.6 

percent from 2016.

• Net operating margin of $4.8 billion was down $747.4 million.

• Net income after taxes was $6.2 billion in 2017, down 10 percent 

from 2016.

Commodities

• Grain and oilseed and dairy marketing revenue were both up 

by more than $2 billion each in 2017 (Table 2). Among ag 

commodities marketed, sugar and nut sales declined the most, 

falling $230.4 million and $159.5 million, respectively. 

• Sales of crop protectants, petroleum, and “other” farm supplies 

all increased in 2017, while feed, fertilizer, and seed sales fell. 

• Marketing co-ops had total sales of $108.5 billion, supply co-ops 

$83 billion, and service co-ops $29.8 million, all higher than in 

2016 (Table 3).

• Marketing co-ops’ net income after taxes of $4.7 billion in 2017 

declined $286.6 million from 2016.

• Supply co-ops’ net income after taxes of almost $1.5 billion was 

also lower than in 2016, by $393.4 million.

• Service co-ops’ net income of $36.3 million was $2.7 million 

higher than in 2016.

• Co-ops that market grains and oilseeds had the highest net 

income of all marketing co-ops, at $826.4 million in 2017 (Table 

4). Fruit and vegetables co-ops ranked second, with net income 

of $807.4 million. Sugar co-ops were third, with net income of 

$756.6 million, followed by rice at $690.8 million, and dairy at 

$377.9 million.

• All 10 category sizes of co-ops had positive net income in 2017. 

The 26 largest co-ops (more than $1 billion in sales) comprised 

just 1.4 percent of co-ops, but had 52.5 percent of the total gross 

business volume of all cooperatives (Table 5).

Balance sheet

• Total assets were a record $93.5 billion in 2017, the fourth 

straight year of record assets (Table 6).

• Property, plant, and equipment of $27.8 billion increased 4.8 

percent from 2016, or by $1.3 billion.

• Investments in other co-ops were $9 billion, a 1-percent decrease 

from 2016.

• Total liabilities decreased by $284 million to $50.9 billion in 

2017.

• Total equity was a record $42.6 billion, up $1.7 billion from 

2016.

• Co-ops that marketed primarily grain and oilseeds had $21.9 

billion in assets in 2017, while dairy co-ops had $10.5 billion, and 

fruit and vegetable co-ops $6.1 billion of assets. 

• The largest co-ops (sales of more than $1 billion) accounted 

for $44.6 billion (47.7 percent) of all co-op total assets in 2017 

(Table 9).

Ratios

• Overall, ag co-ops showed solid liquidity and solvency in 2017 

with improved ratios from 2016 (Table 10).

• Equity as a percent of assets rose from 44 percent in 2016 to 46 

percent in 2017.

• Gross margin as a percent of sales, return on assets, and return 

on equity all remained at strong levels in 2017.
6 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 1—Summary comparison of U.S. agricultural cooperatives, select statistics, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 Difference Change

 Percent

Number of ag co-ops (number) 1,871 1,953 (82) (4.20)

Breakdown for structure:

 Centralized 1,750 1,830 (80) (4.37)

 Federated 28 29 (1) (3.45)

 Mixed 93 94 (1) (1.06)

Breakdown for type:

 Marketing 734 762 (28) (3.67)

 Mixed marketing 276 278 (2) (0.72)

 Total marketing 1,010 1,040 (30) (2.88)

 Supply 569 595 (26) (4.37)

 Mixed supply 208 232 (24) (10.34)

 Total supply 777 827 (50) (6.05)

 Total service 84 86 (2) (2.33)

Memberships (number) 1,890,057 1,901,418 (11,361) (0.60)

Gross business volume (billion $) 197.140 191.075 6.065 3.17 

Net business volume (billion $) 169.849 165.632 4.218 2.55 

Net income before taxes (billion $) 6.179 7.148 (0.968) (13.55)

Net income after taxes (billion $) 6.166 6.886 (0.719) (10.45)

Total assets (billion $) 93.516 92.055 1.462 1.59 

Total equity (billion $) 42.645 40.899 1.746 4.27 

Full-time employees (number) 140,653 138,635 2,018 1.46 

Part-time employees (number) 48,326 48,734 (408) (0.84)

Total employees (number) 188,979 187,369 1,610 0.86 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 7

TABLE 2—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 Difference Change

Billion $ Billon $ Million $ Percent

Commodities marketed (gross sales): 

Bean and pea (dry edible) 0.275 0.208 67.6 32.54 

Cotton 2.500 1.839 660.9 35.94 

Cottonseed 0.457 0.491 (34.5) (7.02)

Dairy 42.338 39.818 2,519.2 6.33 

Fish 0.219 0.228 (8.7) (3.83)

Fruit and vegetable 8.256 8.276 (20.8) (0.25)

Grain and oilseed 47.169 44.912 2,256.8 5.02 

Livestock 3.976 3.779 197.0 5.21 

Nut 1.588 1.747 (159.5) (9.13)

Poultry 0.710 0.672 38.7 5.76 

Rice 1.523 0.741 782.5 105.63 

Sugar 5.478 5.708 (230.4) (4.04)

Tobacco 0.321 0.291 30.3 10.44 

Wool 0.009 0.005 3.4 65.74 

Other marketing 4.989 5.872 (882.2) (15.02)

 Total marketing 119.807 114.587 5,220.4 4.56 

 

Supplies sold (gross sales):

Crop protectants 10.821 10.044 776.3 7.73 

Feed 11.005 11.107 (101.4) (0.91)

Fertilizer 12.051 12.465 (414.0) (3.32)

Petroleum 26.292 25.780 512.0 1.99 

Seed 5.680 6.020 (340.7) (5.66)

Other supplies 5.905 5.631 274.0 4.87 

 Total supplies 71.754 71.048 706.3 0.99 

Total gross revenue 191.562 185.635 5,926.6 3.19 

 Cost of goods sold 171.546 165.628 5,918.1 3.57 

Gross margin 19.972 20.006 (33.6) (0.17)

 Service and other operating income 4.179 3.819 359.6 9.42 

Gross revenue 24.151 23.824 326.1 1.37 

 

Expenses 

Wages 9.707 9.452 254.7 2.69 

Depreciation 2.965 2.727 237.5 8.71 

Interest expense 0.940 0.704 236.3 33.58 

Other expenses 5.760 5.415 345.1 6.37 

 Total expenses 19.371 18.298 1,073.5 5.87 

Net operating margin 4.779 5.527 (747.4) (13.52)

 Patronage from other co-ops 0.657 0.888 (231.0) (26.02)

 Non-operating income (expense) 0.743 0.733 10.0 1.37 

Net margin before taxes 6.179 7.148 (968.4) (13.55)

 Taxes 0.013 0.262 (249.0) (95.09)

Net income 6.166 6.886 (719.3) (10.45)

 

Total gross business volume 197.140 191.075 6,065.3 3.17 

Net income from own operations 5.510 5.998 (488.4) (8.14)
8 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 3—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017

 Operating type1

 Marketing Supplies Service Total

 Million $

Income

Commodities marketed 95,525.57 24,256.84 25.06 119,807.47 

Farm supply sales 13,002.01 58,747.57 4.78 71,754.36 

 Total sales 108,527.57 83,004.41 29.84 191,561.82 

Cost of goods sold 96,183.42 75,335.90 27.13 171,546.45 

Gross margin 12,344.15 7,668.51 2.71 20,015.37 

Service & other operating income 3,083.43 945.92 149.23 4,178.58 

Gross revenue 15,427.58 8,614.42 151.95 24,193.95 

Expenses 

Wages 5,484.91 4,178.09 43.97 9,706.97 

Depreciation 1,614.58 1,341.64 8.31 2,964.53 

Interest expense 553.51 384.78 1.47 939.76 

Other expense 3,704.45 1,982.45 73.06 5,759.96 

 Total operating expenses 11,357.45 7,886.96 126.81 19,371.22 

Local savings 4,070.13 727.47 25.13 4,822.73 

 Patronage from other co-ops 343.30 311.80 1.68 656.79 

 Non-operating income 413.25 318.56 11.41 743.22 

Net income before taxes 4,826.69 1,357.83 38.23 6,222.75 

 Taxes 128.84 (117.95) 1.97 12.86 

Net income 4,697.85 1,475.79 36.26 6,209.89 

 

Total gross business volume 112,367.55 84,580.69 192.17 197,140.42 

 

Export sales 4,355.37 367.12 0.00 4,722.49 

1

See definitions table for definitions of operating type.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 9

TABLE 4—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017

Primary commodity marketed1

 

Cotton Cotton Gins Dairy Fruit & Veg Grains and Oilseeds Livestock

 Million $

Income

Commodities marketed 2,763.77 273.93 38,694.03 9,330.42 30,287.05 3,601.72 

Farm supply sales 148.76 85.55 211.08 111.37 12,267.22 21.28 

 Total sales 2,912.53 359.48 38,905.11 9,441.79 42,554.27 3,623.00 

Cost of goods sold 2,864.13 282.09 36,420.82 7,070.69 39,303.60 3,571.33 

Gross margin 48.41 77.38 2,484.29 2,371.09 3,250.67 51.67 

Service and other operating income 209.39 189.50 281.37 386.60 1,625.17 54.72 

Gross revenue 257.80 266.88 2,765.66 2,757.69 4,875.85 106.39 

Expenses 

Wages 73.71 70.98 1,537.22 1,035.48 1,843.54 48.35 

Depreciation 16.91 20.87 299.22 201.15 811.93 4.96 

Interest expense 14.44 3.68 96.81 84.46 276.63 8.99 

Other expenses 77.88 116.63 636.67 670.64 1,463.12 29.92 

 Total operating expenses 182.94 212.17 2,569.92 1,991.72 4,395.22 92.22 

Local savings 74.85 54.71 195.74 765.97 480.63 14.17 

 Patronage from other co-ops 1.71 20.08 47.93 10.39 249.28 4.96 

 Non-operating income (1.27) 5.55 182.79 71.14 119.26 5.12 

Net income before taxes 75.29 80.34 426.46 847.49 849.17 24.25 

 Taxes 3.22 0.32 48.59 40.10 22.78 1.75 

Net Income 72.07 80.03 377.86 807.39 826.39 22.50 

 

Total gross business volume 3,122.36 574.61 39,417.20 9,909.91 44,547.98 3,687.80 

 

Export sales 722.65 0.00 444.55 899.91 1,277.85 0.00 

 

Number of co-ops (number) 14 103 106 116 421 74 

1

See definitions table (page 4) for definitions of primary product marketed.

This table continues on next page.
10 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 4 (cont.)—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017

 Primary commodity marketed

Poultry Rice Sugar Fish Other

 Million $

Income

Commodities marketed 877.42 1,606.98 5,488.09 184.42 2,417.73

Farm supply sales 20.53 2.61 31.39 16.53 85.69

 Total sales 897.95 1,609.59 5,519.48 200.96 2,503.42

Cost of goods sold 774.06 592.03 3,937.79 158.57 1,208.32

Gross margin 123.89 1,017.56 1,581.69 42.39 1,295.10

Service and other operating income 5.67 22.07 262.46 4.20 42.28

Gross revenue 129.57 1,039.63 1,844.16 46.58 1,337.39

Expenses 

Wages 48.98 170.25 560.58 13.12 82.70

Depreciation 9.99 38.64 172.70 2.96 35.26

Interest expense 2.99 9.50 44.24 0.93 10.83

Other expenses 27.27 131.54 317.39 17.36 216.05

 Total operating expenses 89.23 349.93 1,094.90 34.36 344.84

Local savings 40.34 689.70 749.26 12.22 992.55

 Patronage from other co-ops 0.15 1.39 4.26 0.01 3.15

 Non-operating income 1.78 -0.63 6.14 0.41 22.96

Net income before taxes 42.27 690.45 759.66 12.65 1,018.66

 Taxes 0.28 -0.34 3.11 0.07 8.94

Net Income 41.98 690.79 756.55 12.57 1,009.72

 

Total gross business volume 905.55 1,632.41 5,792.35 205.57 2,571.81

 

Export sales 35.70 162.49 158.65 0.00 653.57

 

Number of co-ops (number) 10 9 24 32 101 

1

See definitions table (page 4) for definitions of primary product marketed.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 11

TABLE 5—Combined income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by size, 2017

 Total sales category (Million $)

 

Sales Less than $5 $5–9 $10–14 $15–24 $25–49 $50–99 $100–199 $200–499 $500–999 $1,000 & more

Income

Commodities marketed 295.9 621.4 694.5 1,689.9 3,720.7 5,964.3 8,657.0 17,325.0 19,192.2 61,646.7

Farm supplies 545.8 1,034.2 1,093.9 1,903.1 3,566.9 4,436.2 5,291.2 8,530.6 4,861.2 40,491.3

 Total sales 841.7 1,655.6 1,788.3 3,593.0 7,287.6 10,400.5 13,948.1 25,855.6 24,053.3 102,137.9

 Cost of goods sold 692.9 1,390.7 1,529.2 3,079.1 6,292.2 9,202.1 12,206.1 22,207.9 20,492.5 94,453.8

Gross margin 148.9 264.9 259.1 513.9 995.5 1,198.4 1,742.0 3,647.7 3,560.8 7,684.2

 Service receipts 148.1 139.5 150.0 189.6 338.2 372.4 408.2 817.9 656.3 958.4

Gross revenue 297.0 404.4 409.1 703.5 1,333.7 1,570.8 2,150.2 4,465.5 4,217.2 8,642.6

Expenses 

Wages 131.1 163.8 167.9 300.8 555.1 643.5 899.1 1,638.8 1,502.8 3,704.0

Depreciation 25.3 36.8 41.1 78.4 143.3 186.1 265.7 490.0 402.2 1,295.7

Interest 6.9 9.2 8.0 20.9 33.3 45.7 71.8 146.9 117.2 479.9

Other expenses 119.5 156.6 136.6 236.9 470.1 508.6 688.9 1,270.6 940.9 1,231.4

 Total expenses 282.7 366.4 353.5 636.9 1,201.8 1,383.9 1,925.5 3,546.3 2,963.1 6,711.0

Local savings 14.3 38.0 55.5 66.6 131.9 186.9 224.7 919.2 1,254.1 1,931.6

 Patronage - other co-ops 13.7 20.9 24.0 37.0 67.6 83.9 105.0 136.8 77.7 90.2

 Non-operating income 22.2 10.3 9.3 14.0 30.1 40.1 127.9 23.7 119.6 345.9

 Net income before taxes 50.2 69.1 88.8 117.6 229.6 310.8 457.6 1,079.8 1,451.4 2,367.7

 Taxes 2.5 3.7 4.4 8.4 12.6 30.1 27.2 5.1 30.4 -111.6

Net income 47.8 65.4 84.4 109.2 217.0 280.7 430.4 1,074.7 1,421.0 2,479.3

 

Net income from own operations 34.0 44.5 60.4 72.2 149.4 196.9 325.4 937.9 1,343.3 2,389.1

 Percent of all co-ops 0.61 0.80 1.09 1.30 2.69 3.55 5.86 16.89 24.19 43.02

 

Total gross business volume 1,025.8 1,826.3 1,971.6 3,833.6 7,723.5 10,896.8 14,589.2 26,834.0 24,907.0 103,532.5

 Percent of all co-ops 0.52 0.93 1.00 1.94 3.92 5.53 7.40 13.61 12.63 52.52

 

Number of co-ops 574 249 159 198 223 151 103 154 34 26

 Percent of all co-ops 30.68 13.31 8.50 10.58 11.92 8.07 5.51 8.23 1.82 1.39
12 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 6—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 Difference Change

 ——————— Billion $ ———————— Percent

Current assets 47.849 48.170 (0.322) (0.67)

Property, plant & equipment 27.786 26.517 1.269 4.79 

Other assets 8.842 8.229 0.613 7.45 

 Total, own assets 84.478 82.917 1.561 1.88 

Investments in other cooperatives 9.039 9.138 (0.099) (1.08)

Total assets 93.516 92.055 1.462 1.59 

 

Current liabilities 34.718 34.961 (0.243) (0.70)

Long-term liabilities 16.153 16.194 (0.041) (0.25)

Total Liabilities 50.871 51.156 (0.284) (0.56)

Allocated equity 25.008 24.003 1.006 4.19 

Retained earnings 17.637 16.896 0.740 4.38 

 Total equity 42.645 40.899 1.746 4.27 

Total liabilities and equity 93.516 92.055 1.462 1.59 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 13

TABLE 7—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017 

Marketing Supplies Service Total

 Million $

Current assets 25,261.49 22,452.63 134.58 47,848.69 

Property, plant, and equipment 15,603.22 12,099.63 83.63 27,786.47 

Other assets 4,617.45 4,035.06 189.94 8,842.44 

 Total, own assets 45,482.16 38,587.31 408.15 84,477.61 

Investments in other cooperatives 2,621.02 6,366.01 51.77 9,038.80 

 Total assets 48,103.17 44,953.32 459.92 93,516.41 

Current liabilities 17,857.34 16,755.57 105.15 34,718.06 

Long-term liabilities 9,614.68 6,506.54 32.07 16,153.29 

 Total liabilities 27,472.02 23,262.12 137.22 50,871.36 

Allocated equity 11,682.92 13,186.68 138.88 25,008.49 

Retained earnings 8,948.23 8,504.52 183.82 17,636.57 

 Total equity 20,631.15 21,691.20 322.70 42,645.06 

Total liabilities & net worth 48,103.17 44,953.32 459.92 93,516.41 

 

Number of cooperatives 1,010 777 84 1,871 
14 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 8—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017

 Primary commodity marketed

Cotton Cotton Gins Dairy Fruit & Veg Grains

Million$ Million$ Million$ Million$ Million$

Current assets 622.80 143.41 5,444.90 3,428.39 11,575.71 

Property, plant, and equipment 226.71 167.93 3,254.57 1,735.80 7,378.85 

Other assets 51.40 5.23 1,524.38 807.56 890.47 

 Total, own assets 900.91 316.57 10,223.84 5,971.76 19,845.03 

Investments in other cooperatives 15.52 57.68 283.90 130.33 2,022.42 

 Total assets 916.43 374.24 10,507.74 6,102.09 21,867.45 

Current liabilities 400.18 107.86 4,332.69 2,161.64 8,315.46 

Long-term liabilities 90.59 54.48 2,421.26 1,988.07 3,137.60 

 Total liabilities 490.77 162.33 6,753.95 4,149.71 11,453.06 

Allocated equity 251.39 159.93 3,040.55 1,254.89 4,577.45 

Retained earnings 174.26 51.98 713.24 697.49 5,836.94 

 Total equity 425.65 211.91 3,753.79 1,952.38 10,414.39 

Total liabilities and equity 916.43 374.24 10,507.74 6,102.09 21,867.45 

 

Number of cooperatives 14 103 106 116 421 

 

 Primary commodity marketed 

 

Livestock Poultry Rice Sugar Fish Other

Million $ Million $ Million $ Million $ Million $ Million $

Current assets 546.87 347.01 568.26 1,698.56 34.20 851.38 

Property, plant, and equipment 41.63 141.38 313.20 1,767.53 25.95 549.66 

Other assets 35.08 4.74 108.16 879.76 0.73 309.95 

 Total, own assets 623.59 493.13 989.62 4,345.84 60.88 1,710.99 

Investments in other co-ops 22.69 0.86 17.03 37.96 0.00 32.64 

 Total assets 646.27 493.99 1,006.64 4,383.80 60.88 1,743.63 

Current liabilities 436.19 127.37 235.38 1,386.13 25.83 328.61 

Long-term liabilities 35.98 81.74 325.17 1,043.29 10.48 426.04 

 Total liabilities 472.17 209.11 560.55 2,429.41 36.31 754.65 

Allocated equity 78.43 95.35 164.87 1,398.78 20.29 640.99 

Retained earnings 95.67 189.53 281.22 555.61 4.29 348.00 

 Total equity 174.10 284.88 446.09 1,954.39 24.58 988.98 

Total liabilities and equity 646.27 493.99 1,006.64 4,383.80 60.88 1,743.63 

 

Number of cooperatives 74 10 9 24 32 101 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 15

TABLE 9—Combined balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by size, 2017

 Total sales category (Million $)

 

Less than $5 5–9 10–14 15–24 25–49 50–99 100–199 200–499 500–999 1,000 & more

 

Current assets 407 531 540 1,108 2,150 2,777 4,281 7,793 5,915 22,348

Prop., plant & equip. 236 291 335 680 1,212 1,692 2,433 4,589 3,610 12,708

Other assets 145 34 122 72 180 189 318 1,532 995 5,255

 Total, own assets 789 856 997 1,861 3,542 4,657 7,031 13,913 10,520 40,311

Invest. in other co-ops 120 156 196 342 557 629 914 1,226 608 4,291

 Total assets 909 1,012 1,193 2,203 4,099 5,286 7,946 15,139 11,129 44,601

 

Current liabilities 228 305 316 721 1,456 1,905 3,134 5,462 3,643 17,547

Long-term liabilities 98 102 90 266 435 576 938 2,652 2,040 8,956

 Total liabilities 326 407 406 987 1,891 2,482 4,073 8,113 5,683 26,503

Allocated equity 339 349 400 658 1,229 1,454 1,653 3,074 3,160 12,692

Retained earnings 245 255 387 558 979 1,350 2,220 3,951 2,286 5,406

 Total equity 583 604 787 1,216 2,208 2,804 3,873 7,026 5,446 18,098

Total liab. and equity 909 1,012 1,193 2,203 4,099 5,286 7,946 15,139 11,129 44,601

 

 As percent of all co-ops 

Allocated equity 1.35 1.40 1.60 2.63 4.91 5.82 6.61 12.29 12.63 50.75

Total assets 0.97 1.08 1.28 2.36 4.38 5.65 8.50 16.19 11.90 47.69

 

Number of co-ops 574 249 159 198 223 151 103 154 34 26
16 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 10—Combined financial ratios, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017 and 2016 

2017 2016

Measure Marketing Supply Service Total Total

 ——Ratio——

Current ratio 1.41 1.34 1.28 1.38 1.38

Debt-to-assets 0.57 0.52 0.30 0.54 0.56

Long-term-debt-to-equity 0.47 0.30 0.10 0.38 0.40

Times interest earned 7.72 2.53 24.95 5.62 9.16

Fixed asset turnover 6.96 6.86 0.36 6.89 7.00

Equity-to-assets 0.43 0.48 0.70 0.46 0.44

Expenses-to-gross revenue 0.74 0.92 0.83 0.80 0.77

 ---Percent--- 

Gross margin 11.37 9.24 9.10 10.45 10.78

Return on total assets 11.18 3.88 8.63 7.66 8.53

Return on member equity 40.21 11.19 26.11 24.83 28.69

Current ratio = current assets/current liabilities 

Debt-to-assets = total liabilities/total assets 

Long-term-debt-to-equity = long term liabilities/total equity

Times interest earned = income before taxes and interest expense/interest expense

Fixed asset turnover = sales/fixed assets (net PP&E) 

Equity-to-assets = total equity/total assets 

Expenses-to-gross-revenue = total expenses/gross revenue 

Gross margin = gross margin/total sales

Return on total assets = net income before taxes/total assets 

Return on member equity = net income after taxes/allocated equity 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 17

• Current ratio = current assets/current liabilities

• Debt-to-assets = total liabilities/total assets

• Long-term debt-to-equity = long term liabilities/total equity

• Times interest earned = income before taxes and interest expense/interest 

expense

• Fixed asset turnover = sales/fixed assets (net PP&E)

• Equity-to-assets = total equity/total assets

• Expenses-to-gross-revenue = total expenses/gross revenue

• Gross margin = gross margin/total sales

• Return on total assets = net income before taxes/total assets

• Return on member allocated equity = net income after taxes/allocated equity

TABLE 11—Combined financial ratios, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed and by size, 2017

Financial ratios by type

Cotton Fruits Grains & 

Measure Cotton Gins Dairy & Veg. Oilseeds Livestock Poultry Rice Sugar Fish Other

 ——Ratio——

Current ratio 1.56 1.33 1.26 1.59 1.39 1.25 2.72 2.41 1.23 1.32 2.59

Debt-to-assets 0.54 0.43 0.64 0.68 0.52 0.73 0.42 0.56 0.55 0.60 0.43

Long-term-debt-to-equity 0.21 0.26 0.65 1.02 0.30 0.21 0.29 0.73 0.53 0.43 0.43

Times interest earned 6.21 22.83 5.41 11.03 4.07 3.70 15.15 73.66 18.17 14.59 95.10

Fixed asset turnover 12.85 2.14 11.95 5.44 5.77 87.02 6.35 5.14 3.12 7.74 4.55

Equity-to-assets 0.46 0.57 0.36 0.32 0.48 0.27 0.58 0.44 0.45 0.40 0.57

Expenses-to-gross rev. 0.71 0.79 0.93 0.72 0.90 0.87 0.69 0.34 0.59 0.74 0.26

 Percent 

Gross margin 1.66 21.53 6.39 25.11 7.64 1.43 13.80 63.22 28.66 21.09 51.73 

Return on total assets 8.22 21.47 4.06 13.89 3.88 3.75 8.56 68.59 17.33 20.77 58.42

Return on allocated equity 28.67 50.04 12.43 64.34 18.05 28.68 44.03 418.98 54.09 61.97 157.53

 Financial ratios by co-op size

 Total sales category (Million $)

 Measure Less than $5 $5-9 $10-14 $15-24 $25-49 $50-99 $100-199 $200-499 $500-999 $1,000 & more

 ——Ratio—— 

Current ratio 1.79 1.74 1.71 1.54 1.48 1.46 1.37 1.43 1.62 1.27

Debt-to-assets 0.36 0.40 0.34 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.51 0.54 0.51 0.59

Long-term-debt-to-equity 0.17 0.17 0.11 0.22 0.20 0.21 0.24 0.38 0.37 0.49

Times interest earned 8.31 8.51 12.17 6.62 7.89 7.80 7.37 8.35 13.38 5.93

Fixed asset turnover 3.56 5.69 5.34 5.28 6.01 6.15 5.73 5.63 6.66 8.04

Equity-to-assets 0.64 0.60 0.66 0.55 0.54 0.53 0.49 0.46 0.49 0.41

Expenses-to-gross rev. 0.95 0.91 0.86 0.91 0.90 0.88 0.90 0.79 0.70 0.78

 Percent 

Gross margin 21.48 19.05 16.94 16.69 15.82 13.02 14.27 16.43 17.38 8.14

Return on total assets 5.53 6.46 7.07 4.96 5.29 5.31 5.42 7.10 12.77 5.56

Return on allocated equity 14.10 18.73 21.10 16.60 17.65 19.30 26.04 34.96 44.97 19.53
18 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2016 19

SECTION II: Number of Co-ops, Memberships, and Employees

Section II (Tables 12–16) provides tables showing the number of co-ops by operating type, primary 

product marketed, State, and size. It is important to note that for Table 12, the number of co-ops by 

State are calculated by where the cooperative is headquartered, even though many co-ops do business 

in multiple States. However, the number of memberships in Table 12 are the actual number of voting 

members that co-ops have in the corresponding States. 

Highlights

• There are 170 ag co-ops with headquarters in Minnesota, 

the most of any State, but there were 8 less than in 2016. 

Following are Texas (158), North Dakota (123), Wisconsin 

(107), and California (102) (Table 12). These leading States 

are unchanged from 2016.

• Texas is home to the largest number of marketing co-ops, 

with 119, followed by Minnesota with 83. California has 

70 while Wisconsin has 61. Kansas is next (59), followed by 

Illinois (57), and North Dakota (54).

• Minnesota is home to the largest number of supply and 

service co-ops, with 87, followed by North Dakota with 69. 

Tennessee has 55 and Wisconsin has 46.

• Kentucky has the most ag co-op memberships within it, with 

160,955. It is followed by Minnesota with 129,738, Illinois 

with 122,443, and Virginia with 116,785.

• Grain and oilseeds were marketed by 613 co-ops; these 

crops accounted for a majority of total sales for 421 co-ops 

(Table 13).

• Fruit and vegetable marketing accounted for the majority of 

sales made by 149 co-ops.

• Dairy co-ops handle more than 80 percent of the Nation’s 

milk, the highest market share of all the commodities 

handled by ag co-ops. There are 124 co-ops that market 

dairy products in the United States, with dairy sales being 

the majority sales commodity for 116 of these co-ops. 

• There are 1,010 ag marketing co-ops, 777 ag supply co-ops, 

and 84 ag service co-ops in the United States.

Co-op numbers by size

• There are 574 U.S. ag co-ops that have less than $5 million 

in sales; combined, they had about $1 billion in total sales 

volume (Table 14). These co-ops have 148,000 members, or 

about 8 percent of all memberships.

• There are 249 co-ops with $5 million to $10 million in 

annual sales; 223 co-ops have sales of $25 million to $50 

million. 

• There are 60 co-ops with sales greater than $500 million; 

these co-ops account for 65 percent of all co-op business.

• Twenty-six co-ops have sales over $1 billion, accounting for 

a combined $103.5 billion in total gross revenue.

Memberships and employees

• The 26 largest co-ops have 345,000 members, or 18 percent 

of all memberships. Co-ops in the $200 million to $400 

million size category had the most memberships: 375,000, 

or 20 percent of all memberships.

• Total employment by ag co-ops was 188,979 in 2017, 

an increase of 1,610 employees from 2016. Full-time 

employment was up by 2,018 while part-time employment 

was down 408 (Table 15). 

• Marketing co-ops had 78,617 full-time employees, while 

supply co-ops had 61,347 full-time workers in 2017.

• Dairy co-ops had 24,565 full-time employees, followed by 

grain and oilseed co-ops with 23,557. Next were fruit and 

vegetable co-ops with 16,189 full-time employees. Fruit 

and vegetable co-ops had the most part-time or seasonal 

employees, with 13,631; when counting seasonal staff, this 

group had more employees than did dairy co-ops, but still 

less than grain and oilseed co-ops.

• The largest group of co-ops (more than $1 billion in sales), 

had 60,558 total employees in 2016, 32 percent of total ag 

co-op employees (Table 16).

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 19
20 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 12—Number of ag co-ops, by operating type and State, also memberships by State1, 2017

1 Number of co-ops are by 

headquarters, number of 

memberships are actual 

in State.

2 There were 777 supply 

co-ops and 84 service in 

2017.

3 Other=Alaska, 

Connecticut, District of 

Columbia, Delaware, New 

Hampshire, New Mexico, 

Nevada, Rhode Island, 

South Carolina, Vermont.

 

State Marketing Supply and Service2 Total Memberships

Alabama 10 34 44 25,500 

Arizona 8 0 8 2,384 

Arkansas 8 20 28 31,027 

California 70 32 102 34,538 

Colorado 13 12 25 17,849 

Florida 18 6 24 18,258 

Georgia 3 7 10 13,947 

Hawaii 3 6 9 488 

Idaho 15 6 21 12,896 

Illinois 57 34 91 122,443 

Indiana 9 20 29 57,420 

Iowa 47 29 76 95,266 

Kansas 59 18 77 96,298 

Kentucky 4 16 20 160,955 

Louisiana 11 16 27 9,410 

Maine 18 3 21 5,488 

Maryland 5 6 11 36,380 

Massachusetts 3 4 7 4,716 

Michigan 17 18 35 38,651 

Minnesota 83 87 170 129,738 

Mississippi 10 30 40 42,324 

Missouri 18 36 54 93,657 

Montana 16 25 41 22,444 

Nebraska 22 16 38 58,154 

New Jersey 10 0 10 1,608 

New York 41 6 47 10,903 

North Carolina 8 2 10 23,132 

North Dakota 54 69 123 70,530 

Ohio 25 9 34 39,847 

Oklahoma 22 25 47 38,493 

Oregon 14 12 26 26,624 

Pennsylvania 19 8 27 12,828 

South Dakota 31 34 65 58,812 

Tennessee 2 55 57 67,622 

Texas 119 39 158 71,829 

Utah 5 5 10 10,284 

Virginia 13 31 44 116,785 

Washington 34 22 56 25,711 

West Virginia 3 6 9 58,184 

Wisconsin 61 46 107 102,540 

Wyoming 3 4 7 4,151 

Other States3 19 7 26 19,416 

United States 1010 861 1871 1,889,529

Foreign 528 

 Total 1,890,057
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 21

TABLE 13—Number of U.S. ag co-ops and memberships by type, 2017

Type Cooperatives with Sales of Item1 Cooperatives with Majority of Sales from Item Memberships2

Bean and pea, dry 22 3 603

Cotton 113 14 23,577

Cotton gins 136 103 15,764

Dairy 124 106 45,114

Fish 37 32 5,195

Fruit and vegetable 149 116 19,198

Grain and oilseed 613 421 394,061

Livestock 97 74 51,405

Nut 15 14 6,648

Poultry 24 10 458

Rice 12 9 7,407

Sugar 31 24 8,429

Tobacco 10 4 13,336

Wool 36 35 8,363

Other marketing 82 45 4,801

Marketing co-ops 1,205 1,010 604,359

Supply co-ops 1,346 777 1,250,774

Service co-ops 1,614 84 34,924

 Total n/a 1,871 1,890,057 

1 Cooperatives with $1 or more reported sales of individual commodity. Totals will not add due to 

cooperatives that both market farm products and sell farm supplies and/or provide services

2 Cooperatives primarily handling a commodity, selling farm supplies, or providing services
22 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 14—U.S. ag co-ops, gross business, and memberships, by sales volume group, 2017

Sales volume group Cooperatives Dollar Volume1 Memberships

Number Percent Billion $ Percent 1,000 Percent

Less than 5 million 574 30.68 1.026 0.52 148 7.85

$5 to $9 million 249 13.31 1.826 0.93 106 5.60

$10 to $14 million 159 8.50 1.972 1.00 98 5.17

$15 to $24 million 198 10.58 3.834 1.94 144 7.63

$25 to $49 million 223 11.92 7.724 3.92 250 13.24

$50 to $99 million 151 8.07 10.897 5.53 124 6.58

$100 to $199 million 103 5.51 14.589 7.40 149 7.88

$200 to $499 million 154 8.23 26.834 13.61 375 19.85

$500 to $999 million 34 1.82 24.907 12.63 150 7.94

$1 billion or more 26 1.39 103.532 52.52 345 18.27

Totals 1,871 100.00 197.140 100.00 1,890 100.00

1

 Total gross business volume 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 23

TABLE 15—Full-time and part-time employees, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2017 and 2016

2017 Employees 2016 Employees 2016:2015

Total Full-time Part-time Total Full-time Part-time Total Change

 Thousands Thousands Number Percent

Marketing Type 

Cotton 1,251 966 285 1,058 895 163 193 18.24 

Cotton ginning 2,670 790 1,880 2,280 623 1,657 390 17.11 

Dairy 25,769 24,565 1,204 25,301 22,822 2,479 468 1.85 

Fish 376 148 228 331 139 192 45 13.60 

Fruit & vegetable 29,820 16,189 13,631 25,958 14,136 11,822 3,862 14.88 

Grain & oilseed 30,285 23,557 6,728 32,663 24,867 7,796 (2,378) (7.28)

Livestock 1,443 533 910 1,416 543 873 27 1.91 

Rice 2,660 2,394 266 2,470 2,387 83 190 7.69 

Sugar 10,631 6,172 4,459 10,186 6,006 4,180 445 4.37 

Poultry 1,605 1,075 530 1,578 1,049 529 27 1.71 

Nuts 1,812 1,585 227 1,777 1,543 234 35 1.97 

Other marketing 1,214 643 571 1,230 657 573 (16) (1.30)

 

Marketing co-ops 109,536 78,617 30,919 106,248 75,667 30,581 3,288 3.09 

Supply co-ops 78,085 61,347 16,738 79,713 62,236 17,477 (1,628) (2.04)

Service co-ops 1,358 689 669 1,408 732 676 (50) (3.55)

 Total 188,979 140,653 48,326 187,369 138,635 48,734 1,610 0.86 
24 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 16—Number of U.S. ag co-ops, memberships, employees, and branches, by size, 2017

Total sales category (Million $)

 

Measure Less than $5 5–9 10–14 15–24 25–49 50–99 100–199 200–499 500–999 1,000 + Totals

Ag co-ops 574 249 159 198 223 151 103 154 34 26 1,871

 Proportion (percent) 30.68 13.31 8.50 10.58 11.92 8.07 5.51 8.23 1.82 1.39 100

 

Memberships 148,361 105,778 97,636 144,205 250,216 124,435 148,928 375,097 150,016 345,385 1,890,057

 Proportion (percent) 7.85 5.60 5.17 7.63 13.24 6.58 7.88 19.85 7.94 18.27 100.00

 

Full-time employees 2,437 2,661 2,732 4,524 8,218 9,122 11,852 22,687 20,826 55,594 140,653

 Proportion (percent) 1.73 1.89 1.94 3.22 5.84 6.49 8.43 16.13 14.81 39.53 100

 

Part-time employees 2,615 2,045 1,734 3,235 5,398 5,427 4,366 9,501 9,041 4,964 48,326

 Proportion (percent) 5.41 4.23 3.59 6.69 11.17 11.23 9.03 19.66 18.71 10.27 100

 

Total employees 5,052 4,706 4,466 7,759 13,616 14,549 16,218 32,188 29,867 60,558 188,979

 Proportion (percent) 2.67 2.49 2.36 4.11 7.21 7.70 8.58 17.03 15.80 32.04 100

Branches operated (no.) 105 98 137 244 464 623 967 1,394 983 1,446 6,461

 Proportion (percent) 1.63 1.52 2.12 3.78 7.18 9.64 14.97 21.58 15.21 22.38 100

1 Branches does not include headquarters location.
SECTION III: Business Volume and Losses

This section (Tables 17 through 19) presents cooperative sales volume of commodities and inputs by 

State and type, aggregate net business volume by type, and ag co-ops that experienced a loss in 2017. 

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 25

Highlights

• Minnesota had the most co-op sales (marketing and supply) 

of any State, with $18.4 billion in 2017 (Table 17). The 

majority of these sales were from marketing crop, dairy, and 

sugar products. Petroleum was the highest product among 

farm supply sales in Minnesota. 

• Iowa was second, with $16.4 billion in marketing and supply 

sales, followed by California ($12.1 billion), Illinois ($11.1 

billion), Wisconsin ($8.6 billion), Nebraska and North 

Dakota ($7.7 billion), Kansas ($6.6 billion), South Dakota 

($6 billion), and Texas ($5.3 billion).

• Focusing only on marketing sales, Minnesota was also the 

top State, with $14.1 billion in sales, followed by California 

($11.3 billion), Iowa ($10.3 billion), Illinois ($6.5 billion), 

and Wisconsin ($5.5 billion). Next came North Dakota 

($5.2 billion), Nebraska ($4.6 billion), Kansas ($4.2 billion), 

and Michigan and South Dakota ($4 billion each).

• For supply sales, Iowa was the top State with $6.1 billion, 

followed by Illinois ($4.6 billion), Minnesota ($4.3 billion), 

Wisconsin ($3.2 billion), Nebraska ($3.1 billion), Missouri 

($2.6 billion), North Dakota ($2.5 billion), Kansas ($2.4 

billion), and Indiana and South Dakota ($2 billion each).

• Minnesota was first in service and other operating income, 

with $809 million, followed by Iowa ($646 million), 

California ($453 million), Kansas ($418 million), Illinois 

($401 million), Texas ($378 million), Nebraska ($336 

million), Wisconsin ($261 million), South Dakota ($176 

million), and North Dakota ($166 million).

• Ag co-ops had marketing and supply sales of $6.7 million in 

foreign markets.

• Total net business volume (eliminating sales to other coops) was $169.8 billion in 2017, up $4.2 billion, or 2.6 

percent from 2016 (Table 18).

• Net sales of all commodities (except fish and “other” 

marketing), increased in 2017. Crop protectants, seeds, and 

other supplies increased in 2017 while feed, fertilizer, and 

petroleum all decreased.

Losses

• Co-ops experienced losses of $220.5 million (negative net 

income before taxes) in 2017, which was $46 million more 

than the $174 million in losses in 2016 (Table 19). 

• In 2017, 240 co-ops suffered losses, down from 256 co-ops 

with losses in 2016. 

• By type, the co-ops that suffered losses in 2017 included 142 

marketing ($116 million in losses), 86 farm supply ($104 

million in losses) and 12 service co-ops ($700,000 in losses).

• The largest commodity segment for losses was sugar, which 

had 29 percent of the total losses of all ag co-ops. The 

142 marketing co-ops that finished the year in the red had 

almost 53 percent of the losses of all ag co-ops; 86 farm 

supply co-ops “in the red” had 47 percent of all losses.
26 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 17—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017

Item AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DE

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - - - - 11.35 - - -

Cotton - 106.97 56.41 58.07 36.58 - - -

Cotton gins - 4.39 15.48 11.75 15.97 - - -

Fish 19.53 24.96 - - 1.47 - 0.40 -

Fruit & vegetable - - 0.80 53.35 2,184.68 9.60 - 0.64

Grain and oilseed - 151.96 180.97 - 5.02 228.06 319.53 -

Livestock - 12.13 16.63 9.31 43.53 88.35 - -

Milk - 9.11 21.42 787.94 6,993.53 1,107.34 97.23 18.33

Nut - 0.62 - 38.72 1,484.84 - - -

Poultry - - - - 255.04 2.08 - -

Rice - - 1,032.78 - 243.96 - - -

Sugar - 0.29 4.25 0.16 7.87 0.41 - -

Tobacco - - - - - - - -

Wool - - 0.21 - 0.01 - - -

Other marketing 0.08 72.95 18.03 4.11 16.83 3.80 1.43 0.68

 Total commodities marketed 19.61 383.39 1,346.98 963.40 11,300.69 1,439.64 418.59 19.65

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) - 83.01 153.67 1.29 58.50 42.10 0.23 13.24

Feed 52.58 94.01 94.97 27.80 327.41 113.81 5.43 10.44

Fertilizer - 104.45 120.19 0.27 167.66 65.94 0.10 27.35

Petroleum - 13.53 152.19 - 3.99 365.15 3.22 21.09

Seed - 32.39 45.19 1.12 13.56 13.86 0.91 4.64

Other supplies 12.58 61.98 61.14 35.74 244.65 75.12 8.72 9.95

 Total farm supplies 65.17 389.36 627.36 66.22 815.78 675.98 18.61 86.71

 

Total marketing and supply sales 84.77 772.75 1,974.33 1,029.62 12,116.46 2,115.62 437.21 106.36

 

Service receipts & other income, patronage 3.41 36.09 57.16 13.96 453.24 58.62 0.06 0.43

 

Net business volume 88.19 808.84 2,031.49 1,043.57 12,569.71 2,174.24 437.27 106.78

Business between cooperatives 35.30 94.19 204.72 109.38 1,164.02 746.35 6.01 33.14

Gross business volume 123.48 903.03 2,236.21 1,152.95 13,733.73 2,920.59 443.28 139.92

 

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 10 56 46 26 125 46 13 9 

This table continues on next page. From 2014 to 2016, this table has been presenting gross business volume, but for 2017 it is reporting net business volume, as was 

presented in years prior to 2014. Gross business volume by State for 2017 is available by contacting USDA Rural Development.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 27

TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017 

Item FL GA HI IA ID IL IN KS

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - - - - 64.190 - - -

Cotton 26.910 287.006 - - - - - 13.292

Cotton gins - 0.968 - - - - - -

Fish - - - - 0.038 - - -

Fruit & vegetable 684.126 6.423 7.936 - 30.064 - - -

Grain and oilseed - - - 7,458.653 116.498 5,307.506 492.074 3,416.072

Livestock 86.057 - 0.067 570.977 106.437 174.411 304.594 14.341

Milk 443.925 413.688 - 956.775 1,297.207 987.645 759.846 730.628

Nut - 15.474 - - 0.001 - - -

Poultry - - - 145.287 0.094 16.658 - -

Rice - - - - - - - -

Sugar 645.172 0.142 4.210 1.228 6.684 - - 0.063

Tobacco - - - - - - - -

Wool - - - 0.207 0.051 0.124 0.166 0.414

Other marketing 6.850 13.004 0.747 1,160.522 1.830 28.051 4.161 5.712

 Total commodities marketed 1,893.040 736.705 12.960 10,293.650 1,623.092 6,514.396 1,560.841 4,180.523

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 108.469 123.924 0.152 717.736 15.726 835.410 290.017 391.327

Feed 100.156 68.183 3.941 1,929.553 43.692 362.275 184.422 265.794

Fertilizer 44.619 65.676 0.515 1,167.842 2.695 860.661 458.303 516.138

Petroleum 3.412 168.565 - 1,471.800 254.825 1,706.854 915.987 984.980

Seed 12.832 22.266 0.010 465.068 21.658 588.296 126.580 138.158

Other supplies 31.240 38.834 1.275 355.553 392.360 241.168 90.930 92.186

 Total farm supplies 300.728 487.448 5.894 6,107.553 730.955 4,594.665 2,066.239 2,388.583

 

Total marketing and supply sales 2,193.768 1,224.153 18.854 16,401.203 2,354.047 11,109.061 3,627.081 6,569.106

 

Service receipts & other income 66.651 6.407 0.977 645.808 53.514 401.364 123.025 418.378

 

Net business volume 2,260.419 1,230.560 19.831 17,047.011 2,407.561 11,510.424 3,750.105 6,987.484

Business between cooperatives 154.905 521.887 1.230 1,778.010 1,257.412 2,133.639 1,585.991 910.268

Gross business volume 2,415.324 1,752.447 21.061 18,825.021 3,664.973 13,644.063 5,336.097 7,897.752

 

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 44 33 14 102 42 118 54 101

 

This table continues on next page.
28 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017

Item KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - - - - 0.010 48.253 0.591 -

Cotton - 43.661 - - - - - 35.435

Cotton gins - 8.287 - - - - - 2.104

Fish - 1.437 - 0.033 93.177 - 1.702 -

Fruit & vegetable 0.040 1.595 99.006 0.153 4.037 669.724 0.945 0.100

Grain and oilseed 361.607 592.468 - 0.500 0.200 184.823 8,011.010 1,681.642

Livestock 144.691 - 0.102 - 0.055 182.238 264.260 70.030

Milk 218.202 17.420 52.357 406.437 141.448 2,129.851 2,896.248 418.202

Nut - 0.031 - - - - - 0.071

Poultry - - - - 0.025 230.837 39.606 1.562

Rice - 16.578 - - - - - 116.503

Sugar - 713.913 - - 0.005 518.743 1,362.775 0.364

Tobacco 24.088 - - - - 0.002 0.099 -

Wool 0.083 - - 0.021 0.039 0.249 0.228 -

Other marketing 5.566 7.198 93.160 2.809 1.274 3.277 1,540.431 141.893

 Total commodities marketed 754.277 1,402.586 244.625 409.953 240.270 3,967.996 14,117.895 2,467.906

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 90.537 37.983 0.522 13.520 1.809 42.651 587.012 270.921

Feed 86.167 62.057 11.322 47.889 9.288 161.682 955.517 310.196

Fertilizer 196.023 25.927 6.243 29.095 2.070 103.157 853.526 445.874

Petroleum 106.327 9.464 0.052 70.167 7.187 330.195 1,158.219 1,299.841

Seed 45.081 21.452 2.517 7.496 0.217 21.725 359.377 109.069

Other supplies 72.075 24.028 8.699 26.549 19.100 100.055 361.930 133.785

 Total farm supplies 596.209 180.911 29.355 194.717 39.671 759.464 4,275.580 2,569.686

 

Total marketing and supply sales 1,350.486 1,583.497 273.981 604.670 279.941 4,727.460 18,393.474 5,037.592

 

Service receipts & other income 11.107 24.603 9.276 1.140 0.519 102.096 808.903 150.895

 

Net business volume 1,361.593 1,608.101 283.256 605.810 280.460 4,829.557 19,202.378 5,188.487

Business between cooperatives 247.444 84.102 204.771 106.305 5.720 962.618 1,437.791 870.468

Gross business volume 1,609.037 1,692.203 488.027 712.115 286.180 5,792.175 20,640.169 6,058.955

- - - - - - - -

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 29 45 17 25 30 62 200 87

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 29

TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017

Item MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - 34.423 - 67.831 37.004 - - -

Cotton 167.390 - 78.425 - - - - 0.073

Cotton gins 8.054 - 2.145 - - - - 5.105

Fish 9.708 - - - - 7.698 18.492 -

Fruit & vegetable 0.100 1.260 18.028 17.984 - 0.054 126.627 -

Grain and oilseed 437.274 762.400 - 4,151.362 3,923.881 - - 1.109

Livestock 15.272 21.824 0.383 73.644 338.578 0.581 3.686 0.587

Milk 10.683 36.135 179.901 84.602 291.320 71.571 24.545 1,526.836

Nut - - - - - - - -

Poultry - 0.814 - - - 0.023 0.194 1.041

Rice 86.708 - 0.005 - - - - -

Sugar 0.626 102.385 - 754.367 2.245 - - -

Tobacco - 0.066 247.363 19.690 - - - -

Wool 0.207 0.595 0.008 0.128 0.166 - 0.041 0.207

Other marketing 2.401 0.656 18.258 17.557 1.926 1.482 28.976 2.757

 Total commodities marketed 738.424 960.558 544.518 5,187.165 4,595.120 81.408 202.561 1,537.715

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 58.432 127.034 60.127 316.441 627.761 0.032 1.629 1.261

Feed 69.356 25.208 91.693 51.828 348.781 3.882 16.315 74.188

Fertilizer 32.173 211.838 69.077 388.878 878.758 0.223 9.486 1.284

Petroleum 7.741 617.050 9.076 1,182.481 976.009 0.009 1.114 1.555

Seed 22.058 37.089 20.372 159.418 190.795 0.011 0.349 0.438

Other supplies 43.808 101.464 26.481 377.951 126.990 1.595 17.324 7.583

 Total farm supplies 233.568 1,119.682 276.825 2,476.997 3,149.094 5.752 46.215 86.309

 

Total marketing and supply sales 971.992 2,080.240 821.343 7,664.162 7,744.215 87.160 248.777 1,624.024

 

Service receipts & other income 119.709 17.900 5.793 166.440 335.881 0.117 1.124 0.964

 

Net business volume 1,091.701 2,098.140 827.135 7,830.602 8,080.095 87.277 249.901 1,624.987

Business between cooperatives 103.755 603.041 109.022 710.979 1,272.003 1.610 79.202 474.546

Gross business volume 1,195.456 2,701.181 936.157 8,541.581 9,352.098 88.888 329.103 2,099.533

 

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 55 59 27 145 60 13 22 21

This table continues on next page.
TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017

Item NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - - - - 0.144 0.00013 - -

Cotton - - - 139.600 - - - 45.548

Cotton gins - - - 23.720 - - - -

Fish - - - - - - - -

Fruit & vegetable 0.040 42.357 13.172 - 609.716 542.194 - -

Grain and oilseed - - 1,719.498 222.120 1,018.760 2.179 - 0.747

Livestock 4.437 0.884 280.885 130.848 107.003 0.742 - -

Milk 124.250 3,505.638 856.195 79.049 1,079.797 2,009.273 4.854 57.584

Nut - - - - 21.239 - - -

Poultry - 0.043 6.558 - - 6.306 - -

Rice - - - - - - - -

Sugar - 0.305 2.630 - 0.609 0.197 - -

Tobacco - - - - - - - -

Wool 0.014 0.018 0.663 0.166 - 0.193 - -

Other marketing 1.430 43.274 250.058 3.495 56.954 6.457 0.416 0.078

 Total commodities marketed 130.171 3,592.520 3,129.660 598.997 2,894.221 2,567.542 5.270 103.957

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 1.047 11.211 171.280 67.501 215.690 38.207 0.046 12.992

Feed 15.120 114.910 297.496 98.033 103.899 133.029 0.625 27.443

Fertilizer 0.100 21.936 446.977 106.828 323.051 47.942 0.005 23.827

Petroleum - 1.807 430.334 577.021 433.103 7.751 - -

Seed 0.337 3.553 139.388 19.332 90.713 3.781 0.015 8.339

Other supplies 13.049 51.326 60.072 50.310 246.704 34.494 0.535 4.610

 Total farm supplies 29.654 204.742 1,545.547 919.025 1,413.160 265.203 1.227 77.210

 

Total marketing and supply sales 159.825 3,797.262 4,675.207 1,518.022 4,307.382 2,832.745 6.496 181.167

 

Service receipts & other income 0.000 12.607 174.264 92.106 91.133 4.327 0.025 0.117

 

Net business volume 159.825 3,809.869 4,849.471 1,610.128 4,398.514 2,837.072 6.521 181.283

Business between cooperatives 18.381 154.275 498.461 636.282 728.073 296.722 0.466 45.434

Gross business volume 178.205 3,964.144 5,347.932 2,246.410 5,126.588 3,133.794 6.987 226.717

 

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 12 67 57 69 47 46 9 12

This table continues on next page.

30 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017
TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017

Item SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - - - - - - 8.180 -

Cotton - 48.447 1,343.357 - 8.776 - - -

Cotton gins - 12.074 286.486 - - - - 0.555

Fish - - - - - - 40.501 -

Fruit & vegetable - - 48.238 37.141 - 2.707 818.046 183.041

Grain and oilseed 3,416.390 5.210 818.366 - - - 939.868 636.390

Livestock 217.868 1.810 123.495 75.569 2.682 3.464 0.827 427.925

Milk 279.115 55.468 1,346.947 319.925 405.903 769.077 1,602.784 3,730.695

Nut - - 11.150 - 15.824 - - -

Poultry - 0.004 - - 3.538 - 0.100 0.521

Rice - - 26.759 - - - - -

Sugar 12.249 0.015 79.862 0.462 - 0.104 1.716 0.721

Tobacco 0.108 29.122 - - - - - 0.289

Wool 0.249 - 0.512 3.088 0.045 - 0.018 0.207

Other marketing 29.591 25.808 77.634 1.769 243.322 0.314 13.163 493.786

 Total commodities marketed 3,955.569 177.958 4,162.805 437.954 680.089 775.666 3,425.203 5,474.129

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 377.983 195.585 192.718 16.948 33.480 0.421 293.029 266.172

Feed 211.263 262.944 402.397 132.642 228.005 27.473 80.639 666.156

Fertilizer 483.131 327.228 128.706 31.750 133.557 10.662 348.839 569.885

Petroleum 624.071 331.863 247.381 154.080 382.404 - 481.289 944.863

Seed 224.224 150.049 53.012 5.284 35.842 0.139 56.248 224.776

Other supplies 104.747 243.556 126.148 99.246 186.777 7.958 236.358 489.788

 Total farm supplies 2,025.418 1,511.224 1,150.363 439.949 1,000.065 46.653 1,496.402 3,161.640

 

Total marketing and supply sales 5,980.988 1,689.183 5,313.168 877.902 1,680.155 822.319 4,921.605 8,635.769

 

Service receipts & other income 175.820 77.228 377.826 17.755 48.388 0.255 143.819 261.101

 

Net business volume 6,156.808 1,766.411 5,690.994 895.658 1,728.542 822.574 5,065.424 8,896.870

Business between cooperatives 1,042.667 552.707 949.375 400.930 521.342 12.799 690.401 1,850.846

Gross business volume 7,199.475 2,319.118 6,640.369 1,296.587 2,249.885 835.373 5,755.824 10,747.716

 

Co-ops doing business in State (no.) 90 76 182 26 43 12 77 98

This table continues on next page.

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 31
32 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 17 (cont.)—Net business volume of commodities and supplies, U.S. ag co-ops, by State, 2017 

Item WV WY DC Foreign1 TOTAL

 Million $

Bean and pea (dry) - 0.445 - - 272.422

Cotton - - - - 2,495.939

Cotton gins - - - 7.000 404.087

Fish - - - - 219.143

Fruit & vegetable - - - 203.946 6,417.874

Grain and oilseed - - - 31.935 46,596.092

Livestock 1.304 53.896 - - 3,976.409

Milk 19.870 32.688 7.626 - 39,417.093

Nut - - - - 1,587.979

Poultry - - - - 710.335

Rice - - - - 1,523.296

Sugar - 15.094 - 6.676 4,246.544

Tobacco - - - - 320.828

Wool 0.041 0.041 - 0.249 8.654

Other marketing 1.456 0.416 1.222 99.173 4,558.216

 Total commodities marketed 22.672 102.581 8.849 348.979 112,754.909

 

Crop protectants (chemicals) 1.972 1.426 - - 6,970.177

Feed 22.758 13.006 0.002 90.345 8,938.016

Fertilizer 8.821 13.817 - 0.723 9,883.821

Petroleum 16.989 339.215 - 148.524 16,962.792

Seed 3.820 4.444 - - 3,507.297

Other supplies 23.939 53.212 - 18.159 5,253.839

 Total farm supplies 78.300 425.120 0.002 257.750 51,515.943

 

Total marketing and supply sales 100.971 527.701 8.851 606.729 164,270.852

 

Service receipts & other income2 0.428 5.838 - - 5,578.593

 

Net business volume 101.399 533.539 8.851 606.729 169,849.445

Business between cooperatives 18.545 249.694 0.010 613.734 27,290.973

Gross business volume 119.944 783.233 8.861 1,220.464 197,140.418

 

Co-ops doing business in State (number) 16 21 5 17 NA

 

NOTE: Some co-ops do business in several States, so the sum of the number of co-ops doing business in the States 

will not be equal to the total number of co-ops (1,871).

1

Sourced from outside the 50 States and DC. 

2

Service receipts and other income includes service income, other operating income, patronage, non-operating income.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 33

TABLE 18—Net business volume1, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

Item 2017 2016 Difference Change

Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Percent

Commodity marketed:

Bean and pea (dry edible) 0.272 0.205 0.067 32.91 

Cotton 2.496 1.835 0.661 36.04 

Cottonseed 0.404 0.352 0.052 14.90 

Dairy 39.417 38.562 0.855 2.22 

Fish 0.219 0.228 (0.009) (3.83)

Fruit and vegetable 6.418 5.913 0.505 8.54 

Grain and oilseed 46.596 44.294 2.302 5.20 

Livestock 3.976 3.779 0.197 5.21 

Nut 1.588 1.745 (0.157) (8.99)

Poultry 0.710 0.672 0.039 5.76 

Rice 1.523 0.741 0.783 105.63 

Sugar 4.247 4.539 (0.293) (6.45)

Tobacco 0.321 0.291 0.030 10.44 

Wool 0.009 0.005 0.003432 65.74 

Other marketing2 4.558 5.442 (0.884) (16.25)

Total marketing 112.755 108.603 4.152 3.82 

 

Supplies sold: 

Crop protectants 6.970 6.486 0.484 7.46 

Feed 8.938 9.093 (0.155) (1.71)

Fertilizer 9.884 10.425 (0.541) (5.19)

Petroleum 16.963 17.031 (0.068) (0.40)

Seed 3.507 3.423 0.085 2.47 

Other supplies 5.254 5.132 0.122 2.38 

Total supplies 51.516 51.589 (0.073) (0.14)

Services and other income3 5.579 5.440 0.139 2.55 

Total net business volume 169.849 165.632 4.218 2.55 

1 Net of inter-cooperative business.

 

2 “Other” marketing includes cottonseed, local foods (including farmer markets, community supported agriculture, and food hubs), 

and marketing of miscellaneous commodities.

3 Includes service receipts, patronage refunds received and non-operating income.
34 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 19—Losses, U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 2017 2016

 

Item Co-ops1 Losses2 Co-ops1 Losses2 Share of Total Losses Share of Total Losses

Number Million $ Number Million $ Percent Percent

Comodities Marketed Number Million $ Number Million $ Percent Percent

Cotton 1 (1.62) 2 (17.58) 0.74 10.10 

Cotton ginning 10 (1.50) 15 (2.79) 0.68 1.60 

Dairy 17 (27.95) 15 (10.18) 12.68 5.85 

Fish 0 0.00 6 (0.13) 0.00 0.07 

Fruit and vegetable 15 (9.94) 17 (12.09) 4.51 6.95 

Grain and oilseed 42 (9.79) 59 (34.31) 4.44 19.72 

Livestock 36 (0.04) 9 (1.14) 0.02 0.66 

Sugar 3 (62.85) 4 (10.88) 28.51 6.25 

Nuts 3 (0.48) 0 0.00 0.22 0.00 

Wool and mohair 6 (0.05) 7 (0.04) 0.02 0.02 

Other marketing3 9 (1.76) 12 (6.52) 0.80 3.75 

 Total marketing 142 (115.98) 146 (95.66) 52.61 54.97 

 Farm supplies 86 (103.82) 98 (77.07) 47.09 44.29 

 Services 12 (0.67) 12 (1.28) 0.30 0.74 

 Total losses4 240 (220.47) 256 (174.01) 100.00 100.00 

1 Cooperatives with negative net income before taxes. 

2 Negative net income before taxes.

3 Includes bean and pea, nut, rice, sugar, tobacco, local foods and other marketing cooperatives.

4 For 2017, net income after taxes for these cooperatives was negative $29.71 million.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 35

SECTION IV: Top 100 Agricultural Cooperatives

This section (Tables 20 through 24) presents income statements, balance sheets, and financial ratios 

of the Top 100 agricultural cooperatives in the United States in 2017. It also shows the proportional 

share of the Top 100 co-ops compared to all ag co-ops, and finishes with the list of the Top 100 

cooperatives, including rank, name, type of co-op, total business revenue, and total assets. Some Top 

100 co-ops have requested to be left off of the list (as noted). 

Highlights

• Top 100 largest ag co-ops (ranked by total gross business 

volume) had gross business volume of $143.7 billion in 

2017, a significant increase of $7.4 billion, or 5 percent, 

from 2016 (Table 20). 

• Net income of $4.4 billion was down by $484 million from 

2016.

• Service and other operating revenue of $2 billion was up 16 

percent from 2016, while patronage income from other coops dropped by 18 percent, to $250 million. 

• Total expenses of the Top 100 increased in 2017, up 8 

percent, to $11.5 billion. Wages increased almost 3 percent 

while interest expense rose by 43 percent.

• Total assets of the Top 100 were a record $63.2 billion, 

while member equity rose to $26.5 billion, of which $17.4 

billion was allocated (Table 21).

• Property, plant and equipment (fixed assets) rose 5 percent 

for the Top 100, while investments in other co-ops dropped 

by 3 percent.

• Current and total liabilities of the Top 100 dropped by 

about 1 percent in 2017.

• The Top 100 largest ag co-ops continued with strong 

financial performance in 2017 even though some ratios 

deteriorated slightly (Table 21). Gross margin, return on 

total assets, and return on member equity all slipped a bit, 

while equity to assets and fixed asset turnover showed slight 

improvement. 

• The Top 100 largest ag co-ops had 74 percent of total 

sales, and 50 percent of service receipts and other income 

compared to all ag co-ops (Table 23). 

• Patronage received from other co-ops was 38 percent of all 

ag co-ops patronage received in 2017.

• Total gross business volume of the Top 100 ag co-ops 

accounted for 73 percent of business volume of all ag co-ops 

in 2017, while net income of the Top 100 accounted for 71 

percent of business volume.

• The Top 100 co-ops owned 68 percent of all co-op assets 

and had 72 percent of total liabilities. The Top 100 held 62 

percent of equity of all ag co-ops.

• The Top 100 co-ops employed 57 percent of all ag co-op 

workers.

Top 100 List

• Iowa is home to more Top 100 co-ops than any other 

State, with 16. It is followed by Minnesota with 12 and 

Nebraska with 8 (Table 24). Illinois has 6 and Wisconsin 

and California each have 5 Top 100 ag co-ops. Kansas and 

Texas each have 4.

• CHS Inc., a fuel, grain and food cooperative based in Inver 

Grove Heights, Minn., remains the Nation’s largest ag coop, with $32.2 billion in total revenue for 2017. That’s up 

from $30.5 billion in 2016, an increase of $1.6 billion. 

• CHS was followed by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a 

Kansas City-based milk marketing cooperative, with $14.8 

billion in total revenue. Land O’Lakes, a dairy foods and 

farm supply co-op, based in Saint Paul, Minn., was third 

with $13.8 billion in sales.

• The top seven co-ops held the same place as in 2016. Six coops made the Top 100 for 2017 that were not on it in 2016. 

• The biggest jump in the rankings was made by Central 

Farm Service of Owatonna, Minnesota. This grain/

farm supply co-op rose from 86th place in 2016 to 55th 

place in 2017. There were larger rank changes, but those 

cooperatives had been outside the Top 100 in 2016. For 

example, United Farmers Cooperative of Red Oak, Iowa, 

jumped 84 places, from 182nd to 98th place.

• Of the co-ops in the Top 100 listing, 63 had revenue 

increases from 2016 to 2017, while 37 had decreases. The 

average revenue change among all the Top 100 co-ops was a 

positive $82 million. 

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 35
36 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 20—Abbreviated income statement for Top 100 ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 Difference Change

Income Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Percent

Sales revenue 140.911 133.820 7.092 5.3 

 Cost of goods sold 127.853 120.649 7.204 6.0 

Gross margin 13.059 13.171 (0.112) (0.9)

 Service and other operating income 2.068 1.787 0.281 15.8 

Gross revenue 15.127 14.957 0.170 1.1 

Expenses 

Wages 5.976 5.814 0.161 2.8 

Depreciation 1.949 1.754 0.195 11.1 

Interest expense 0.684 0.479 0.205 42.8 

Other expenses 2.924 2.603 0.321 12.3 

 Total expenses 11.532 10.651 0.882 8.3 

 Net operating margin 3.595 4.307 (0.712) (16.5)

 Patronage from other co-ops 0.250 0.306 (0.055) (18.0)

Non-operating income (expense) 0.473 0.425 0.048 11.3 

Net income before taxes 4.318 5.037 (0.719) (14.3)

 Taxes (0.083) 0.152 (0.235) (154.2)

Net income 4.401 4.885 (0.484) (9.9)

 

Total gross business volume 143.703 136.337 7.366 5.4 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 37

TABLE 21 — Abbreviated balance sheet forTop 100 ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016 Difference Change

Billion $ Billion $ Billion S Percent

Assets Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Percent

Current assets 32.405 32.741 -0.336 (1.03)

Property, plant, & equipment 18.714 17.804 0.910 5.11 

Other assets 6.552 5.880 0.671 11.42 

Total, own assets 57.670 56.425 1.245 2.21 

Investments in other co-ops 5.512 5.671 -0.158 (2.79)

Total assets 63.183 62.096 1.087 1.75 

Liabilities & Equity 

Current liabilities 24.396 24.625 -0.229 (0.93)

Long-term liabilities 12.305 12.395 -0.090 (0.73)

Total liabilities 36.701 37.020 -0.319 (0.86)

Allocated equity 17.425 16.352 1.074 6.57 

Retained earnings 9.057 8.724 0.333 3.82 

Total equity 26.482 25.076 1.407 5.61 

Total liabilities and equity 63.183 62.096 1.087 1.75 
38 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 22—Top 100 ag co-ops financial ratios, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016

Top 100 All Top 100 All

 Ratio Ratio

Current Ratio 1.33 1.38 1.33 1.38

Debt-To-Assets 0.58 0.54 0.60 0.56

Long-Term-Debt-To-Equity 0.50 0.47 0.50 0.46

Times Interest Earned 7.31 7.58 11.52 11.16

Fixed Asset Turnover 7.53 6.89 7.52 7.00

Equity-to-assets 0.42 0.46 0.40 0.44

Expenses-to-gross revenue 0.76 0.80 0.71 0.77

Percent Percent

Gross margin 9.27 10.43 9.84 10.78

Return On Total Assets 6.83 6.61 8.11 7.76

Return On Member Equity 25.25 24.66 29.87 28.69
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 39

TABLE 23—Top 100 ag co-ops share compared to all U.S. ag co-ops, 2017 and 2016

2017 2016

Top 100 Top 100

Percent Percent

Total sales share 73.58 72.09

Service receipts share 49.49 46.78

Patronage from other cooperatives share 38.14 34.43

Total gross business volume share 72.89 71.35

Net income share 71.37 70.94

 

Own assets share 68.27 68.05

Investments in other co-ops share 60.99 62.06

Total assets share 67.56 67.45

Total liabilities share 72.14 72.37

Allocated equity share 69.68 68.12

Total equity share 62.10 61.31

 

Memberships share 32.93 31.74

Employees share 56.66 56.19

Cooperatives share 5.34 5.12
40 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

Total revenue = total gross business volume. Cooperatives opting out: numbers 25, 34, 50, 51, 54, 68, 69, and 76.

TABLE 24—Top 100 ag co-ops by total gross business revenue (billion $)

2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016

Rank Rank Name Type Revenue Revenue Assets Assets

1 1 CHS Inc. Mixed (Energy, 32.163 30.532 15.974 17.318

 Inver Grove Heights, MN Supply, Food, Grain)

2 2 Dairy Farmers of America Dairy 14.785 13.619 3.891 3.564

 Kansas City, KS

3 3 Land O’Lakes, Inc. Mixed (Supply, 13.787 13.273 9.509 8.305

 Saint Paul, MN Dairy, Food)

 

4 4 GROWMARK, Inc. Mixed (Supply, Grain) 7.336 7.075 2.302 2.246

 Bloomington, IL

5 5 Ag Processing Inc. Mixed (Supply, Grain) 3.627 3.411 1.320 1.356

 Omaha, NE

6 6 California Dairies, Inc. Dairy 3.216 3.002 0.886 0.935 Visalia, CA

7 7 Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold, Inc. Dairy 2.134 2.106 0.665 0.588 Seattle, WA

8 9 Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. Dairy 1.881 1.686 0.919 0.760 Carlinville, IL

9 12 Associated Milk Producers, Inc. Dairy 1.693 1.470 0.309 0.298 New Ulm, MN

10 14 Select Milk Producers Inc. Dairy 1.674 1.430 0.417 0.374 Dallas, TX

11 8 Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. Fruit 1.664 1.708 1.694 1.706 Lakeville-Middleboro, MA

12 13 Foremost Farms USA, Cooperative Dairy 1.609 1.465 0.355 0.390 Baraboo, WI

13 11 Southern States Cooperative Inc. Supply 1.546 1.602 0.342 0.389

 Richmond, VA

14 10 Blue Diamond Growers Other (Nut) 1.482 1.674 0.607 0.557

 Sacramento, CA

15 15 American Crystal Sugar Company Sugar 1.421 1.292 0.938 0.979

 Moorhead, MN

16 29 Plains Cotton Cooperative Association Other (Cotton) 1.382 0.898 0.130 0.208

 Lubbock, TX

17 19 MFA Incorporated Mixed (Supply, 1.382 1.190 0.479 0.446 Columbia, MO Grain, Livestock)

18 21 Producers Livestock Other (Livestock) 1.341 1.182 0.206 0.175

 Omaha, NE

19 16 United Suppliers, Inc. Mixed (Supply, Grain) 1.321 1.264 0.625 0.635

 Eldora, IA

20 18 Sunkist Growers Inc. Fruit 1.299 1.208 0.224 0.215 Valencia, CA
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 41

Total revenue = total gross business volume. Cooperatives opting out: numbers 25, 34, 50, 51, 54, 68, 69, and 76.

TABLE 24 (cont.)—Top 100 ag co-ops by total gross business revenue (billion $)

2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016

Rank Rank Name Type Revenue Revenue Assets Assets

21 17 South Dakota Wheat Growers Association Mixed (Grain, Supply) 1.280 1.215 0.670 0.682

 (Agtegra Cooperative), Aberdeen, SD

22 23 Landus Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 1.250 1.017 0.484 0.499 Ames, IA

23 20 Central Valley Ag Co-op Grain 1.169 1.189 0.513 0.528 York, NE

24 22 Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Dairy 1.078 1.056 0.400 0.360 Pools (CROPP), La Farge, WI

25 Opted out.

 

26 27 Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Dairy 1.003 0.956 0.143 0.148

 Co-op Association, Reston, VA

27 28 Agri-Mark Inc. Dairy 0.993 0.915 0.372 0.351

 Lawrence, MA

28 30 Heartland Co-op Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.978 0.898 0.453 0.447

 West Des Moines, IA

29 25 NEW Cooperative Inc. Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.972 0.998 0.467 0.419

 Fort Dodge, IA

30 26 Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.941 0.973 0.630 0.593

 Aurora, NE

31 33 Snake River Sugar Company Sugar 0.934 0.833 0.996 0.937

 Boise, ID

32 24 Riceland Foods Inc. Other (Rice) 0.931 1.016 0.617 0.599

 Stuttgart, AR

33 34 MFA Oil Company Supply 0.916 0.831 0.393 0.412

 Columbia, MO

34 Opted out. 

 

35 36 Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. Dairy 0.895 0.791 0.321 0.307

 Buffalo, NY

36 42 Staple Cotton Cooperative Association Other (Cotton) 0.878 0.702 0.245 0.245

 Greenwood, MS

37 31 United Producers Inc. Other (Livestock) 0.871 0.896 0.033 0.030 Columbus, OH

38 35 Michigan Milk Producers Association Dairy 0.865 0.805 0.185 0.181 Novi, MI

39 38 Farmers Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.829 0.760 0.337 0.287

 Dorchester, NE

40 37 Tillamook County Creamery Association Dairy 0.827 0.778 0.389 0.429

 Tillamook, OR
42 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

Total revenue = total gross business volume. Cooperatives opting out: numbers 25, 34, 50, 51, 54, 68, 69, and 76.

TABLE 24 (cont.)—Top 100 ag co-ops by total gross business revenue (billion $)

2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016

Rank Rank Name Type Revenue Revenue Assets Assets

41 39 United Dairymen of Arizona Dairy 0.826 0.758 0.213 0.182

 Tempe, AZ

42 41 Co-Alliance, LLP Mixed (Supply, Grain) 0.758 0.713 0.296 0.293

 Avon, IN

43 45 United Cooperative Mixed (Supply, Grain) 0.665 0.656 0.622 0.611

 Beaver Dam, WI

44 40 Innovative Ag Services Co. Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.650 0.714 0.269 0.230

 Monticello, IA

45 44 Farmers Grain Terminal Inc. Grain 0.647 0.657 0.178 0.159

 Greenville, MS

46 43 Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Supply 0.637 0.669 0.309 0.297 La Vergne, TN

47 47 Pacific Coast Producers Fruit & Vegetable 0.611 0.634 0.443 0.422 Lodi, CA

48 52 Bongards Creameries Dairy 0.611 0.568 0.223 0.160 Chanhassen, MN

49 55 First District Association Dairy 0.610 0.553 0.158 0.139 Litchfield, MN

50 Opted out. 

51 Opted out. 

52 49 Citrus World Inc. (Florida’s Natural Growers) Fruit 0.587 0.612 0.366 0.365 Lake Wales, FL

53 51 National Grape Cooperative Association Inc. Fruit 0.577 0.600 0.392 0.407

 Westfield, NY

54 Opted out.

55 86 Central Farm Service Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.574 0.351 0.243 0.262

 Owatonna, MN

56 57 NFO Inc. Dairy 0.559 0.525 0.029 0.029

 Ames, IA

57 54 Alabama Farmers Cooperative Inc. Mixed (Grain, Fish, 0.540 0.555 0.389 0.320 Decatur, AL Cotton, Vegetables, Supply)

58 56 North Central Farmers Elevator Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.527 0.527 0.255 0.255

 Ipswich, SD

59 53 Michigan Sugar Company Sugar 0.522 0.560 0.288 0.285

 Bay City, MI

60 79 Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers Inc. Grain 0.515 0.382 0.179 0.169 Richmond, MO
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 43

Total revenue = total gross business volume. Cooperatives opting out: numbers 25, 34, 50, 51, 54, 68, 69, and 76.

TABLE 24 (cont.)—Top 100 ag co-ops by total gross business revenue (billion $)

2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016

Rank Rank Name Type Revenue Revenue Assets Assets

61 61 Cooperative Farmers Elevator Grain 0.497 0.488 0.198 0.177 Rock Valley, IA

62 59 Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Other (Livestock) 0.477 0.515 0.030 0.032

 Association, Baraboo, WI

63 67 West Central Ag Services Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.471 0.434 0.344 0.277

 Ulen, MN

64 83 Valley Wide Cooperative Inc. Supply 0.457 0.360 0.268 0.214

 Jerome, ID

65 90 First Cooperative Association Grain 0.450 0.338 0.140 0.143

 Cherokee, IA

66 60 Mid-Kansas Cooperative Association Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.445 0.492 0.435 0.347

 Moundridge, KS

67 63 Hopkinsville Elevator Company Inc. Grain 0.445 0.467 0.211 0.202

 Hopkinsville, KY

68 Opted out.

 

69 Opted out.

 

70 64 Frenchman Valley Farmers Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.427 0.454 0.227 0.233

 Cooperative Inc., Imperial, NE

71 68 Producers Rice Mill Inc. Other (Rice) 0.422 0.418 0.258 0.213

 Stuttgart, AR

72 71 Farmers Cooperative Society Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.420 0.404 0.189 0.174

 Sioux Center, IA

73 62 Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative Sugar 0.419 0.476 0.434 0.490

 Renville, MN

74 70 Farmway Co-op Inc. Grain 0.407 0.407 0.240 0.240

 Beloit, KS

75 73 River Valley Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.405 0.396 0.115 0.141 Eldridge, IA

76 Opted out.

 

77 76 Landmark Services Cooperative Mixed (Supply, Grain) 0.397 0.391 0.235 0.232

 Cottage Grove, WI

78 99 MaxYield Cooperative Grain 0.390 0.303 0.169 0.179

 West Bend, IA

79 84 Heritage Cooperative, Inc. Grain 0.388 0.355 0.160 0.145

 West Mansfield, OH

80 75 Tree Top Inc. Fruit 0.380 0.391 0.336 0.345

 Selah, WA
44 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

Total revenue = total gross business volume. Cooperatives opting out: numbers 25, 34, 50, 51, 54, 68, 69, and 76.

TABLE 24 (cont.)—Top 100 ag co-ops by total gross business revenue (billion $)

2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016

Rank Rank Name Type Revenue Revenue Assets Assets

81 77 New Vision Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.378 0.389 0.162 0.139 Worthington, MN

82 72 Producers Livestock Marketing Association Other (Livestock) 0.366 0.402 0.061 0.065

 North Salt Lake, UT

83 78 Sun-Maid Growers of California Fruit & Vegetable 0.361 0.383 0.200 0.230

 Kingsburg, CA

84 89 Premier Cooperative, Inc. Grain 0.360 0.342 0.166 0.126

 Champaign, IL

85 85 Western Sugar Cooperative Sugar 0.359 0.353 0.305 0.357

 Denver, CO

86 135 Ursa Farmers Cooperative Company Grain 0.348 0.227 0.091 0.089

 Ursa, IL

87 88 Key Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.344 0.344 0.125 0.134

 Roland, IA

88 74 Lone Star Milk Producers Inc. Dairy 0.344 0.395 0.078 0.093

 Wichita Falls, TX

89 97 Meadowland Farmers Cooperative Grain 0.341 0.308 0.168 0.157

 Lamberton, MN

90 173 South Central FS, Inc. Mixed (Supply, Grain) 0.335 0.169 0.137 0.132

 Effingham, IL

91 109 Ag Producers Co-op Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.332 0.275 0.158 0.164

 Sunray, TX

92 94 Gateway FS Inc. Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.331 0.331 0.132 0.116

 Red Bud, IL

93 100 Saint Albans Cooperative Creamery Inc. Dairy 0.319 0.303 0.058 0.049

 Saint Albans, VT

94 96 United Farmers Cooperative Mixed (Supply, Grain) 0.319 0.315 0.159 0.146

 Winthrop, MN

95 108 Pro Cooperative Grain 0.318 0.282 0.126 0.148 Pocahontas, IA

96 92 Five Star Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.311 0.333 0.099 0.106 New Hampton, IA

97 95 Ag Valley Cooperative Non-Stock Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.309 0.330 0.212 0.192

 Edison, NE

98 182 United Farmers Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.309 0.156 0.110 0.061

 Red Oak, IA

99 91 Gold-Eagle Cooperative Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.308 0.335 0.124 0.119

 Goldfield, IA

100 107 Frontier Ag, Inc Mixed (Grain, Supply) 0.296 0.285 0.233 0.174

 Oakley, KS
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 45

SECTION V: Benchmark Statistics for Cooperative Comparisons

This section (Tables 25 through 29) presents benchmark statistics (common-size) for operating 

statements, balance sheets, and other data by operating type and primary product handled. These tables 

provide benchmarks that allow cooperatives to compare their financial position and performance with 

similar type and size cooperatives. Table 29 provides the best method for comparing co-ops since it is 

comprehensive and is broken down by type and size.

Highlights

• Marketing co-ops have higher gross margins as a percent of 

gross business volume than farm supply or service co-ops 

(Table 25).

• Total expenses were 10.1 percent of business volume for 

marketing co-ops and 9.3 percent for supply. However, 

net income was relatively higher for marketing co-ops (4.2 

percent of business volume) than farm supply co-ops (1.7 

percent). Service co-ops had the highest net income as a 

percent of total business, at 18.9 percent.

• For marketing co-ops, gross margins as a percent of business 

volume was highest for rice at 62.3 percent, followed by 

sugar (27.3 percent), fruit and vegetable (23.9 percent), fish 

(20.6 percent), poultry (13.7 percent) and cotton gins (13.5 

percent). Grains and oilseeds had 7.3 percent gross margins 

as a percent of business volume, while dairy had 6.3 percent.

• Total operating expenses as a percent of business volume 

were highest among cotton gin co-ops, at 36.9 percent. 

Following were rice (21.4 percent), fruit and vegetable (20.1 

percent), sugar (18.9 percent), and fish (16.7 percent) (Table 

26). Livestock co-ops had the lowest operating expenses, at 

2.5 percent of business volume. 

• Allocated member equity as a proportion of assets was 

highest for service co-ops (30 percent); supply co-ops were 

next at 29 percent, followed by marketing co-ops at 24 

percent (Table 26). 

• Among marketing co-ops, cotton gins had the highest 

proportion of fixed assets to total assets (44.9 percent) 

(Table 28). Fish co-ops were next (42.6 percent).

• Total liabilities as a percent of assets was highest for 

livestock co-ops at 73 percent. It was followed by fruit and 

vegetable, dairy, and fish co-ops.

• Total equity was highest among poultry co-ops (57.7 

percent), followed by cotton gin (56.6 percent), grain and 

oilseeds (47.6 percent), cotton (46.5 percent), and sugar 

(44.6 percent) co-ops.

Benchmarks

Cooperatives may compare their performance with the set 

of cooperatives that most closely matches their operating 

type and amount of sales. The 20 common-size financial 

statements in Tables 29.1 through 29.20 represent 106 

different combinations of primary source of business volume 

and various total sales ranges as follows:

• Grain marketing (29.1)

• Mixed grain marketing (29.2)

• Dairy marketing (29.3)

• Cotton marketing (29.4)

• Cotton ginning (29.5)

• Fresh fruit and vegetable (29.6)

• Fresh and processed fruit and vegetable (29.7)

• Processed fruit and vegetable (29.8)

• Livestock marketing (29.9)

• Poultry marketing (29.10)

• Fish and seafood marketing (29.11)

• Rice marketing (29.12)

• Sugar marketing (29.13)

• Nut marketing (29.14)

• Local foods (29.15)

• Bioenergy marketing (29.16)

• Dry bean and pea marketing (29.16)

• Tobacco marketing (29.16)

• Wool marketing (29.16)

• Other marketing—seed, flower, forestry, coffee (29.16)

• Farm supply (29.17)

• Mixed farm supply (29.18)

• Artificial insemination (29.19)

• Cotton service (29.20)

• Crop service (29.20)

• Hulling service (29.20)

• Dairy service (29.20)

• Fruit and vegetable service (29.20)

• Livestock service (29.20

• Nut service (29.20)

• Rice drying (29.20)

• Storage (29.20)

• Transportation (29.20)

• Other service (29.20)

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 45
46 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 25—Common-size income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2017

Marketing Supplies Service Total

Percent of total gross business volume

Income

Commodities marketed 85.01 28.68 13.04 60.77 

Farm supply sales 11.57 69.46 2.49 36.40 

 Total sales 96.58 98.14 15.53 97.17 

 Cost of goods sold 85.60 89.07 14.12 87.02 

Gross margin 10.99 9.07 1.41 10.15 

 Service & other operating income 2.74 1.12 77.66 2.12 

Gross revenue 13.73 10.18 79.07 12.27 

Expenses 

Wages 4.88 4.94 22.88 4.92 

Depreciation 1.44 1.59 4.32 1.50 

Interest expense 0.49 0.45 0.77 0.48 

Other expense 3.30 2.34 38.02 2.92 

 Total operating expenses 10.11 9.32 65.99 9.83 

Local savings 3.62 0.86 13.08 2.45 

 Patronage from other co-ops 0.31 0.37 0.88 0.33 

 Nonoperating income 0.37 0.38 5.94 0.38 

Net income before taxes 4.30 1.61 19.89 3.16 

 Taxes 0.11 (0.14) 1.03 0.01 

Net income 4.18 1.74 18.87 3.15 

 

Total gross business volume 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Export sales 3.88 0.43 0.00 2.40 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 47

TABLE 26—Common-size income statement, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017

 

Item Cotton Cotton Gins Dairy Fruit & Veg. Grains & Oilseeds Livestock Poultry Rice Sugar Fish Other

Percent of gross business volume

Income

Products marketed 88.52 47.67 98.17 94.15 67.99 97.67 96.89 98.44 94.75 89.71 94.01 

Farm supply sales 4.76 14.89 0.54 1.12 27.54 0.58 2.27 0.16 0.54 8.04 3.33 

 Total sales 93.28 62.56 98.70 95.28 95.52 98.24 99.16 98.60 95.29 97.75 97.34 

 Cost of goods sold 91.73 49.09 92.40 71.35 88.23 96.84 85.48 36.27 67.98 77.13 46.98 

Gross margin 1.55 13.47 6.30 23.93 7.30 1.40 13.68 62.33 27.31 20.62 50.36 

 Service and other oper. inc. 6.71 32.98 0.71 3.90 3.65 1.48 0.63 1.35 4.53 2.04 1.64 

Gross revenue 8.26 46.45 7.02 27.83 10.95 2.88 14.31 63.69 31.84 22.66 52.00 

Expenses 

Wages 2.36 12.35 3.90 10.45 4.14 1.31 5.41 10.43 9.68 6.38 3.22 

Depreciation 0.54 3.63 0.76 2.03 1.82 0.13 1.10 2.37 2.98 1.44 1.37 

Interest expense 0.46 0.64 0.25 0.85 0.62 0.24 0.33 0.58 0.76 0.45 0.42 

Other expenses 2.49 20.30 1.62 6.77 3.28 0.81 3.01 8.06 5.48 8.44 8.40 

 Total operating expenses 5.86 36.92 6.52 20.10 9.87 2.50 9.85 21.44 18.90 16.71 13.41 

Local savings 2.40 9.52 0.50 7.73 1.08 0.38 4.45 42.25 12.94 5.95 38.59 

 Patronage from other co-ops 0.05 3.49 0.12 0.10 0.56 0.13 0.02 0.08 0.07 0.01 0.12 

 Non-operating income (0.04) 0.97 0.46 0.72 0.27 0.14 0.20 (0.04) 0.11 0.20 0.89 

Net income before taxes 2.41 13.98 1.08 8.55 1.91 0.66 4.67 42.30 13.11 6.15 39.61 

 Taxes 0.10 0.06 0.12 0.40 0.05 0.05 0.03 (0.02) 0.05 0.03 0.35 

Net Income 2.31 13.93 0.96 8.15 1.86 0.61 4.64 42.32 13.06 6.12 39.26 

 

Total gross business volume 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Export sales 23.14 0.00 1.13 9.08 2.87 0.00 3.94 9.95 2.74 0.00 25.41 

1 Other: nuts, tobacco, wool, bean and pea, local foods, and miscellaneous marketing.
48 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 27—Common-size balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2017

Marketing Supplies Service Total

Percent of total assets

Current assets 52.52 49.95 29.26 51.17 

Property, plant, and equipment 32.44 26.92 18.18 29.71 

Other assets 9.60 8.98 41.30 9.46 

 Total own assets 94.55 85.84 88.74 90.33 

Investments in other cooperatives 5.45 14.16 11.26 9.67 

 Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 37.12 37.27 22.86 37.13 

Long-term liabilities 19.99 14.47 6.97 17.27 

 Total liabilities 57.11 51.75 29.84 54.40 

Allocated equity 24.29 29.33 30.20 26.74 

Retained earnings 18.60 18.92 39.97 18.86 

 Total equity 42.89 48.25 70.16 45.60 

Total liabilities & net worth 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 49

TABLE 28—Common-size balance sheet, U.S. ag co-ops, by primary commodity marketed, 2017

 

Cotton Cotton Gins Dairy Fruits & Vegs Grains & Oilseeds Livestock Poultry Rice Sugar Fish Other

Percent of total assets

Current assets 67.96 38.32 51.82 56.18 52.94 84.62 70.25 56.45 38.75 56.17 48.83 

Prop., plant, and equip. 24.74 44.87 30.97 28.45 33.74 6.44 28.62 31.11 40.32 42.63 31.52 

Other assets 5.61 1.40 14.51 13.23 4.07 5.43 0.96 10.74 20.07 1.19 17.78 

 Total, own assets 98.31 84.59 97.30 97.86 90.75 96.49 99.83 98.31 99.13 100.00 98.13 

Invest. in other co-ops 1.69 15.41 2.70 2.14 9.25 3.51 0.17 1.69 0.87 0.00 1.87 

 Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 43.67 28.82 41.23 35.42 38.03 67.49 25.78 23.38 31.62 42.42 18.85 

Long-term liabilities 9.89 14.56 23.04 32.58 14.35 5.57 16.55 32.30 23.80 17.21 24.43 

 Total liabilities 53.55 43.38 64.28 68.00 52.37 73.06 42.33 55.69 55.42 59.63 43.28 

Allocated equity 27.43 42.73 28.94 20.56 20.93 12.14 19.30 16.38 31.91 33.33 36.76 

Retained earnings 19.02 13.89 6.79 11.43 26.69 14.80 38.37 27.94 12.67 7.04 19.96 

 Total equity 46.45 56.62 35.72 32.00 47.63 26.94 57.67 44.31 44.58 40.37 56.72 

Total liabilities & equity 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

1 Other: nuts, tobacco, wool, bean and pea, local foods, and miscellaneous marketing.
50 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.1—Grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $5 Million $5–$10 Million $10–$15 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 43.58 62.18 57.20 

Other assets 29.58 4.06 0.17 

Property, plant, and equipment 22.91 23.05 34.16 

Total, own assets 96.07 89.29 91.54 

Investments in other cooperatives 3.93 10.71 8.46 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 25.65 41.52 36.22 

Long-term liabilities 7.09 7.92 13.78 

Total liabilities 32.73 49.44 49.99 

Allocated equity 15.27 30.77 23.43 

Retained earnings 52.00 19.79 26.58 

Total equity 67.27 50.56 50.01 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 86.07 92.59 92.52 

Gross margin 13.93 7.41 7.48 

Service and other income 41.16 7.53 2.72 

Gross revenue 55.10 14.93 10.20 

Wages 32.00 6.39 3.24 

Depreciation 6.33 1.50 1.61 

Interest 1.28 0.38 0.45 

Other expenses 25.71 5.88 3.03 

Total expenses 65.31 14.14 8.34 

Net operating margins (10.21) 0.79 1.86 

Patronage income 0.52 0.75 0.56 

Non-operating income 25.12 0.31 0.43 

Net income before taxes 15.43 1.85 2.85 

Income taxes 1.32 0.06 0.18 

Net income 14.11 1.79 2.67 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 48.89 210.04 212.22 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.70 1.50 1.58 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.11 0.16 0.28 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.77 0.39 0.53 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 7.87% 4.54% 7.72%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 43.51% 11.83% 26.67%

Number of cooperatives 17 28 16

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 51

TABLE 29.1 (cont.)—Grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$15–$20 Million $20–$30 Million $30–$50 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 56.45 53.92 55.64 

Other assets 4.26 1.76 6.30 

Property, plant, and equipment 34.32 39.01 33.43 

Total, own assets 95.03 94.68 95.37 

Investments in other cooperatives 4.97 5.32 4.63 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 39.79 36.24 41.48 

Long-term liabilities 11.00 14.06 11.03 

Total liabilities 50.79 50.29 52.51 

Allocated equity 18.57 19.66 25.04 

Retained earnings 30.64 30.05 22.45 

Total equity 49.21 49.71 47.49 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 92.90 93.73 93.55 

Gross margin 7.10 6.27 6.45 

Service and other income 3.21 4.64 2.58 

Gross revenue 10.32 10.90 9.02 

Wages 3.42 3.54 2.75 

Depreciation 1.95 1.79 1.42 

Interest 0.51 0.51 0.34 

Other expenses 2.68 3.67 3.04 

Total expenses 8.56 9.51 7.55 

Net operating margins 1.75 1.39 1.47 

Patronage income 0.23 0.25 0.24 

Non-operating income 0.22 0.29 1.09 

Net income before taxes 2.20 1.93 2.80 

Income taxes 0.10 0.05 0.08 

Net income 2.10 1.89 2.72 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 247.10 819.45 1,242.90 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.42 1.49 1.34 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.22 0.28 0.23 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.62 0.60 0.47 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 5.04% 5.12% 7.04%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 20.99% 20.11% 24.29%

Number of cooperatives 14 32 31 

 

This table continues on next page.
52 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.1 (cont.)—Grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$50–$100 Million $100–$200 Million $200 Million or More 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 62.43 55.12 54.62 

Other assets 1.58 2.94 4.40 

Property, plant, and equipment 31.20 34.72 32.61 

Total, own assets 95.21 92.78 91.62 

Investments in other cooperatives 4.79 7.22 8.38 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 45.23 43.33 42.23 

Long-term liabilities 13.23 11.53 13.69 

Total liabilities 58.46 54.86 55.92 

Allocated equity 19.57 23.49 22.28 

Retained earnings 21.97 21.65 21.80 

Total equity 41.54 45.14 44.08 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 94.10 93.86 94.21 

Gross margin 5.90 6.14 5.79 

Service and other income 2.77 3.61 2.53 

Gross revenue 8.67 9.76 8.32 

Wages 2.64 3.17 2.73 

Depreciation 1.35 1.91 1.47 

Interest 0.42 0.47 0.35 

Other expenses 2.32 2.81 2.58 

Total expenses 6.73 8.37 7.13 

Net operating margins 1.94 1.39 1.18 

Patronage income 0.26 0.53 0.40 

Non-operating income 0.16 0.12 0.23 

Net income before taxes 2.37 2.04 1.82 

Income taxes 0.13 0.01 0.01 

Net income 2.23 2.03 1.81 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 2,385.42 2,500.95 6,383.62 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.38 1.27 1.29 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.32 0.26 0.31 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.53 0.48 0.49 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 6.18% 4.57% 5.12%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 25.35% 15.73% 19.15%

Number of cooperatives 33 18 18 

 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 53

TABLE 29.2—Mixed grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

MIXED GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $5 million $5 - $10 million $10 - $15 million $15 - $20 million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 57.10 52.71 60.61 54.07 

Other assets 14.27 4.92 1.15 3.48 

Property, plant, and equipment 20.17 31.37 27.38 29.77 

Total, own assets 91.54 88.99 89.13 87.32 

Investments in other cooperatives 8.46 11.01 10.87 12.68 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 28.98 36.73 38.34 37.98 

Long-term liabilities 8.61 12.47 10.30 10.04 

Total liabilities 37.59 49.19 48.63 48.02 

Allocated equity 47.42 35.62 25.51 26.88 

Retained earnings 15.00 15.18 25.86 25.10 

Total equity 62.41 50.81 51.37 51.98 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 89.23 93.73 95.82 96.11 

Cost of goods sold 80.93 84.95 86.79 87.75 

Gross margin 8.30 8.78 9.03 8.36 

Service and other income 10.77 6.27 4.18 3.89 

Gross revenue 19.07 15.05 13.21 12.25 

Wages 7.48 6.29 5.38 5.15 

Depreciation 1.59 2.23 1.64 2.32 

Interest 0.40 1.11 0.55 0.72 

Other expenses 7.23 4.80 4.49 3.89 

Total expenses 16.70 14.43 12.05 12.08 

Net operating margins 2.37 0.62 1.16 0.18 

Patronage income 0.33 0.56 0.37 0.86 

Non-operating income 0.09 0.24 0.21 0.61 

Net income before taxes 2.80 1.43 1.74 1.65 

Income taxes 0.01 0.04 0.04 0.19 

Net income 2.78 1.39 1.70 1.46 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 41.08 155.38 319.01 319.64 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.97 1.44 1.58 1.42 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.14 0.25 0.20 0.19 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.24 0.30 0.50 0.48 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 6.15% 4.60% 5.02% 4.27%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 11.30% 7.07% 14.63% 9.79%

Number of cooperatives 12 19 25 17 

 
54 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.2 (cont.)—Mixed grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

MIXED GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$20–$30 million $30–$50 million $50–$100 million 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 56.43 54.73 56.32

Other assets 1.75 1.81 2.66

Property, plant, and equipment 31.01 29.90 30.00

Total, own assets 89.19 86.44 88.98

Investments in other cooperatives 10.81 13.56 11.02

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00

Current liabilities 39.07 41.50 42.86

Long-term liabilities 14.70 11.65 11.50

Total liabilities 53.77 53.15 54.35

Allocated equity 22.56 22.88 22.49

Retained earnings 23.67 23.97 23.15

Total equity 46.23 46.85 45.65

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 95.92 95.88 95.59

Cost of goods sold 86.75 87.54 87.70

Gross margin 9.16 8.34 7.89

Service and other income 4.08 4.12 4.41

Gross revenue 13.25 12.46 12.30

Wages 5.18 4.82 4.74

Depreciation 2.27 2.08 1.82

Interest 0.67 0.69 0.54

Other expenses 4.21 3.87 4.45

Total expenses 12.33 11.45 11.56

Net operating margins 0.92 1.01 0.75

Patronage income 1.06 0.96 0.73

Non-operating income 0.06 0.29 0.07

Net income before taxes 2.04 2.26 1.54

Income taxes 0.09 0.09 0.09

Net income 1.95 2.17 1.45

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 535.67 1,096.90 2,269.73

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.44 1.32 1.31

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.32 0.25 0.25

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.51 0.51 0.51

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 4.45% 4.91% 4.10%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 14.22% 15.79% 12.71%

Number of cooperatives 21 27 29

 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 55

TABLE 29.2 (cont.)—Mixed grain marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

MIXED GRAIN MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$100–$200 million $200–$500 million $500 million or more 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 52.60 53.69 48.26 

Other assets 7.97 2.02 4.23 

Property, plant, and equipment 26.90 32.83 39.91 

Total, own assets 87.48 88.53 92.40 

Investments in other cooperatives 12.52 11.47 7.60 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 40.30 44.27 27.80 

Long-term liabilities 15.76 11.80 17.77 

Total liabilities 56.06 56.07 45.56 

Allocated equity 20.17 20.16 19.41 

Retained earnings 23.77 23.77 35.03 

Total equity 43.94 43.93 54.44 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 95.34 95.53 96.54 

Cost of goods sold 85.51 87.76 89.00 

Gross margin 9.83 7.76 7.54 

Service and other income 4.66 4.47 3.46 

Gross revenue 14.49 12.24 11.00 

Wages 6.17 5.08 4.11 

Depreciation 2.16 1.88 1.99 

Interest 0.72 0.56 0.86 

Other expenses 4.26 4.26 2.83 

Total expenses 13.32 11.78 9.79 

Net operating margins 1.17 0.46 1.21 

Patronage income 0.98 0.81 0.43 

Non-operating income 1.10 0.02 0.10 

Net income before taxes 3.25 1.28 1.75 

Income taxes 0.04 0.07 0.04 

Net income 3.21 1.22 1.70 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 4,596.09 6,892.27 14,271.63 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.31 1.21 1.74 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.36 0.27 0.33 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.54 0.54 0.64 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.71% 3.44% 5.91%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 22.87% 11.28% 19.88%

Number of cooperatives 31 20 13 
56 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.3—Dairy marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

DAIRY MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$5 Million $5–$10 Million $10–$20 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 66.14 59.79 73.67 65.88

Other assets 13.13 7.82 1.94 3.75

Property, plant, and equipment 20.72 18.17 10.58 11.46

Total, own assets 100.00 85.79 86.19 81.09

Investments in other cooperatives 0.00 14.21 13.81 18.91

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Current liabilities 52.25 41.84 30.70 51.41

Long-term liabilities 9.67 11.91 1.71 7.83

Total liabilities 61.91 53.75 32.41 59.24

Allocated equity 23.13 31.09 65.15 33.39

Retained earnings 14.95 15.16 2.44 7.37

Total equity 38.09 46.25 67.59 40.76

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 96.83 92.70 84.90 96.72

Gross margin 3.17 7.30 15.10 3.28

Service and other income 6.37 2.58 0.52 1.40

Gross revenue 9.54 9.89 15.61 4.68

Wages 3.67 4.65 3.67 1.95

Depreciation 0.55 0.85 0.21 0.18

Interest 0.50 0.30 0.00 0.11

Other expenses 3.96 3.43 11.21 1.87

Total expenses 8.69 9.23 15.10 4.11

Net operating margins 0.85 0.66 0.52 0.57

Patronage income 0.02 0.27 0.56 0.63

Non-operating income 0.00 0.08 1.58 0.02

Net income before taxes 0.87 1.01 2.66 1.22

Income taxes 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.01

Net income 0.87 1.00 2.62 1.22

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 2.68 43.39 66.21 315.20

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.27 1.43 2.40 1.28

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.25 0.26 0.03 0.19

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.39 0.33 0.04 0.18

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 7.11% 5.69% 16.20% 9.79%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 19.54% 14.09% 24.46% 26.81%

Number of cooperatives 6 16 9 20

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 57

TABLE 29.3 (cont.)—Dairy marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

DAIRY MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$20–$50 Million $50–$200 Million $200–$1 Billion $1 Billion or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 70.26 59.69 58.59 49.01 

Other assets 2.79 3.80 2.91 18.93 

Property, plant, and equipment 16.35 31.22 36.03 29.57 

Total, own assets 89.40 94.70 97.53 97.51 

Investments in other cooperatives 10.60 5.30 2.47 2.49 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 59.62 48.84 16.34 25.88 

Total liabilities 8.65 13.28 56.89 66.85 

Allocated equity 68.27 62.12 34.74 27.28 

Retained earnings 23.52 21.64 8.37 5.87 

Total equity 8.21 16.24 43.11 33.15 

Total equity and liabilities 31.73 37.88 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 96.68 94.48 91.22 94.19 

Gross margin 3.32 5.52 8.78 5.81 

Service and other income 1.54 1.06 2.70 0.09 

Gross revenue 4.86 6.58 11.48 5.90 

Wages 1.33 2.41 4.88 3.85 

Depreciation 0.30 0.57 0.98 0.74 

Interest 0.15 0.09 0.28 0.25 

Other expenses 2.46 3.02 4.39 0.68 

Total expenses 4.24 6.09 10.53 5.52 

Net operating margins 0.62 0.49 0.95 0.37 

Patronage income 0.18 0.14 0.14 0.11 

Non-operating income 0.02 0.07 0.42 0.52 

Net income before taxes 0.82 0.70 1.51 1.00 

Income taxes 0.01 0.01 0.12 0.14 

Net income 0.81 0.69 1.40 0.86 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 531.62 1,940.88 8,522.45 27,994.78 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.18 1.22 1.44 1.20 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.27 0.35 0.38 0.78 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.26 0.43 0.19 0.18 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 8.64% 5.03% 5.92% 4.61%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 30.59% 20.18% 13.27% 11.62%

Number of cooperatives 18 17 12 8 
58 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.4—Cotton marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

COTTON MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $100 Million $100 Million or more

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 60.34 70.26 

Other assets 2.74 6.47 

Property, plant, and equipment 34.48 21.80 

Total, own assets 97.56 98.53 

Investments in other cooperatives 2.44 1.47 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 40.96 44.48 

Long-term liabilities 9.05 10.14 

Total liabilities 50.01 54.62 

Allocated equity 34.72 25.23 

Retained earnings 15.26 20.15 

Total equity 49.99 45.38 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 91.49 99.32 

Gross margin 8.51 0.68 

Service and other income 13.58 6.27 

Gross revenue 22.09 6.96 

Wages 6.90 1.90 

Depreciation 1.65 0.43 

Interest 0.92 0.44 

Other expenses 5.25 2.30 

Total expenses 14.72 5.07 

Net operating margins 7.37 1.88 

Patronage income 0.07 0.06 

Non-operating income 0.63 (0.14)

Net income before taxes 8.08 1.80 

Income taxes 0.27 0.09 

Net income 7.80 1.71 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 416.94 2,705.42 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.47 1.58 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.18 0.22 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.31 0.44 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 15.46% 8.08%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 38.62% 24.54%

Number of cooperatives 9 5 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 59

TABLE 29.5—Cotton ginning co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

COTTON GINNING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$5 Million $5–$10 Million $10 Million or more

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 37.65 39.98 34.52 43.14 

Other assets 3.29 1.61 0.48 1.74 

Property, plant, and equipment 43.01 45.76 47.39 38.31 

Total, own assets 83.95 87.36 82.40 83.18 

Investments in other cooperatives 16.05 12.64 17.60 16.82 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 21.38 28.48 29.75 32.12 

Long-term liabilities 9.85 18.77 12.40 12.11 

Total liabilities 31.23 47.25 42.15 44.23 

Allocated equity 60.09 42.41 43.60 30.97 

Retained earnings 8.68 10.34 14.24 24.80 

Total equity 68.77 52.75 57.85 55.77 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 73.11 77.12 79.83 79.80 

Gross margin 26.89 22.88 20.17 20.20 

Service and other income 93.35 54.39 57.78 34.37 

Gross revenue 120.24 77.27 77.95 54.56 

Wages 36.86 23.13 18.91 13.07 

Depreciation 11.96 6.25 5.97 3.79 

Interest 1.23 1.54 0.83 0.52 

Other expenses 58.07 36.14 31.19 24.69 

Total expenses 108.12 67.07 56.90 42.07 

Net operating margins 12.12 10.21 21.06 12.50 

Patronage income 11.57 6.40 5.78 2.95 

Non-operating income 11.91 2.85 0.34 (0.12)

Net income before taxes 35.60 19.46 27.17 15.33 

Income taxes 0.07 0.15 0.05 0.06 

Net income 35.53 19.31 27.12 15.27 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 28.78 206.03 232.74 107.06 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.76 1.40 1.16 1.34 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.14 0.36 0.21 0.22 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.13 0.20 0.25 0.44 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 13.27% 18.34% 29.79% 20.56%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 21.31% 39.76% 66.18% 63.98%

Number of cooperatives 26 52 20 5 
60 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.6—Fresh fruit & vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$5 Million $5–$10 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 63.47 41.00 52.86 

Other assets 11.46 4.14 7.76 

Property, plant, and equipment 22.52 53.52 36.88 

Total, own assets 97.45 98.66 97.51 

Investments in other cooperatives 2.55 1.34 2.49 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 38.71 28.15 39.47 

Long-term liabilities 8.58 30.23 15.01 

Total liabilities 47.28 58.38 54.48 

Allocated equity 35.46 25.26 32.06 

Retained earnings 17.26 16.36 13.46 

Total equity 52.72 41.62 45.52 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 79.10 89.10 83.50 

Gross margin 20.90 10.90 16.50 

Service and other income 31.97 4.46 7.18 

Gross revenue 52.86 15.35 23.68 

Wages 23.97 7.73 9.48 

Depreciation 1.88 0.75 2.33 

Interest 0.84 0.83 0.70 

Other expenses 22.05 5.02 10.33 

Total expenses 48.73 14.34 22.85 

Net operating margins 4.13 1.01 0.83 

Patronage income 0.13 0.03 0.30 

Non-operating income 0.28 0.24 0.25 

Net income before taxes 4.54 1.28 1.38 

Income taxes 1.74 (0.07) (0.01)

Net income 2.80 1.35 1.39 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 8.88 33.51 117.97 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.64 1.46 1.34 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.16 0.73 0.33 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.33 0.39 0.30 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 8.85% 4.94% 3.40%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 13.01% 12.52% 7.07%

Number of cooperatives 19 12 15 

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 61

TABLE 29.6 (cont.)—Fresh fruit & vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$10–$20 Million $20–$50 Million $50 Million or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 55.88 51.52 45.55 

Other assets 7.99 2.81 18.36 

Property, plant, and equipment 31.79 39.34 33.58 

Total, own assets 95.66 93.68 97.50 

Investments in other cooperatives 4.34 6.32 2.50 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 40.83 37.96 33.92 

Long-term liabilities 13.62 17.37 21.47 

Total liabilities 54.45 55.34 55.39 

Allocated equity 24.71 26.23 11.54 

Retained earnings 20.84 18.43 33.07 

Total equity 45.55 44.66 44.61 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 83.80 75.66 87.35 

Gross margin 16.20 24.34 12.65 

Service and other income 2.15 9.29 8.95 

Gross revenue 18.35 33.63 21.60 

Wages 11.20 13.17 7.11 

Depreciation 1.49 2.29 1.36 

Interest 0.19 0.45 0.38 

Other expenses 6.11 15.04 10.11 

Total expenses 18.98 30.95 18.95 

Net operating margins (0.63) 2.68 2.65 

Patronage income 2.48 0.15 0.06 

Non-operating income (0.48) 0.45 2.07 

Net income before taxes 1.37 3.28 4.78 

Income taxes 0.00 0.12 0.97 

Net income 1.37 3.17 3.81 

Total gross business volume (million $) 96.19 445.71 3,335.88 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.37 1.36 1.34 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.30 0.39 0.48 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.46 0.41 0.74 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 3.88% 6.38% 12.84%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 13.77% 20.61% 82.20%

Number of cooperatives 6 11 16 
62 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.7—Fresh and processed fruit & vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

FRESH AND PROCESSED FRUIT & VEGETABLE CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $10 Million > $10 Million 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 33.98 44.02 

Other assets 18.44 15.49 

Property, plant, and equipment 31.55 22.83 

Total, own assets 83.97 82.35 

Investments in other cooperatives 16.03 17.65 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 34.61 36.24 

Long-term liabilities 15.33 10.75 

Total liabilities 49.94 46.99 

Allocated equity 45.64 47.37 

Retained earnings 4.42 5.64 

Total equity 50.06 53.01 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 80.14 81.69 

Gross margin 19.86 18.31 

Service and other income 12.33 2.60 

Gross revenue 32.18 20.91 

Wages 11.93 9.16 

Depreciation 1.57 1.27 

Interest 0.15 1.55 

Other expenses 16.82 9.85 

Total expenses 30.47 21.83 

Net operating margins 1.71 (0.92)

Patronage income 0.00 0.06 

Non-operating income 0.18 (1.08)

Net income before taxes 1.89 (1.95)

Income taxes 0.07 (0.16)

Net income 1.83 (1.78)

Total gross business volume (million $) 22.69 258.23 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 0.98 1.21 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.31 0.20 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.09 0.11 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 4.43% -0.78%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 8.69% -7.43%

Number of cooperatives 4 7 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 63

TABLE 29.8—Processed fruit & vegetable co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

PROCESSED FRUIT & VEGETABLE CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $10 million $10–$100 million $100–$500 million $500 million or more

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 61.78 81.65 64.80 56.35 

Other assets 7.45 2.05 6.50 15.81 

Property, plant, and equipment 28.24 14.61 26.38 27.03 

Total, own assets 97.47 98.31 97.67 99.19 

Investments in other cooperatives 2.53 1.69 2.33 0.81 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 38.62 69.78 43.19 30.17 

Long-term liabilities 3.77 5.21 29.34 43.35 

Total liabilities 42.39 74.99 72.52 73.52 

Allocated equity 46.35 18.64 15.14 24.69 

Retained earnings 11.26 6.36 12.33 1.79 

Total equity 57.61 25.01 27.48 26.48 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 57.08 79.19 69.38 65.40 

Gross margin 42.92 20.81 30.62 34.60 

Service and other income 0.80 3.42 2.45 0.13 

Gross revenue 43.72 24.24 33.06 34.74 

Wages 9.40 9.98 15.40 11.91 

Depreciation 1.11 0.96 2.17 2.94 

Interest 0.60 0.60 1.08 1.30 

Other expenses 10.76 8.29 8.82 2.15 

Total expenses 21.87 19.82 27.46 18.29 

Net operating margins 21.84 4.42 5.60 16.44 

Patronage income 0.14 0.06 0.08 0.10 

Non-operating income 0.54 0.24 0.32 0.10 

Net income before taxes 22.53 4.71 6.00 16.65 

Income taxes 0.04 0.15 0.16 0.22 

Net income 22.49 4.57 5.84 16.43 

Total gross business volume (million $) 18.05 217.43 1,916.32 3,439.05 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.60 1.17 1.50 1.87 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.07 0.21 1.07 1.64 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.20 0.25 0.45 0.07 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 29.02% 6.98% 9.95% 21.25%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 60.90% 32.22% 54.22% 78.76%

Number of cooperatives 11 5 6 4 
64 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.9—Livestock marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

LIVESTOCK MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 million $1–$50 million $50–$100 million $100 million or more

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 57.81 62.85 59.19 91.40 

Other assets 11.71 10.74 14.99 3.24 

Property, plant, and equipment 30.47 21.68 17.80 2.65 

Total, own assets 99.99 95.27 91.98 97.30 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.01 4.73 8.02 2.70 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 41.91 50.52 37.27 74.46 

Long-term liabilities 13.74 15.30 8.39 3.91 

Total liabilities 55.65 65.83 45.66 78.37 

Allocated equity 25.25 26.20 11.53 10.48 

Retained earnings 19.10 7.97 42.81 11.15 

Total equity 44.35 34.17 54.34 21.63 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 94.11 96.66 89.75 99.68 

Gross margin 5.89 3.34 10.25 0.32 

Service and other income 13.29 0.65 2.56 1.58 

Gross revenue 19.17 3.98 12.81 1.90 

Wages 8.72 2.11 3.55 0.98 

Depreciation 0.73 0.24 0.79 0.06 

Interest 0.43 0.10 0.14 0.29 

Other expenses 5.04 1.35 3.32 0.51 

Total expenses 14.92 3.80 7.80 1.84 

Net operating margins 4.25 0.18 5.01 0.06 

Patronage income 0.00 0.04 1.00 0.09 

Non-operating income 0.04 (0.02) 0.86 0.12 

Net income before taxes 4.30 0.21 6.86 0.26 

Income taxes 0.90 0.03 0.59 0.01 

Net income 3.40 0.19 6.27 0.25 

Total gross business volume (million $) 7.45 570.03 234.71 2,861.97 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.38 1.24 1.59 1.23 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.31 0.45 0.15 0.18 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.43 0.23 0.79 0.52 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.72% 3.09% 19.89% 3.06%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 16.29% 7.03% 154.47% 13.50%

Number of cooperatives 21 44 3 5 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 65

TABLE 29.10—Poultry marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

POULTRY MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

 < $100 Million $100 Million or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 61.58 71.04 

Other assets 11.16 0.02 

Property, plant, and equipment 26.74 28.79 

Total, own assets 99.47 99.86 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.53 0.14 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 40.04 24.47 

Long-term liabilities 9.51 17.19 

Total liabilities 49.55 41.67 

Allocated equity 21.46 19.10 

Retained earnings 28.99 39.23 

Total equity 50.45 58.33 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 78.56 87.01 

Gross margin 21.44 12.99 

Service and other income 5.50 0.12 

Gross revenue 26.94 13.11 

Wages 8.90 5.09 

Depreciation 1.36 1.09 

Interest 0.25 0.34 

Other expenses 14.04 1.87 

Total expenses 24.55 8.39 

Net operating margins 2.40 4.71 

Patronage income 0.17 0.00 

Non-operating income 0.07 0.21 

Net income before taxes 2.63 4.93 

Income taxes 0.10 0.02 

Net income 2.53 4.90 

Total gross business volume (million $) 90.75 814.80 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.54 2.90 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.19 0.29 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.57 0.67 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.94% 9.46%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 24.35% 46.06%

Number of cooperatives 6 4 
66 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.11—Fish and seafood marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

FISH AND SEAFOOD MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

 < $1 Million $1–$10 Million $10 Million or more 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 46.88 60.46 55.75 

Other assets 0.17 5.67 0.42 

Property, plant, and equipment 52.82 33.87 43.84 

Total, own assets 99.87 100.00 100.00 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.13 0.00 0.00 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 36.37 43.58 42.45 

Long-term liabilities 25.50 10.44 18.13 

Total liabilities 61.88 54.02 60.57 

Allocated equity 36.63 20.01 35.64 

Retained earnings 1.49 25.98 3.79 

Total equity 38.12 45.98 39.43 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 86.68 83.19 76.68 

Gross margin 13.32 16.81 23.32 

Service and other income 1.99 0.95 2.60 

Gross revenue 15.30 17.76 25.92 

Wages 7.79 5.20 7.06 

Depreciation 0.87 0.52 1.92 

Interest 0.54 0.24 0.56 

Other expenses 5.51 8.91 8.65 

Total expenses 14.71 14.87 18.19 

Net operating margins 0.60 2.89 7.73 

Patronage income 0.10 0.01 0.00 

Non-operating income 0.00 0.53 0.07 

Net income before taxes 0.70 3.43 7.80 

Income taxes 0.00 0.07 0.02 

Net income 0.70 3.36 7.78 

Total gross business volume (million $) 5.69 61.09 138.80 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.29 1.39 1.31 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.67 0.23 0.46 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.04 0.56 0.10 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 3.64% 24.25% 22.66%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 5.61% 111.12% 59.14%

Number of cooperatives 13 12 7 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 67

TABLE 29.12—Rice marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

RICE MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $10 Million $10–$200 Million $200 million or more

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 60.91 99.74 55.24 

Other assets 15.68 0.16 11.03 

Property, plant, and equipment 23.41 0.11 32.00 

Total, own assets 100.00 100.00 98.26 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.00 0.00 1.74 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 50.72 88.70 21.50 

Long-term liabilities 10.75 9.34 33.00 

Total liabilities 61.46 98.04 54.49 

Allocated equity 23.52 1.74 16.77 

Retained earnings 15.01 0.21 28.74 

Total equity 38.54 1.96 45.51 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 82.33 40.55 36.44 

Gross margin 17.67 59.45 63.56 

Service and other income 9.98 0.18 1.38 

Gross revenue 27.64 59.64 64.94 

Wages 8.95 0.53 11.03 

Depreciation 0.92 0.00 2.52 

Interest 0.26 0.00 0.62 

Other expenses 13.41 27.74 7.32 

Total expenses 23.54 28.28 21.49 

Net operating margins 4.11 31.36 43.45 

Patronage income 0.00 0.00 0.09 

Non-operating income 0.00 0.01 (0.04)

Net income before taxes 4.11 31.37 43.50 

Income taxes 0.00 0.01 (0.02)

Net income 4.11 31.37 43.52 

Total gross business volume (million $) 8.89 65.85 1557.68 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.20 1.12 2.57 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.28 4.78 0.73 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.39 0.11 0.63 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 13.93% 75.91% 69.23%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 55.73% 4353.65% 407.33%

Number of cooperatives 3 3 3 
68 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.13—Sugar marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

SUGAR MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$20 Million $20–$300 Million $300 Million or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 63.12 86.40 25.46 42.77 

Other assets 14.79 1.44 41.92 12.34 

Property, plant, and equipment 22.09 12.17 30.68 44.40 

Total, own assets 100.00 100.00 98.06 99.52 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.00 0.00 1.94 0.48 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 47.86 56.68 22.83 34.40 

Long-term liabilities 10.14 18.45 15.58 26.93 

Total liabilities 58.00 75.13 38.41 61.34 

Allocated equity 27.83 41.54 13.96 38.36 

Retained earnings 14.17 (16.67) 47.63 0.30 

Total equity 42.00 24.87 61.59 38.66 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 90.97 95.45 63.69 73.85 

Gross margin 9.03 4.55 36.31 26.15 

Service and other income 3.67 40.32 1.23 5.49 

Gross revenue 12.70 44.87 37.54 31.64 

Wages 7.90 18.44 13.41 9.44 

Depreciation 1.04 2.66 3.10 3.17 

Interest 0.51 1.12 0.91 0.78 

Other expenses 2.36 21.98 5.67 5.75 

Total expenses 11.81 44.20 23.09 19.14 

Net operating margins 0.89 0.67 14.45 12.49 

Patronage income 0.00 0.00 0.27 0.03 

Non-operating income 0.00 0.00 (0.95) 0.37 

Net income before taxes 0.89 0.67 13.78 12.90 

Income taxes 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.01 

Net income 0.89 0.67 13.51 12.89 

Total gross business volume (million $) 1.03 29.90 1,118.65 4,642.77 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.32 1.52 1.12 1.24 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.24 0.74 0.25 0.70 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.34 (0.67) 0.77 0.01 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 1.90% 0.66% 13.42% 18.99%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 4.31% 0.59% 88.44% 46.63%

Number of cooperatives 7 3 7 7 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 69

TABLE 29.14—Nut marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

NUT MARKETING CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $ $20 Million or More 

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 67.98 54.07 

Other assets 5.43 0.04 

Property, plant, and equipment 26.36 41.11 

Total, own assets 99.76 95.21 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.24 4.79 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 44.99 29.34 

Long-term liabilities 35.94 32.42 

Total liabilities 80.93 61.75 

Allocated equity 8.28 19.44 

Retained earnings 10.80 18.81 

Total equity 19.07 38.25 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 87.57 26.13 

Gross margin 12.43 73.87 

Service and other income 2.06 0.10 

Gross revenue 14.49 73.97 

Wages 5.44 2.29 

Depreciation 1.56 0.86 

Interest 1.09 0.33 

Other expenses 5.38 10.76 

Total expenses 13.47 14.24 

Net operating margins 1.02 59.73 

Patronage income 0.00 0.06 

Non-operating income 0.02 0.00 

Net income before taxes 1.04 59.79 

Income taxes 0.00 0.28 

Net income 1.04 59.50 

Total gross business volume (million $) 45.07 1,554.41 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.51 1.84 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 1.88 0.85 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.57 0.49 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.88% 144.35%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 34.65% 735.08%

Number of cooperatives 5 3 
70 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.15—Local food co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

LOCAL FOOD CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million > $1 Million or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 24.35 57.92 

Other assets 5.88 0.05 

Property, plant, and equipment 69.75 42.00 

Total, own assets 99.98 99.97 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.02 0.03 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 10.52 51.36 

Long-term liabilities 14.86 47.36 

Total liabilities 25.38 98.72 

Allocated equity 8.69 27.59 

Retained earnings 65.93 (26.31)

Total equity 74.62 1.28 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 68.78 72.78 

Gross margin 31.22 27.22 

Service and other income 174.17 1.69 

Gross revenue 205.39 28.90 

Wages 83.75 12.44 

Depreciation 12.84 0.87 

Interest 3.74 0.40 

Other expenses 93.11 15.86 

Total expenses 193.44 29.57 

Net operating margins 11.95 (0.66)

Patronage income 0.70 0.01 

Non-operating income 0.86 0.75 

Net income before taxes 13.51 0.10 

Income taxes 0.55 0.00 

Net income 12.95 0.10 

Total gross business volume (million $) 5.79 36.89 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 2.31 1.13 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.20 36.97 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.88 (20.54)

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 6.05% 2.46%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 52.32% 1.71%

Number of cooperatives 24 8 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 71

TABLE 29.16—Miscellaneous marketing co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

TYPE OF MARKETING CO-OP

 Bioenergy Dry Bean & Pea Tobacco Wool Other

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 43.32 59.36 49.50 48.80 40.65 

Other assets 13.81 7.61 43.57 32.68 41.23 

Property, plant, and equipment 42.53 31.88 6.93 17.80 18.12 

Total, own assets 99.66 98.85 100.00 99.28 100.00 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.34 1.15 0.00 0.72 0.00 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 10.89 35.55 11.25 22.11 28.32 

Long-term liabilities 12.64 2.39 20.60 19.13 5.70 

Total liabilities 23.53 37.94 31.84 41.24 34.02 

Allocated equity 57.13 59.31 43.81 37.50 47.83 

Retained earnings 19.34 2.74 24.35 21.26 18.15 

Total equity 76.47 62.06 68.16 58.76 65.98 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 85.41 87.76 87.04 88.34 69.74 

Gross margin 14.59 12.24 12.96 11.66 30.26 

Service and other income 4.16 3.76 0.20 3.54 5.00 

Gross revenue 18.75 16.01 13.16 15.21 35.26 

Wages 2.56 4.55 4.83 7.39 22.45 

Depreciation 2.31 1.77 0.61 0.85 1.01 

Interest 0.35 0.14 0.75 0.06 0.38 

Other expenses 1.22 4.80 6.05 6.29 10.44 

Total expenses 6.44 11.25 12.24 14.59 34.29 

Net operating margins 12.31 4.75 0.92 0.62 0.97 

Patronage income 0.43 0.04 0.00 2.11 0.00 

Non-operating income 3.24 0.00 1.72 2.31 0.00 

Net income before taxes 15.98 4.79 2.64 5.04 0.97 

Income taxes 1.28 0.24 (0.69) 2.11 0.00 

Net income 14.70 4.55 3.33 2.92 0.97 

Total gross business volume (million $) 503.03 64.23 306.38 9.44 7.03 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 3.98 1.67 4.40 2.21 1.44 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.17 0.04 0.30 0.33 0.09 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.25 0.04 0.36 0.36 0.28 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 20.40% 10.89% 1.78% 4.96% 2.25%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 32.14% 16.95% 3.99% 7.58% 3.38%

Number of cooperatives 6 3 4 35 7 

Other: seed, flower, forestry, coffee.
72 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.17—Farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$5 Million. $5–$10 Million $10–$15 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 54.61 54.98 53.66 53.64 

Other assets 6.08 3.75 2.52 6.41 

Property, plant, and equipment 19.49 22.57 23.28 24.63 

Total, own assets 80.18 81.31 79.46 84.69 

Investments in other cooperatives 19.82 18.69 20.54 15.31 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 20.84 22.26 27.64 27.30 

Long-term liabilities 7.60 7.77 6.60 5.49 

Total liabilities 28.44 30.02 34.23 32.79 

Allocated equity 41.94 40.89 37.03 44.51 

Retained earnings 29.62 29.09 28.73 22.70 

Total equity 71.56 69.98 65.77 67.21 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 84.85 81.73 82.91 81.08 

Gross margin 15.15 18.27 17.09 18.92 

Service and other income 8.72 3.45 2.57 3.20 

Gross revenue 23.87 21.72 19.66 22.12 

Wages 14.73 11.95 9.84 10.67 

Depreciation 1.40 1.85 1.79 2.05 

Interest 0.82 0.49 0.43 0.35 

Other expenses 8.36 7.21 6.23 6.63 

Total expenses 25.32 21.49 18.29 19.70 

Net operating margins (1.45) 0.23 1.37 2.42 

Patronage income 0.88 1.17 1.11 1.04 

Non-operating income 0.71 0.49 0.41 0.23 

Net income before taxes 0.15 1.89 2.89 3.69 

Income taxes 0.16 0.15 0.30 0.17 

Net income (0.01) 1.75 2.59 3.51 

Total gross business volume (million $) 17.68 487.41 844.97 1262.18 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 2.62 2.47 1.94 1.96 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.11 0.11 0.10 0.08 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.41 0.42 0.44 0.34 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 1.13% 3.37% 5.56% 6.49%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) -0.03% 6.04% 11.71% 12.68%

Number of cooperatives 26 152 113 97 

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 73

TABLE 29.17 (cont.)—Farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

$15–$20 Million $20–$25 Million $25–$30 Million $30–$50 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 47.69 38.55 46.46 53.69 

Other assets 4.16 4.69 4.63 2.62 

Property, plant, and equipment 26.57 34.47 28.58 24.38 

Total, own assets 78.43 77.71 79.67 80.69 

Investments in other cooperatives 21.57 22.29 20.33 19.31 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 26.71 25.32 29.51 32.82 

Long-term liabilities 7.85 10.90 12.85 7.96 

Total liabilities 34.56 36.21 42.36 40.78 

Allocated equity 36.84 32.69 37.96 35.47 

Retained earnings 28.61 31.10 19.68 23.75 

Total equity 65.44 63.79 57.64 59.22 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 80.04 81.99 81.54 83.01 

Gross margin 19.96 18.01 18.46 16.99 

Service and other income 1.78 2.73 2.15 2.54 

Gross revenue 21.74 20.74 20.61 19.53 

Wages 10.48 9.29 10.39 9.12 

Depreciation 2.56 2.95 2.55 2.08 

Interest 0.41 0.63 0.62 0.41 

Other expenses 6.76 6.20 6.61 5.91 

Total expenses 20.20 19.07 20.17 17.51 

Net operating margins 1.54 1.67 0.44 2.01 

Patronage income 1.51 1.60 2.46 1.70 

Non-operating income 0.36 0.85 0.29 0.55 

Net income before taxes 3.41 4.13 3.19 4.26 

Income taxes 0.31 0.40 0.30 0.45 

Net income 3.10 3.72 2.89 3.81 

Total gross business volume (million $) 763.69 518.41 371.73 1,562.86 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.79 1.52 1.57 1.64 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.12 0.17 0.22 0.13 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.44 0.49 0.34 0.40 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.04% 6.12% 5.38% 7.18%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 11.11% 14.66% 10.74% 16.51%

Number of cooperatives 43 22 13 40 

This table continues on next page.
74 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.17 (cont.)—Farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

 $50–$100 Million $100–$500 Million > $500 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 46.48 48.92 49.70 

Other assets 4.05 8.78 8.80 

Property, plant, and equipment 27.81 30.10 30.70 

Total, own assets 78.34 87.80 89.20 

Investments in other cooperatives 21.66 12.20 10.80 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 25.14 32.63 33.62 

Long-term liabilities 7.73 15.01 17.93 

Total liabilities 32.87 47.64 51.54 

Allocated equity 27.28 19.63 15.73 

Retained earnings 39.85 32.73 32.73 

Total equity 67.13 52.36 48.46 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 81.58 83.14 85.05 

Gross margin 18.42 16.86 14.95 

Service and other income 1.88 2.27 0.61 

Gross revenue 20.31 19.14 15.56 

Wages 9.34 7.44 7.03 

Depreciation 2.04 1.80 1.50 

Interest 0.28 0.55 0.47 

Other expenses 6.25 7.65 4.26 

Total expenses 17.92 17.45 13.26 

Net operating margins 2.39 1.69 2.30 

Patronage income 1.33 0.49 0.31 

Non-operating income 0.52 0.64 0.75 

Net income before taxes 4.23 2.82 3.36 

Income taxes 0.50 (0.11) 0.99 

Net income 3.74 2.93 2.37 

Total gross business volume (million $) 2,605.16 2,830.91 4,109.44 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.85 1.50 1.48 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.12 0.29 0.37 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.59 0.63 0.68 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 8.06% 5.40% 9.41%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 24.44% 23.89% 36.97%

Number of cooperatives 36 12 4 

1

For the benchmark analysis, farm supply co-ops are those whose sales are 100% farm supply (not including any service or other revenue).
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 75

TABLE 29.18—Mixed farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

MIXED FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $1 Million $1–$5 Million $5–$10 Million $10–$15 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 31.06 35.13 49.30 51.07 

Other assets 22.50 11.15 2.90 3.04 

Property, plant, and equipment 22.36 45.23 25.91 26.81 

Total, own assets 75.92 91.51 78.11 80.92 

Investments in other cooperatives 24.08 8.49 21.89 19.08 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 18.81 24.97 27.73 27.51 

Long-term liabilities 13.76 13.60 8.97 7.71 

Total liabilities 32.58 38.57 36.69 35.21 

Allocated equity 90.07 37.83 32.16 33.40 

Retained earnings (22.65) 23.60 31.14 31.38 

Total equity 67.42 61.43 63.31 64.79 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales) 

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 83.93 85.47 83.93 84.47 

Gross margin 16.07 14.53 16.07 15.53 

Service and other income 23.10 16.18 8.20 4.12 

Gross revenue 39.17 30.71 24.27 19.65 

Wages 17.55 12.18 11.45 10.26 

Depreciation 2.29 4.66 2.45 2.26 

Interest 1.02 1.15 0.58 0.40 

Other expenses 14.78 10.45 8.70 6.17 

Total expenses 35.64 28.45 23.19 19.09 

Net operating margins 3.54 2.26 1.08 0.56 

Patronage income 2.77 1.68 2.15 1.36 

Non-operating income 0.70 0.20 0.74 0.04 

Net income before taxes 7.01 4.15 3.97 1.96 

Income taxes 0.05 0.32 0.31 0.22 

Net income 6.96 3.83 3.66 1.74 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 2.99 142.44 194.63 294.84 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.65 1.41 1.78 1.86 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.20 0.22 0.14 0.12 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) (0.34) 0.38 0.49 0.48 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 7.16% 4.67% 6.33% 3.98%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 6.89% 8.92% 15.80% 8.79%

Number of cooperatives 4 40 23 22 

 

This table continues on next page.
76 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.18 (cont.)—Mixed farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

 MIXED FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

 $15–$20 Million $20–$30 Million $ $50–$100 Million

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 43.17 44.57 48.42 44.89 

Other assets 4.76 7.15 3.76 4.34 

Property, plant, and equipment 30.63 27.54 34.63 33.93 

Total, own assets 78.57 79.26 86.81 83.16 

Investments in other cooperatives 21.43 20.74 13.19 16.84 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 26.23 24.69 31.86 31.58 

Long-term liabilities 9.94 8.08 12.78 9.28 

Total liabilities 36.16 32.76 44.63 40.87 

Allocated equity 28.94 27.29 29.15 33.25 

Retained earnings 34.90 39.94 26.22 25.88 

Total equity 63.84 67.24 55.37 59.13 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 85.70 86.26 86.66 87.49 

Gross margin 14.30 13.74 13.34 12.51 

Service and other income 6.40 9.33 3.93 4.71 

Gross revenue 20.71 23.07 17.27 17.22 

Wages 8.64 11.26 7.88 7.71 

Depreciation 2.20 2.47 2.43 2.43 

Interest 0.55 0.35 0.45 0.49 

Other expenses 6.95 7.07 5.50 5.49 

Total expenses 18.34 21.15 16.26 16.11 

Net operating margins 2.36 1.92 1.01 1.11 

Patronage income 1.10 1.00 1.20 1.68 

Non-operating income 0.47 0.05 0.26 0.46 

Net income before taxes 3.94 2.96 2.47 3.25 

Income taxes 0.40 0.34 0.14 0.11 

Net income 3.54 2.63 2.33 3.15 

Total gross business volume (million $) 293.68 401.90 892.90 1,421.11 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.65 1.81 1.52 1.42 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.16 0.12 0.23 0.16 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.55 0.59 0.47 0.44 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets 7.48% 5.06% 5.35% 6.66%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 20.40% 14.69% 14.67% 16.85%

Number of cooperatives 16 15 22 19 

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 77

TABLE 29.18 (cont.)—Mixed farm supply co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

MIXED FARM SUPPLY CO-OPS SALES GROUP

 $50–$100 Million $100 – $300 Million $300–$1 Billion $1 Billion or More

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 44.89 48.47 53.21 50.32 

Other assets 4.34 2.92 6.73 10.97 

Property, plant, and equipment 33.93 31.53 30.68 25.49 

Total, own assets 83.16 82.91 90.62 86.78 

Investments in other cooperatives 16.84 17.09 9.38 13.22 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 31.58 28.42 25.69 41.84 

Long-term liabilities 9.28 11.44 12.55 16.14 

Total liabilities 40.87 39.86 38.25 57.98 

Allocated equity 33.25 18.43 39.80 30.55 

Retained earnings 25.88 41.70 21.95 11.47 

Total equity 59.13 60.14 61.75 42.02 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 87.49 85.88 86.49 94.31 

Gross margin 12.51 14.12 13.51 5.69 

Service and other income 4.71 2.95 2.35 0.32 

Gross revenue 17.22 17.07 15.87 6.01 

Wages 7.71 7.88 6.93 3.13 

Depreciation 2.43 2.32 2.50 1.36 

Interest 0.49 0.35 0.35 0.48 

Other expenses 5.49 5.51 4.24 0.56 

Total expenses 16.11 16.07 14.01 5.52 

Net operating margins 1.11 0.99 1.85 0.49 

Patronage income 1.68 1.10 0.58 0.07 

Non-operating income 0.46 0.43 0.86 0.31 

Net income before taxes 3.25 2.52 3.29 0.87 

Income taxes 0.11 0.15 (0.19) (0.35)

Net income 3.15 2.37 3.48 1.23 

Total gross business volume (million $) 1,421.11 6,534.40 2,473.22 55,988.31 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.42 1.71 2.07 1.20 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.16 0.19 0.20 0.38 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.44 0.69 0.36 0.27 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 6.66% 4.91% 6.00% 2.60%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 16.85% 21.95% 14.38% 7.72%

Number of cooperatives 19 36 5 5 
78 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.19—Artificial insemination co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017 

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION CO-OPS SALES GROUP

< $25 Million in Sales > $25 Million in Sales

Balance sheet (percent of total assets)

Current assets 66.98 53.43 

Other assets 5.52 16.23 

Property, plant, and equipment 14.59 24.63 

Total, own assets 87.09 94.29 

Investments in other cooperatives 12.91 5.71 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 19.49 36.49 

Long-term liabilities 7.29 22.28 

Total liabilities 26.78 58.77 

Allocated equity 24.53 12.80 

Retained earnings 48.69 28.43 

Total equity 73.22 41.23 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 

Income statement (percent of total sales)

Total sales for group 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 38.88 40.91 

Gross margin 61.12 59.09 

Service and other income 22.64 7.15 

Gross revenue 83.76 66.24 

Wages 50.92 36.68 

Depreciation 3.44 3.20 

Interest 0.06 1.11 

Other expenses 20.02 23.40 

Total expenses 74.43 64.40 

Net operating margins 9.33 1.84 

Patronage income 0.64 0.15 

Non-operating income 1.51 0.01 

Net income before taxes 11.48 2.01 

Income taxes 0.41 (0.06)

Net income 11.07 2.07 

Total gross business volume (million $) 97.63 468.20 

Ratios

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 3.44 1.46 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.10 0.54 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.67 0.69 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 14.11% 3.96%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 55.20% 20.48%

Number of cooperatives 6 6 
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 79

TABLE 29.20—Miscellaneous service co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

 TYPE OF SERVICE COOPERATIVE

 

 Cotton Crop Hulling Dairy

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 80.48 28.52 19.01 92.69 

Other assets 9.13 5.54 0.79 4.98 

Property, plant, and equipment 8.43 62.96 80.08 2.33 

Total, own assets 98.05 97.02 99.88 100.00 

Investments in other cooperatives 1.95 2.98 0.12 0.00 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 59.70 20.41 14.57 28.55 

Long-term liabilities 0.54 10.06 40.47 0.66 

Total liabilities 60.25 30.47 55.04 29.21 

Allocated equity 15.32 55.69 37.11 62.27 

Retained earnings 24.44 13.83 7.85 8.52 

Total equity 39.75 69.53 44.96 70.79 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales and service receipts) 

Total sales for group 0.00 0.00 53.18 14.87 

Cost of goods sold 0.00 0.00 22.02 14.85 

Gross margin 0.00 0.00 31.16 0.01 

Service and other income 100.00 100.00 46.82 85.13 

Gross revenue 100.00 100.00 77.98 85.15 

Wages 26.90 59.42 19.06 24.40 

Depreciation 3.30 5.91 14.89 1.48 

Interest 1.50 0.21 2.40 0.00 

Other expenses 48.96 31.74 28.03 55.55 

Total expenses 80.66 97.29 64.39 81.43 

Net operating margins 19.34 2.71 13.59 3.72 

Patronage income 0.23 0.11 0.01 0.62 

Non-operating income 3.79 1.10 3.97 0.48 

Net income before taxes 23.36 3.92 17.57 4.82 

Income taxes 0.00 (0.65) 0.54 0.52 

Net income 23.36 4.57 17.03 4.30 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 20.09 28.27 57.99 2.51 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.35 1.40 1.30 3.25 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.01 0.14 0.90 0.01 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.61 0.20 0.17 0.12 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 5.24% 6.24% 9.91% 3.31%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 32.18% 12.39% 22.77% 4.74%

Number of cooperatives 5 6 11 9 

This table continues on next page.
80 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 29.20 (cont.)—Miscellaneous service co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

 TYPE OF SERVICE COOPERATIVE

Fruit & Vegetable Livestock Nut Rice Drying

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 47.79 47.78 24.77 35.49 

Other assets 15.00 4.93 2.25 8.58 

Property, plant, and equipment 23.45 47.30 72.82 55.58 

Total, own assets 86.24 100.00 99.85 99.65 

Investments in other cooperatives 13.76 0.00 0.15 0.35 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 39.04 22.68 16.46 22.79 

Long-term liabilities 15.53 39.06 45.18 3.02 

Total liabilities 54.56 61.74 61.64 25.81 

Allocated equity 26.16 27.39 32.71 67.46 

Retained earnings 19.28 10.88 5.65 6.73 

Total equity 45.44 38.26 38.36 74.19 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales and service receipts) 

Total sales for group 0.00 68.71 0.10 0.00 

Cost of goods sold 0.00 68.71 0.00 0.00 

Gross margin 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 

Service and other income 100.00 31.29 99.90 100.00 

Gross revenue 100.00 31.29 100.00 100.00 

Wages 20.05 5.39 38.93 23.17 

Depreciation 4.12 1.05 9.56 7.32 

Interest 0.39 0.17 3.68 0.69 

Other expenses 73.14 24.76 32.64 46.70 

Total expenses 97.71 31.38 84.81 77.88 

Net operating margins 2.29 (0.09) 15.19 22.12 

Patronage income 1.83 0.00 0.57 0.19 

Non-operating income 13.49 0.06 0.70 0.13 

Net income before taxes 17.61 (0.03) 16.46 22.43 

Income taxes 0.22 0.00 1.43 0.24 

Net income 17.39 (0.03) 15.03 22.19 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 42.89 35.95 3.50 5.82 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.22 2.11 1.51 1.56 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.34 1.02 1.18 0.04 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.42 0.28 0.15 0.09 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 14.52% 0.69% 15.24% 16.80%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 53.62% -0.64% 34.76% 23.91%

Number of cooperatives 12 9 4 3 

This table continues on next page.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 81

TABLE 29.20 (cont.)—Miscellaneous service co-ops, common-size financial statements, by size, 2017

TYPE OF SERVICE COOPERATIVE

Storage Transportation Other1

Balance sheet (percent of total assets) 

Current assets 41.81 44.11 4.07 

Other assets 0.00 0.01 76.12 

Property, plant, and equipment 58.19 51.96 0.87 

Total, own assets 100.00 96.08 81.05 

Investments in other cooperatives 0.00 3.92 18.95 

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Current liabilities 28.31 23.97 4.49 

Long-term liabilities 0.70 0.69 4.52 

Total liabilities 29.01 24.66 9.01 

Allocated equity 45.76 62.82 28.33 

Retained earnings 25.23 12.52 62.66 

Total equity 70.99 75.34 90.99 

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 

 

Income statement (percent of total sales and service receipts) 

Total sales for group 0.00 0.00 0.00 

Cost of goods sold 0.00 0.00 0.00 

Gross margin 0.00 0.00 0.00 

Service and other income 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Gross revenue 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Wages 22.48 34.43 7.96 

Depreciation 14.27 6.71 1.44 

Interest 2.59 0.23 1.27 

Other expenses 37.73 54.83 6.26 

Total expenses 77.07 96.19 16.92 

Net operating margins 22.93 3.81 83.08 

Patronage income 0.64 0.30 6.89 

Non-operating income 0.08 0.66 44.57 

Net income before taxes 23.66 4.77 134.53 

Income taxes 1.06 0.04 16.26 

Net income 22.59 4.73 118.27 

 

Total gross business volume (million $) 7.22 9.70 17.67 

 

Ratios 

Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) 1.48 1.84 0.91 

Long-term debt-to-equity (long-term liabilities/total equity) 0.01 0.01 0.05 

Retained earnings-to-equity (retained earnings/total equity) 0.36 0.17 0.69 

Return-on-assets (net income before taxes + interest/total assets) 10.51% 10.89% 7.02%

Return-on-member equity (net income after taxes/allocated equity) 19.78% 16.42% 21.58%

Number of cooperatives 6 5 19 

1 Other service includes farm supply, grain, forestry, and various producer associations.
82 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017
SECTION VI: Statistical Trends

This section presents 4 tables and 12 charts depicting statistical trends of U.S. agricultural cooperatives. 

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 83

Highlights

• In 10 years, the number of ag co-ops dropped 25 percent, 

from 2,475 in 2008 to 1,871 in 2017. This was an average 

drop of 3.1 percent per year (Tables 30 and 33, and Figure 

1).

• Membership numbers have fallen from 2,354,000 in 2008 to 

1,890,000 in 2017, a drop of 20 percent (Tables 30 and 33, 

and Figure 2).

• Despite an annual loss of ag co-ops, the number of total 

employees has grown by 5 percent over the 10-year period 

from 2008 to 2017 (Tables 31 and 33, and Figure 3). Over 

the same period, the number of full-time employees grew by 

12 percent. 

• Net and gross business volume both increased in 2017, 

reversing a consecutive 2-year drop (Table 32 and Figure 4).

• Net sales of dairy, grain & oilseeds, fruit & vegetables, and 

livestock all edged up in 2017, while sugar essentially stayed 

the same (Figures 5 and 6).

• Feed and fertilizer sales fell slightly, while petroleum 

remained the same. Crop protectants and seed both 

increased. (Figure 7 and 8). 

• Net operating margin and income before taxes dropped for 

the second straight year in 2017 (Figure 9).

• Assets grew for the fifth straight year while equity continued 

a steady growth trend (Figure 10).

Top 100 Co-op Trends

• Total assets of the Top 100 co-ops grew 46 percent from 

2008 to 2017, while gross business volume grew 8 percent, 

and net income increased 103 percent (Table 33 and Figures 

11 and 12). 

• Total assets reached a record level for the 7th consecutive 

year, while 2014 remains the highest year on record for total 

business volume, at $176.6 billion. 

• Net income of $4.4 billion in 2017 represented the first dip 

in net income for the Top 100 in the 10-year period shown 

(Table 32). However, it was still higher than in 2015; 2016 

remains the high year for the period. 
84 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 30—Number, memberships, and business volume, U.S. ag co-ops, by operating type, 2008–2017

Cooperatives Memberships

Marketing Farm Supply Related Service Total Marketing Farm Supply Related Service Total

Year —————— Number —————— —————— Thousands —————— 

2008 1,354 1,011 110 2,475 809 1,509 36 2,354

2009 1,277 992 121 2,390 754 1,448 35 2,237

2010 1,215 974 125 2,314 737 1,463 35 2,234

2011 1,222 935 128 2,285 846 1,398 36 2,279

2012 1,200 916 120 2,236 652 1,426 37 2,115

2013 1,195 871 120 2,186 655 1,284 37 1,977

2014 1,114 876 116 2,106 627 1,333 35 1,996

2015 1,079 874 94 2,047 591 1,296 34 1,921

2016 1,040 827 86 1,953 584 1,280 37 1,901

2017 1,010 777 84 1,871 604 1,251 35 1,890

Marketing Volume Farm Supply Volume Total Receipts1 Total

Year Gross Net Gross Net Gross/Net Gross Net

Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Billion $ Billion $

2008 118.197 111.699 70.525 51.172 4.744 193.465 167.615

2009 101.386 94.558 62.999 47.362 4.940 169.325 146.860

2010 103.031 95.756 63.842 47.118 4.930 171.803 147.805

2011 128.041 121.784 80.898 57.322 4.453 213.391 187.100

2012 140.900 133.200 92.200 64.700 4.700 237.800 202.600

2013 144.615 135.810 95.933 67.175 5.572 246.120 208.557

2014 147.731 138.340 92.624 65.638 6.315 246.670 210.293

2015 124.892 115.409 81.709 59.023 5.458 212.059 179.890

2016 114.587 108.603 71.048 51.589 5.440 191.075 165.632

2017 119.807 112.754 71.754 51.516 5.579 197.141 169.849

1

Service receipts, other operating income, patronage received, and non-operating income.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 85

TABLE 31—Number of full-time employees, U.S. ag co-ops, by type, 2008–2017

FULL TIME EMPLOYEES

Type 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

 ————————————————————— Thousands —————————————————————

 

Cotton & cotton ginning 2.8 2.5 2.9 3.3 3.4 5.5 4.1 1.6 1.5 1.8

Dairy 23.8 24.9 18.9 20.7 21.0 21.0 20.3 21.4 22.8 24.6

Fruit & vegetable 16.1 13.6 13.3 13.5 13.2 14.2 13.6 14.0 14.1 16.2

Grain & oilseed 21.0 20.4 22.4 24.9 21.6 23.5 23.6 23.6 24.9 23.6

Livestock and poultry 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.4 1.6 1.6

Rice 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.4

Sugar 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.9 6.9 6.9 6.5 6.0 6.2

Other marketing 3.2 3.2 1.9 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.3 2.4

Total marketing 77.8 75.2 69.9 75.9 72.3 78.4 75.6 74.4 75.7 78.6

 

Total supplies 46.4 46.1 57.6 53.8 56.0 56.6 58.5 61.1 62.2 61.3

 

Total service 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.8 0.7 0.7

 Total full-time employees 125.5 122.6 128.8 131.0 129.5 136.2 135.3 136.3 138.6 140.7

 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES

Part-time employees 53.8 57.8 54.4 52.8 56.2 54.9 55.7 51.0 48.7 48.3

Total employees 179.3 180.4 183.4 183.6 185.6 191.1 191.3 187.3 187.3 189.0

 
86 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

TABLE 32—Data used in trend charts, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

 

Number of cooperatives: 

Marketing 1,354 1,277 1,215 1,222 1,206 1,195 1,114 1,079 1,040 1,010

Supply and service 1,121 1,113 1,099 1,063 1,032 991 992 968 913 861

Total 2,475 2,390 2,314 2,285 2,238 2,186 2,106 2,047 1,953 1,871

Number of memberships (millions) 

Marketing 0.809 0.754 0.737 0.846 0.652 0.655 0.627 0.591 0.584 0.604

Supply & service 1.542 1.482 1.498 1.434 1.463 1.321 1.368 1.330 1.317 1.286

Total 2.351 2.236 2.235 2.280 2.115 1.976 1.995 1.921 1.901 1.890

Number of employees (thousands) 

Full-time employees 125.500 122.600 129.000 130.800 129.400 136.200 135.600 136.300 138.635 140.653

Part-time employees 53.800 57.800 54.400 52.800 56.200 54.900 55.700 51.000 48.700 48.326

Total employees 179.300 180.400 183.400 183.600 185.600 191.100 191.300 187.300 187.335 188.979

Business volume (billion $) 

Net business volume 167.615 146.860 147.805 187.100 202.600 208.557 210.293 179.890 165.632 169.849

Gross business volume 193.465 169.325 171.803 213.391 237.800 246.120 246.670 212.059 191.075 197.140

Net sales of selected commodities (billion $) 

Dairy 39.080 27.620 31.130 40.670 39.740 40.180 49.640 38.328 38.562 39.417

Grains 46.580 43.830 40.500 55.340 63.710 66.250 57.900 48.347 44.294 46.596

Fruit & Veg. 5.420 5.450 5.450 5.570 5.750 5.890 5.800 5.889 5.913 6.418

Livestock 3.240 2.989 3.554 4.233 4.020 3.345 4.947 4.792 3.779 3.976

Sugar 4.070 3.800 4.100 4.760 6.000 6.030 5.200 4.727 4.539 4.247

Net sales of selected supplies (billion $) 

Petroleum 19.460 15.760 16.450 20.330 23.360 24.400 25.600 21.390 17.031 16.963

Feed 9.380 8.810 8.590 10.490 11.840 12.720 10.800 9.932 9.032 8.938

Fertilizer 10.190 10.840 9.370 11.940 14.190 14.020 16.300 12.326 10.425 9.884

Crop protectants 4.810 5.790 5.640 6.600 7.190 7.330 7.500 7.315 6.377 6.970

Seed 2.410 2.520 2.630 2.900 3.270 3.360 3.400 3.188 3.373 3.507

Margins and income (billion $) 

Net operating margin 4.000 3.280 3.590 4.760 5.200 4.160 4.860 5.995 5.527 4.779

Net income (pretax) 4.860 4.180 4.260 5.370 6.130 6.150 6.990 7.520 7.148 6.179

Balance sheet items (billion $) 

Assets 70.260 61.230 64.890 79.410 83.360 82.560 87.100 88.300 92.055 93.516

Liabilities 47.060 37.410 38.990 51.300 53.210 47.920 49.490 47.700 51.156 50.871

Equity 23.200 23.830 25.900 28.110 30.150 34.640 37.600 40.500 40.899 42.645

Top 100 Cooperatives (billion $) 

Total assets 43.139 37.139 39.497 50.054 53.452 53.762 56.994 58.524 62.096 63.183

Gross business volume 133.226 112.907 116.379 151.552 165.802 174.34 176.602 148.598 136.337 143.703

Net income 2.164 2.464 2.221 2.393 3.156 3.550 3.526 4.268 4.894 4.401
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 87

TABLE 33—Percent changes of data used in trend analysis, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017 

2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016-17 Avg Chg. 10-Yr Chg.

 

Number of cooperatives 

Marketing (5.7%) (4.9%) 0.6% (1.3%) (0.9%) (6.8%) (3.1%) (3.6%) (2.9%) (3.2%) (25.4%)

Supply and service (0.7%) (1.3%) (3.3%) (2.9%) (4.0%) 0.1% (2.4%) (5.7%) (5.7%) (2.9%) (23.2%)

Total (3.4%) (3.2%) (1.3%) (2.1%) (2.3%) (3.7%) (2.8%) (4.6%) (4.2%) (3.1%) (24.4%)

Number of memberships 

Marketing (6.8%) (2.3%) 14.8% (22.9%) 0.5% (4.3%) (5.7%) (1.2%) 3.5% (2.7%) (25.3%)

Supply & service (3.9%) 1.1% (4.3%) 2.0% (9.7%) 3.6% (2.8%) (1.0%) (2.4%) (1.9%) (16.6%)

Total (4.9%) (0.0%) 2.0% (7.2%) (6.6%) 1.0% (3.7%) (1.0%) (0.6%) (2.3%) (19.6%)

Number of employees 

Full-time employees (2.3%) 5.2% 1.4% (1.1%) 5.3% (0.4%) 0.5% 1.7% 1.5% 1.3% 12.1%

Part-time employees 7.4% (5.9%) (2.9%) 6.4% (2.3%) 1.5% (8.4%) (4.5%) (0.8%) (1.1%) (10.2%)

Total employees 0.6% 1.7% 0.1% 1.1% 3.0% 0.1% (2.1%) 0.0% 0.9% 0.6% 5.4%

Business volume 

Net business volume (12.4%) 0.6% 26.6% 8.3% 2.9% 0.8% (14.5%) (7.9%) 2.5% 0.8% 1.3%

Gross business volume (12.5%) 1.5% 24.2% 11.4% 3.5% 0.2% (14.0%) (9.9%) 3.2% 0.8% 1.9%

Net sales of selected commodities 

Dairy (29.3%) 12.7% 30.6% (2.3%) 1.1% 23.5% (22.8%) 0.6% 2.2% 1.8% 0.9%

Grains (5.9%) (7.6%) 36.6% 15.1% 4.0% (12.6%) (16.5%) (8.4%) 5.2% 1.1% 0.0%

Fruit & Veg. 0.6% 0.0% 2.2% 3.2% 2.4% (1.5%) 1.5% 0.4% 8.5% 1.9% 18.4%

Livestock (7.7%) 18.9% 19.1% (5.0%) (16.8%) 47.9% (3.1%) (21.1%) 5.2% 4.1% 22.7%

Sugar (6.6%) 7.9% 16.1% 26.1% 0.5% (13.8%) (9.1%) (4.0%) (6.4%) 1.2% 4.3%

Net sales of selected supplies 

Petroleum (19.0%) 4.4% 23.6% 14.9% 4.5% 4.9% (16.4%) (20.4%) (0.4%) (0.4%) (12.8%)

Feed (6.1%) (2.5%) 22.1% 12.9% 7.4% (15.1%) (8.0%) (9.1%) (1.0%) 0.1% (4.7%)

Fertilizer 6.4% (13.6%) 27.4% 18.8% (1.2%) 16.3% (24.4%) (15.4%) (5.2%) 1.0% (3.0%)

Crop protectants 20.4% (2.6%) 17.0% 8.9% 1.9% 2.3% (2.5%) (12.8%) 9.3% 4.7% 44.9%

Seed 4.6% 4.4% 10.3% 12.8% 2.8% 1.2% (6.2%) 5.8% 4.0% 4.4% 45.5%

Margins and income 

Net operating margin (18.0%) 9.5% 32.6% 9.2% (20.0%) 16.8% 23.4% (7.8%) (13.5%) 3.6% 19.5%

Net income before taxes (14.0%) 1.9% 26.1% 14.2% 0.3% 13.7% 7.6% (4.9%) (13.6%) 3.5% 27.1%

Balance sheet items 

Assets (12.9%) 6.0% 22.4% 5.0% (1.0%) 5.5% 1.4% 4.3% 1.6% 3.6% 33.1%

Liabilities (20.5%) 4.2% 31.6% 3.7% (9.9%) 3.3% (3.6%) 7.2% (0.6%) 1.7% 8.1%

Equity 2.7% 8.7% 8.5% 7.3% 14.9% 8.5% 7.7% 1.0% 4.3% 7.1% 83.8%

Top 100 Cooperatives (billion $) 

Total assets (13.9%) 6.3% 26.7% 6.8% 0.6% 6.0% 2.7% 6.1% 1.8% 4.8% 46.5%

Gross business volume (15.3%) 3.1% 30.2% 9.4% 5.1% 1.3% (15.9%) (8.3%) 5.4% 1.7% 7.9%

Net income 13.9% (9.9%) 7.7% 31.9% 12.5% (0.7%) 21.0% 14.7% (10.1%) 9.0% 103.4%
88 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

FIGURE 1—Number of U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

FIGURE 2—Memberships of U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 89

FIGURE 3—Number of employees, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

FIGURE 4—Net and gross business volume, U.S. ag co-ops. 2008–20017
90 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

FIGURE 5—Net sales of of grain and dairy commodities, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

FIGURE 6—Net sales of fruit and vegetable, livestock, and sugar commodities, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 91

FIGURE 7—Net sales of petroleum, feed and fertilizer, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

FIGURE 8—Net sales of crop protectants and seed, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017
FIGURE 9—Net operating margin and net income, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

FIGURE 10—Total assets, liabilities, and equity, U.S. ag co-ops, 2008–2017

92 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 93

FIGURE 11—Total assets of Top 100 U.S. ag co-ops, 2008-2017

FIGURE 12—Total revenue of Top 100 U.S. ag co-ops, 2008-2017
94 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017

APPENDIX

NOTE 1: METHODOLOGY

USDA conducts an annual survey of the population 

of U.S. farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives 

to gain information on the Nation’s agricultural 

cooperative sector. Information obtained from 

individual cooperatives is combined with data from 

other cooperatives to maintain confidentiality; thus, 

aggregate statistics are reflected in all analysis, articles 

and reports generated from the data. When individual 

cooperative data is released, it is only done with 

permission from the individual cooperatives involved 

(for example, included in the Top 100 cooperatives 

list).

USDA considers four major criteria in identifying 

farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives that are then 

sampled for the annual statistics compilation:

(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 non-members 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, rancher, and fishery cooperatives 

than found in lists or directories of State agencies or 

cooperative councils.

NOTE 2: FINANCIAL GLOSSARY

These are the definitions and/or formulas used to 

calculate the financial items in this report.

Income statement — Shows the financial results (sales, 

service and other income, expenses, taxes, and net 

income) of a cooperative’s operations. 

Total sales — Includes all sales from marketing or 

supplies (less discounts), returns, and allowances from 

gross sales. (Service co-ops typically do not have a total 

sales value; the first income statement item for those 

co-ops is service receipts.).

Cost of goods sold — Beginning inventory plus 

purchases and freight costs, minus purchase returns 

and allowances, purchase discounts, and ending 

inventory.

Gross margins — The excess of net sales over the cost 

of goods sold.

Service and other operating income — This income 

is derived from any service the cooperatives provide. 

Some co-ops only provide services. Service-only 

co-ops include rice driers, storage, transportation, 

auctions, hulling, seed development, locker plants, 

pest management, scouting, farmer markets, and 

miscellaneous services. Marketing and supply coops also provide hauling, storage, grading, delivery, 

custom application, recordkeeping, and drying as most 

common services. Other operating income can also 

include income from providing financing for sales.

Operating expenses — Four categories of expenses are 

used: wages, depreciation, interest, and “other.” Wages 

include salaries and wages, payroll taxes, employee 

insurance, unemployment compensation, and pension 

expense. Other expenses include administrative 

expenses and general expenses. Administrative 

expenses are overhead costs, including professional 

services, office supplies, telephone, meetings and
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017 95

travel, donations, dues and subscriptions, directors’ 

fees and expense, and annual meetings. General expenses include advertising and promotion, auto and 

truck delivery, insurance, taxes (for property, business, 

etc.), licenses, rent and lease expenses, plant supplies, 

repairs and maintenance, utilities, bad debts, and miscellaneous.

Net operating margins — Net operating margins are 

calculated by taking gross margins minus total expenses before taxes, and not counting patronage refunds 

from other cooperatives.

Patronage income — Patronage refunds received (usually income from other cooperatives) that results from 

business activity with other cooperatives (generally 

regional co-ops), or CoBank (a cooperative bank).

Non-operating income — Income not generated by 

sales. It can be interest from investments. It also can 

come from the sales of property, plant, and equipment, 

rentals, and extraordinary items.

Net income before taxes — Net operating margins 

plus patronage refunds and non-operating income, 

before taxes are subtracted. 

Income taxes — Cooperatives pay income taxes on 

earnings not allocated to members (retained earnings) 

and on dividend payments.

Net income after taxes — Net operating margins plus 

patronage refunds and non-operating income, minus 

taxes.

Gross business volume — Comprised of total sales, 

other operating income, patronage income, and 

non-operating income.

Net business volume — Comprised of total sales, other operating income, patronage income, and non-operating income, but sales to other cooperatives are not 

included.

Balance sheet — The balance sheet of a cooperative 

states its financial position at the end of a 12-month 

fiscal year. It represents the co-op’s assets, liabilities, 

member equity, and their mutual relationships.

Current assets — Assets (generally comprised of cash 

and cash equivalents, accounts and notes (with shortterm maturities) receivable, inventories, and prepaid 

expenses.

Investments and other assets — Investments are most 

often in other cooperatives and CoBank. “Other assets” is a catch-all category that contains a wide variety 

of items.

Property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) — Net property, plant and equipment are tangible assets needed 

for a cooperative’s operations. It is calculated by taking 

total PP&E and subtracting accumulated depreciation.

Current liabilities — All obligations that are paid with 

the use of current assets and usually paid within 1-year. 

These include notes payable to banks and/or other 

trade creditors, accounts payable, current maturities of 

long-term debt, income taxes, other accrued liabilities 

(i.e., payroll, property taxes, interest), patronage dividends payable, and miscellaneous current liabilities. 

Total liabilities — Include current liabilities plus longterm liabilities (primarily long-term debt).

Allocated (or member) equities — Represent member 

ownership in the cooperative; those equities allocated 

specifically to members.

Retained earnings — Equity that is not assigned to 

specific member accounts.

Total equity (net worth) — Sum of allocated equity, 

patron’s equity, and retained earnings. 
NOTE 3: FINANCIAL RATIOS

Ratios provide for comparative analysis of items in 

balance sheets and income statements.

Current ratio = current assets divided by current 

liabilities.

Debt-to-assets = total debt (total liabilities) divided by 

total assets.

Long-term debt-to-equity = long-term liabilities 

divided by total equity.

Times interest earned = income before interest and 

taxes divided by interest.

Fixed assets turnover = net sales divided by fixed assets 

(net PP&E).

Equity-to-assets = total equity divided by total assets.

Expenses-to-gross revenue = total expenses divided by 

gross revenue.

Gross margin = total sales minus cost of goods sold 

(gross margin) divided by total sales.

Return on assets = net income before taxes and 

interest divided by total assets.

Return on allocated member equity = net income after 

taxes divided by allocated equity.

96 COOPERATIVE STATISTICS 2017
Mention in this report of company and brand names 

does not signify endoresement over other companies’ products 

and services.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the 

USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions 

participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited 

from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, 

sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual 

orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance program, political 

beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any 

program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases 

apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines 

vary by program or incident. 

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 

communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, 

audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 

(voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other than English. 

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 

Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at 

http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any 

USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in 

the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request 

a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your 

completed form or letter to USDA by: 

mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; 

fax: (202) 690-7442; or 

e-mail: program.intake@usda.gov. 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.