United States

Dqmrtmnt of

Agriculture

Rural BusinesCooperative

Service

Farmer Cooperative

Statistics, 1996

RBS Service

Report 53
A survey of U.S. farmer cooperatives for 1996 showed a record gross business volume

of $128.1 billion and a record net business volume of $106.2 billion for the 3,884 coop

eratives in the survey. Net income of $2.25 billion in 1996 was down 4.9 percent from

the record $2.36 billion in 1995. Assets, liabilities, and net worth were up. Business

volume by commodity handled is reported for all cooperatives. Cooperatives are classified according to marketing, farm supply, and service function. Trends in cooperative

numbers, memberships, business size, sales volume, net income, assets, liabilities,

and net worth are reported, along with data on selected activities of other service organizations.

Keywords: cooperatives, statistics, business volume, employees, memberships,

balance sheet, net income.

Farmer Cooperative Statistics, 1996

Ralph M. Richardson, Celestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille, Jacqueline E. Penn,

and Charles A. Kraenzle

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

RBS Service Report 53

October 1997

Price: DomestioS5.00; foreign-S550
Preface Farmer cooperative statistics are collected annually to provide information on the

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

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

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

authorized by the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926.

This report provides aggregate information on the number, membership, business

volume, and net income of farmer cooperatives. Cooperatives are classified by principal product marketed and major functional type. Fishery cooperatives are included as

miscellaneous marketing cooperatives. Both gross (includes intercooperative business)

and net (excludes intercooperative business) dollar volumes are reported.

Statistics for 1996 were compiled on a national basis only. Data by State are compiled

and reported every other year. State data for 1995 appear in the appendix.

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

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

Service (RBS) as farmer or aquacultural cooperatives. Additional information was collected from local farm supply and marketing cooperatives for a special study of their

fertilizer operations. Information was requested for their 1996 business year.

RBS conducts an annual census because of the need to make accurate estimates for

all cooperatives and the need for current data on individual cooperatives for research,

education, and technical assistance purposes.

Statistics for all cooperatives were generated by adding data estimated for nonrespondents to respondent data. Responses to the 1996 survey accounted for 87.7 percent of

the total gross sales of farmer cooperatives.

RBS depends on the cooperative community’s response to its annual survey to

develop a detailed and comprehensive set of statistics on farmer cooperatives. The

time taken by cooperatives to provide information and the timeliness with which it is

furnished are greatly appreciated.
Contents HlGHLlGHTS........................................................i v

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

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

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

II- 1996 STATISTICS ................................................ .2

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

Memberships......................._’.............................5

BusinessSize ....................................................

.

BusinessVolume ...............................................

...6

Netlncome ...................................................

..10

BalanceSheet............................._.....................l 2

Selected Financial Ratios ..........................................13

Fertilizer Operations of Local Cooperatives ............................15

Ill- COOPERATIVE TRENDS, 1967-96 .................................. 15

Number of Cooperatives ...........................................15

Memberships....................................................l 6

Employees......................................................l 7

Business Volume .................................................19

Netlncome ................................................... ..2 1

BalanceSheet...................................................2 1

IV-OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES .................................21

FarmCreditSystem ............................................

..2 2

Rural Telephone Cooperatives ......................................25

Rural Electric Cooperatives .........................................25

Rural Credit Unions ...............................................26

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations ................................26

TABLES

Table l- Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 1996 ..................................3

Table 2- Number of cooperatives, by major function and State, 1996 ........... .3

Table 3- Estimated number of branches operated

by grain and farm supply cooperatives, 1992-96 .....................5

Table 4- Farmer cooperatives grouped by gross business volume, 1996 .......... 7

Table 5- Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 1996 ...... 8

Table 6- Cooperatives’ net income, 1996 .................................10

Table 7- Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1996 .......... 11

Table 8- Combined assets of farmer cooperatives, 1996 .....................12

Table 9- Selected financial ratios of cooperatives, 1996 .....................14

Table 1 O- Number of farmer cooperatives, 1987-96 .........................16

Table 1 l- Memberships in marketing, farm supply,

and service cooperatives, 1987-96 ..............................17

Table 12- Number of farmer cooperatives and full-time employees, 1994-96 ..... 18

Table 13- Cooperatives’ net business volume, 1987 and 1996 ............... .19

Table 14- Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 1987-96 ............22

Table 15- Cooperatives’ net income, 1987-96 .............................22

Table 16- Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1987-96 ...... .24

Table 17- Farm Credit Association structure, January 1, 1997 ................. 24

Table 18- Farm Credit System combined assets, net worth,

and net income, 1992-96 .....................................25

ii
Table 19- Farm Credit System banks’ and associations’ combined assets,

net worth, net loans, and net income, 1992-96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Table 20- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural telephone

cooperatives, by State, December 31, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Table 21- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric

cooperatives, by State, December 31,1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Table 22- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit unions,

by State, December 31,1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Table 23- Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd

improvement associations, by State, December 31,1996 . . . . . . . . . . . .29

APPENDIX TABLES

Appendix table l- Number of co-ops and memberships by major business activity

andState,1995......................................30

Appendix table 2- Cooperative business volume by commodity and State, 1995 . . 34

FIGURES

Figure l- Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1996 ...........4

Figure 2- Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives by Size, 1996 ....... 4

Figure 3- Distribution of Total Memberships by Type of Cooperative,1996 ........ 6

Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume,

bySize, ................................................ .

Figure 5- Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 1996 . . 9

Figure 6- Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 1996 ... 9

Figure 7- Cooperatives’ Net Income by Cooperative Type, 1996 ............... 11

Figure 8- Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth, by

Cooperative Type, 1996 ......................................13

Figure 9- Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1987-96 .................16

Figure 1 IT Cooperatives Removed from CS’ List, 1987-96 ...................17

Figure 1 l- Total Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1987-96 .............. 18

Figure 12- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1987-96 ....................20

Figure 13- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1987-96 ........ .20

Figure 14- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1987-96 ....... .21

Figure 15- Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1987-96 ............................23

Figure 16- Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Total Liabilities, 1987-96 ............. 23

APPENDIX FIGURES

Appendix Figure l- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1972-96 . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Appendix Figure 2- Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1972-96 . . . 43

Appendix Figure 3- U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1972-96 .44

Appendix Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives

by Type of Cooperative, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Appendix Figure 5- Distribution of Net Income by Type of Cooperative, 1996 . . . . . 46

Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Losses by Type of Cooperative, 1996 . . . . . . . . 47

Appendix Figure 7- Distribution of Net Worth by Type of Cooperative, 1996 . . . . . . 48

Appendix Figure 8- Distribution of Full-Time Employees

Appendix Figure 9- Average Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative,

by Type of Cooperative, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Appendix Figure 1 O- Cooperatives’ Investments in Other Cooperatives,1 987-96 . -51

. . . 111
Highlights The 1996 survey of marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives showed a

record net business volume, but a decrease in net income, memberships, and number

of organizations.

l Total net income of $2.25 billion was down from the record $2.36 billion reported for

1995. The 1996 net included intercooperative dividends and refunds of $711.9

million-up 30.9 percent from $543.8 million.

l Total gross business volume (includes intercooperative business) handled by cooperatives increased 14.2 percent, to a record $128.1 billion from $112.2 billion.

l Total net business (excludes intercooperative business) was up 13.2 percent, to

$106.2 billion from $93.8 billion.

l The number of cooperatives declined more than 3 percent, from 4,006 to 3,884.

l Grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,355 branches in 1996,

up from 5,101 in 1995.

l Total cooperative memberships of 3,663,584 decreased 2.8 percent from 3,767,295.

l Gross value of farm products marketed by cooperatives in 1996 increased 15.8

percent from nearly $78 billion to $90.3 billion. Net value of these farm products,

after deducting intercooperative business, was $79.4 billion, up 14.6 percent from

$69.3 billion.

l Gross value of farm supplies handled by farmer cooperatives was up 12.2 percent,

from $31 billion to $34.7 billion. After adjusting for intercooperative business, the

increase was 11.5 percent, from $21.2 billion to $23.7 billion.

l Receipts for services related to marketing farm products and handling farm supplies,

plus other income, were down 5.6 percent to $3.1 billion.

l Number of full-time employees totaled 174,795 - down 0.3 percent from the

175,399 reported for 1995.

l Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives increased 5.7 percent to $42.6 billion.

Net assets, after eliminating intercooperative investments, were up 5 percent, from

$37.3 billion to 639.2 billion.

l Total liabilities of $25.2 billion were up 6.6 percent from $23.6 billion.

l Net worth, or member and patron equity, was up 4.6 percent, to $17.4 billion.

Member and patron equity financed 40.8 percent of total assets, down from 41.3

percent in 1995 and 43.4 percent in 1994.

l Leading States in terms of number of cooperatives were Minnesota, North Dakota,

Texas, and Iowa. They accounted for 1,i 78, or 30.3 percent, of the 3,884 farmer

cooperatives.
Highlights Capsule

1996 1995 Change

(122)

(103,711)

15,903

12,364

(115)

2,314

761

(604)

Number of cooperatives

Memberships

Gross business volume (mil. dol.)

Net business volume (mil. dol.)

Net income (mil. dol.)

Total assets (mil. dol.)

Net worth (mil. dol.)

Full-time employees

3,884 4,006

3,663,584 3,767,295

128,098 112,195

106,182 93,818

2,248 2,363

42,588 40,274

17,392 16,631

174,795 175,399

Leading States 1996

Minnesota

378

Minnesota

Number of cooperatives 389 (11)

Minnesota

329,241

Minnesota

Memberships 392,815 (63,574)

542

California

8,891

California

Net business volume (mil. dol.) 8,349

V
Farmer Cooperative Statistics, 1996

Ralph M. Richardson, Celestine C. Adams,

Katherine C. DeVille, Jacqueline E. Penn,

and Charles A. Kraenzle I

I-Definition of a Farmer Cooperative

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) of

USDA’s Rural Development considers four major criteria in identifying an organization as a farmer cooperative: (1) Membership is limited to persons producing

agricultural and aquacultural products, and to associations of such producers; (2) cooperative members are

limited to one vote despite the amount of stock or

membership capitalowned, or the cooperative does

not pay dividends on stock or membership capital in

excess of 8 percent a year, or the legal rate in the State,

whichever is higher; (3) business conducted with nonmembers may not exceed the value of business done

with members; and (4) the cooperative operates for the

mutual interest of members by providing benefits on

the basis of patronage.

These criteria may create larger or smaller

numbers of farmer cooperatives than found in lists or

directories of State agencies or cooperative councils.

RBS includes only marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives on its list. Fishery cooperatives are included with miscellaneous marketing

cooperatives. Wool pools are included as marketing

cooperatives. Livestock shipping associations and rice

drying cooperatives, beginning with 1992 and 1993,

respectively, are considered service cooperatives.

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

cooperatives, as well as those that do not meet the

USDA definition. Other reasons for possible differ1 Ralph M. Richardson, agricultural statistician; Celestine C. Adams,

agricultural statistician; Katherine C. DeVille, statistical assistant;

Jacqueline E. Penn, statistical assistant; and Charles A. Kraenzle,

director, Statistics.

ences between the USDA list and State lists in the

number of cooperatives is thak (1) USDA may not

learn until sometime later of certain cooperatives operating in a State; (2) a cooperative may not have completed and returned an initial questionnaire; or (3) no

notice is received that a cooperative discontinued

operating.

Year-to-year comparisons for specific commodity

groups, therefore, should reflect any differences in lists

and classifications in State and Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

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

farm supply, and related-service.

Murketina cooperatives derive most of their total

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

commodities or commodity groups depending upon

which accounts for most of its business volume. USDA

reclassifies a cooperative if its primary business

volume changes.

Farm su~du cooperatives derive most of their

business volume from farm production supply sales

including farmstead equipment and building materials. Many also handle farm and home items, such as

heating oil, lawn and garden supplies and equipment,

and food.

Service cooperatives provide specialized business

services related to the agricultural business operations

of farmers, ranchers, or cooperatives, such as cotton

ginning, trucking, storing, drying, and artificial insemination. Livestock shipping associations were reclassified from marketing to service in 1992. Rice drying

cooperatives, previously listed with rice marketing

cooperatives, were added in 1993.

Many cooperatives handle multiple commodities

1
and provide both marketing and farm supply services,

as well as the facilities and equipment used to perform

these services. These associations are classified

according to the predominant commodity or function,

as indicated by their business volume.

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

credit unions, rural electric cooperatives, and dairy

herd improvement associations, is presented separately.

Organizational Membership Structures

Centralized

Of the 3,884 farmer cooperatives in 1996,3,775

were centralized organizations-mostly locals with

individual farmer-members. Centralized cooperatives

usually serve a local area or community, county, or

several counties. Most usually perform a limited

number of initial marketing functions. Most farm

supply sales are at the retail level. A few centralized

cooperatives, principally regionals, operate over large

geographic areas and have members in several States.

They often provide more vertically integrated services,

such as processing farm products or manufacturing

feed and fertilizer.

Bargaining associations also have a centralized

organizational structure. They derive all or most of

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

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

involved in marketing farm products. Only a few

bargain to purchase farm supplies. While the primary

function of such an association is to bring buyers and

sellers together to contract for the sale of members’

products, many bargaining associations now perform

additional functions.

For example, dairy bargaining associations at one

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

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

Federal and State milk marketing order hearings.

Federated

Federated cooperatives comprise two or more

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

The 70 associations identified as federated often

operate at points quite distant from their headquarters.

Federated cooperative members are usually local cooperatives. Some federations are interregional associations whose members are regional cooperatives.

Mixed

A few cooperatives have both individual farmermembers and autonomous cooperative members.

These associations, a combination of centralized and

federated structures, serve large geographic areas,

with members in many States, and provide a variety of

integrated services. USDA has identified 39 such coopera tives.

II-1 996 Statistics

Cooperatives’ net business volume of $106.2

billion in 1996 was a record high. Net income of $2.25

billion,2 however, was down from the $2.36 billion

reported for 1995. Number of cooperatives and memberships, at 3,884 and 3,663,584, respectively, were also

down. Combined assets, net worth, and liabilities were

all up.

Number of Cooperatives

The 1996 survey accounted for 3,884 marketing,

farm supply, and related-service 3 cooperatives, compared with 4,006 in 1995. The net decrease of 122 associations (3 percent) largely reflects a continuing trend

involving dissolution, merger, or acquisition.

Of the 3,884 cooperatives, 2,012 primarily marketed farm products, 1,403 handled primarily farm

production supplies, and 469 provided services related

to marketing or purchasing activities (table 1).

Marketing cooperatives accounted for 51.8

percent of the total number of cooperatives,

unchanged from 1995; farm supply cooperatives

decreased slightly from 36.4 percent to 36.1 percent;

and related-service cooperatives increased from 11.8

percent to 12.1 percent.

These changes to some extent reflect reclassification because of dollar volume changes. In any given

year, sales of farm supplies or grains and oilseeds

* Preliminary information released earlier in the year showed

cooperatives’ net income a record high in 1996. However, net

income for 1996 was later revised downward due to additional

information received. Net income for 1995 was also revised.

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

artificial insemination, livestock shipping, and similar services

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

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

such services not directly related to marketing or purchasing

activities.

2
could be higher due to market supply and demand

conditions. During 1996, for example, grain and

oilseed prices were significantly higher, resulting in a

larger dollar volume of grain sales for many cooperatives.

Cooperative numbers by State and major function are shown in table 2. The leading States were

Minnesota (3781, North Dakota (288), Texas (2771, and

Iowa (235). These four States accounted for 1,178 cooperatives, or 30.3 percent of the total. A cooperative’s

location is based on its headquarters.

The 10 leading States in terms of number of cooperatives are shown in figure 1. It also shows the

number of cooperatives by function in each State. For

example, Minnesota had about the same number of

marketing and farm supply cooperatives. Texas’

majority were service cooperatives, mainly cotton gins.

In Wisconsin, the fifth leading State, farm supply cooperatives were the most numerous. South Dakota, Iowa,

and Nebraska had the fewest service cooperatives.

California, on the other hand, had the smallest number

of farm supply cooperatives.

Table I- Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 1996

Major business activity Cooperatives Memberships

Number

Beans and peas, dry edible 9 4,013

Cotton 16 42,561

Dairy 237 111,374

Fruits and vegetables 267 46,799

Grains and oilseeds 1 1,066 783,427

Livestock 69 278,826

Nuts 19 48,036

Poultry 2 16 32,320

Rice 19 14,831

Sugar 49 11,800

Tobacco 26 266,693

Wool and mohair 97 17,492

Miscellaneous lQ2 74 336

Total marketing 2,012 1,682,408

Farm supply 1,403 1,794,671

Service 469 186.505

Total 3,884 3,663,584

1 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed sales were included with cotton.

Cottonseed meal and oil were included with feed and

miscellaneous, respectively.

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

Table 2- Number of cooperatives,1 by major function

and State, 1996 2

Major function

State Marketing Farm Supplies Service Total

Alabama 11

Alaska 10

Arkansas 15

California 117

Illinois 134

Iowa 159

Kansas 128

Louisiana 18

Maryland 3

Massachusetts 10

Michigan 46

Minnesota 180

Mississippi 23

Montana 42

Nebraska 86

New York 76

North Dakota 163

Ohio 70

Oklahoma 51

Pennsylvania 48

South Dakota 77

Texas 66

Vermont 6

Washington 57

West Virginia 14

Wisconsin 47

Wyoming 7

Other States 3 348

48 5

-

41

19

67

73

21

22

15

4

30

156

38

39

45

11

116

20

30

7

72

51

-

6

48

5

3

4

13

3

-

5

42

25

-

3

5

9

7

26

7

-

31

13

125

6

303

-

160

-

4

-

50

-

39

64

10

62

184

206

235

153

53

21

14

81

378

86

81

134

92

288

97

107

62

149

277

6

92

27

222

13

690

United States 2,012 1,403 469 3,884

Number

- = None identified.

1 Includes centralized and federated cooperatives and those with

2

3

mixed organizational structures.

Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that

ended in 1996.

Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any

function. States with three or more cooperatives were: Arizona,

10; Colorado, 64; Connecticut, 4; Delaware, 3; Florida, 50;

Georgia, 21; Hawaii, 33; Idaho, 42; Indiana, 62; Kentucky, 44;

Maine, 23; Missouri, 72; New Jersey, 19; New Mexico, 9; North

Carolina, 26; Oregon, 39; South Carolina, 6; Tennessee, 79;

Utah, 21; Virginia, 66.
Figure I- Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1996

Number

400

300

200

100

0

Service

6UPPiY

Marketing

MN ND TX IA WI IL CA KS SD NE

These ten States accounted for 57.3 percent of the 3,884 cooperatives.

Figure 2- Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives by Size, 1996

Number

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

Less than 5 5-9.9 1 o-24.9 25-l 99.9

Assets (million dollars)

4
Grain and Farm Supply Branches

Many cooperatives operate facilities at branch

locations to better serve their members. Most are

owned, although some are leased. A number were formerly independent cooperatives serving a local community. For economic or other reasons, many were

acquired by or merged with other cooperatives and

operated as branches from which to serve members

and patrons at outlying locations.

As shown in table 3 and figure 2, grain and farm

supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,355

branches-2,326 and 3,029, respectively. In 1995, grain

and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated

5,101 branches.

Figure 2 shows that several of the largest (mainly

regional) cooperatives had more branches than many

smaller (local) cooperatives combined. For example,

the 43 largest grain cooperatives, or 4 percent of their

total number, accounted for 29.7 percent of the total

number of branches operated by grain cooperatives.

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives totaled 3,663,584 in 1996,

down 2.8 percent from 3,767,295 in 1995 (table 1).

By type, 49 percent were memberships of farm

supply cooperatives (figure 3), 21.4 percent of grain,

and 20 percent of livestock, tobacco, and service. Only

3 percent of cooperatives’ total memberships were of

dairy cooperatives, which accounted for 21.6 percent

of cooperatives’ net business volume in 1996.

Business Size

Farmer cooperatives, measured by gross business

volume, increased in size. Most remain small and

serve local areas. Several are actively seeking regional,

Table 3- Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm supply cooperatives, 1992-96

Asset Group (million dollars)

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

1992 902 211 114 16 1,243

1993 808 233 131 21 1,193

1994 772 226 138 24 1,160

1995 658 223 174 35 1,090

1996 618 229 176 43 1,066

1992 441 480 529 417 1,867

1993 410 479 688 488 2,065

1994 408 535 674 424 2,041

1995 399 440 756 577 2,172

1996 387 505 743 691 2.328

1992 1,332 176 45 65 1,618

1993 1,206 185 96 60 1,547

1994 1,129 201 99 68 1,497

1995 1,060 213 120 65 1,458

1996 991 215 131 66 1,403

1992 724 482 208 1,363 2,777

1993 642 455 297 1,320 2,714

1994 610 468 344 1,365 2,787

1995 571 502 460 1,396 2,929

1996 542 523 526 1,438 3,029

Number of Grain Cooperatives

Number of Branches

Number offam, Supply Cooperatives

Number of Branches

5
Figure 3- Distribution of Total Cooperative Memberships by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Other’ 1.9%

Livestock 7.6% -

Nut 1.3%

Tobacco 7.3%

PouRrv 0.9%

Da& 3.0%

Farm Supply 49.0%

Fruit & Vegetable 1.3%

. .

.

Service 5.1%

. .

Cotton 1.2% .

. .

.

. . Grain & Oilsaed 21.4%

Percent based on 3,663,564 memberships.

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

national, and even international markets to increase

business volume.

The increased size of individual cooperatives

comes in part from mergers and acquisitions.

However, data used were not adjusted for changes in

price levels, and some size changes resulted from inflationary effects.

In 1996,75.4 percent of all farmer cooperatives

reported business volumes of less than $15 million,

down from 78.5 percent in 1995. They accounted for

only 10.2 percent of the total gross dollar volume (table

4 and figure 4). Only 1.8 percent of farmer cooperatives reported business volumes of at least $250

million in 1996. These cooperatives, however,

accounted for 59.3 percent of the total business

volume, up from 57.9 percent in 1995.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 3,884 marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives

for 1996 was a record $128.1 billion (table 51, up 14.2

percent from the previous record of $112.2 billion in

1995.

Total net business volume of farmer cooperatives

in 1996 was $106.2 billion-$79.4 billion for farm products marketed, $23.7 billion for farm supplies sold, and

$3.1 billion for services provided and from other

income. The total net figure, which excludes intercooperative business (the difference between gross and net

business volumes), increased 13.2 percent from $93.8

billion in 1995. However, adjusting for price change,

net business volume increased only 5.7 percent. 4

Gross volume of farm products marketed by

cooperatives increased 15.8 percent, from $77.9 billion

in 1995 to $90.3 billion in 1996. The net volume of farm

products marketed was $79.4 billion, or 74.8 percent of

the total net volume of cooperatives. This represents

an increase of 14.6 percent from $69.3 billion.

Figure 5 illustrates the leading products marketed by cooperatives based on net marketing business

volume. Grains and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed)

led with 34.8 percent, followed by milk and milk products with 28.9 percent. Fruits and vegetables ranked

third with 11.8 percent of net marketing business

4 Deflated 1996 cooperative business volume was $99.2 billion, up

5.7 percent from the actual $93.8 billion in 1995. The $99.2 billion

was derived by deflating farm products marketed by the index of

prices received for all farm products (1982 = lOO), and farm

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

farmers for production items (1982 = 100).

6
Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume, by Size, 1996

Percent of total

6 0

5 0

4 0

3 0

2 0

10

0

Dollar Volume

Less than 5 5-9.9 1 o-1 4.9 15-99.9 100-249.9 250 or more

Gross business volume (million dollars)

Table 4- Farmer cooperatives grouped by gross business VOlUme, 1996 l

Volume group

(mil. dol.)

Cooperatives Dollar volume

Number Percent of total Gross 2 (mil. dol.) Percent of total

Less than 5.0 1,834 47.2 3,375.3 2.6

5- 9.9 733 18.9 5,254.8 4.1

lo- 14.9 362 9.3 4,458.g 3.5

15- 24.9 349 9.0 6,723.3 5.2

25- 49.9 326 8.4 11,354.l 8.9

50- 99.9 140 3.6 9,525.6 7.4

loo- 199.9 56 1.4 7,947.g 6.2

200- 249.9 16 0.4 3,591.4 2.8

250- 499.9 30 0.8 11,237.4 8.8

500- 999.9 20 0.5 13,962.7 10.9

1,OOOand more 18 0.5 50,667.l 39.6

Total 3,884 100.0 128,098.5 100.0

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

sales, service receipts, and other income.

2 Includes intercooperative business volume. Total may not add due to rounding.

7
volume. In 1995, grains and oilseeds accounted for

28.7 percent and milk and milk products 31.4 percent.

Gross volume of all farm supplies handled by

cooperatives was $34.7 billion, up 12.2 percent from

$31 billion in 1995. Net farm supply volume of $23.7

billion accounted for 22.3 percent of the total net business volume, up 11.5 percent from $21.2 billion.

Sales of all farm supply items were up from 1996.

The leading farm supplies handled by cooperatives in

terms of net farm supply business volume were petroleum, 26.6 percent, up from 24.6 percent in 1995; feed,

22.8 percent; and fertilizer, 22 percent (figure 6).

Receipts for services performed by marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives, plus

other income, amounted to $3.1 billion, down 5.6

percent. Service receipts and other income represented

2.9 percent of total net business volume.

The 1995 estimated volume of farm products

Tables- Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 1996 I

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible)

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits and vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock

Nuts

Poultry 3

Rice

Sugar

Tobacco

Wool and mohair

Miscellaneous 4

Total farm products

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants

Feed

Fertilizer

Petroleum

Seed

Other supplies 5

Total farm supplies

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, misc. 6

Total business

Million dollars Percent Million dollars Percent

179.0 0.1 179.0 0.2

2,734.g 2.1 2,658.6 2.5

25,969.5 20.3 22,934.5 21.6

9,914.3 7.7 9,392.0 8.8

33J69.4

6,745.6

951.6

2,122.7

901 .l

2,015.6

1,412.O

13.3

3.420.5

90.269.7

3,929.l

7,367.3

8,727.2

9,752.7

879.0

4,072.g

34,728.3

3.1

5.8

6.8

7.6

0.7

3.2

27.1 23,652.6 22.3

3,100.4 2.4 3,100.4 2.9

26.5

5.3

.7

1.7

0.7

1.6

1.1

(?

2.7

70.5

27,656.g 26.1

6,725.2 6.3

951.6 .9

1,754.l 1.7

899.6 0.6

1,933.3 1.8

1,412.O 1.3

7.9 (*)

2,923.6 2.8

79,428.6 74.6

2,829.2 2.7

5,388.0 5.1

5,200.6 4.9

6,295.2 5.9

658.5 0.6

3,281.3 3.1

128698.5 100.0 106,161.6 100.0

r Gross includes and net excludes intercooperative business. Totals may not add due to rounding.

* Less than 0.05 percent.

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

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

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

cooperatives.

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

hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified.

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

8
Figure 6- Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 1996

Fruits & Vegetables 1

Cotton

Other l

Nuts

Livestock

Grains 8. Oilseeds 34.8%

3.3% -

-Poultry 2.2%

- Tobacco 1.8%

Percent based on a net marketing business volume of $79.4 billion.

t Includes dry beans and peas, wool and mohair, rice, sugar and miscellaneous marketings.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.

............................................ .................. .....................................

........................ ......................................

.....Y- Milk & Milk Products 28.9% .....................................

Figure 6- Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 1996

Other Supplies 1 13.9%

Seed 2.8%

Petroleum 26.6%

Crop Protectants 11.9%

Feed 22.8%

Fertilizer 22.0%

Percent based on a net farm supply business volume of $23.7 billion.

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

9
marketed, farm supplies sold, and services provided

by cooperatives is shown by State in appendix table 2.

Net Income

Total net income (considering losses and before

taxes) for all cooperatives in 1996 was $2.25 billion.

This includes intercooperative dividends and refunds

(table 6). Cooperatives operating strictly on a pooling

basis were excluded. Net income was down 4.9 percent

from the record of $2.36 billion in 1995. Patronage

refunds received from other cooperatives of $711.9

million was up a robust 30.9 percent from $543.8

million. Most of the increase, $168.1 million, in

patronage refunds was received by grain and farm

supply cooperatives. In 1996, farm supply and grain

cooperatives accounted for 46.2 percent and 31.2

percent, respectively, of the patronage refunds received

from other cooperatives.

Marketing cooperatives’ net income of $1,181

million was down 16.8 percent from the $1,418.7

million generated in 1995. Cooperatives handling primarily grains and oilseeds accounted for 31.9 percent

of the net income in 1996, milk and milk products 31.7

percent, and livestock and poultry 18.9 percent.

Together, they accounted for the largest proportion

(82.5 percent) of marketing cooperatives’ net income

and 43.4 percent of total net income of all cooperatives.

Farm supply cooperatives accounted for 41.9

percent of cooperatives’ total net income in 1996, compared with 34.2 percent in 1995. Income from farm

supply cooperatives’ own operations was $612.4

million (figure 71, compared with $557.8 million in

1995, an increase of 9.8 percent. Refunds from other

cooperatives of $329 million was up from $250.4

million.

Farmer cooperatives’ net income from own operations in 1996 totaled $1,536.6 million-down 15.6

percent from $1,819.7 million. Nearly 31.7 percent, or

$711.9 million, of total net income was dividends and

patronage refunds from other cooperatives, up from

$543.8 million in 1995. Marketing cooperatives’ net

income from other cooperatives totaled $352.1 million

and accounted for 29.8 percent of their total. Grain

cooperatives’ net income from other cooperatives was

$222.2 million, or 58.9 percent of their total.

Income before losses equaled $2435.3 million.

Losses from an estimated 530 cooperatives totaled $187.8

million in 1996, compared with $98.1 million in 1995.

Table a- COOpt?rStiVSS’ net inCOtTIS, 1996 '

Principal products Total Income Income

marketed and co-ops 2 net from own from other

major function income operations coops 3

Number ---------- Mi\/iofj&lla~ __________

Products marketed:

Cotton 16 84.2 83.5 0.7

Dairy 237 373.9 265.7 106.2

Fruits 8 vegetables 267 56.0 52.7 5.3

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed 1,066 377.0 154.9 222.2

Livestock and poultry 105 223.5 212.5 11.0

Rice 19 12.3 12.3 -

Sugar 49 9.1 9.0 0.04

Other products 4 253 42.9 36.3 4.7

Total farm products 2,012 1,181.0 829.0 352.1

Total farm supplies 1,403 941.5 612.4 329.0

Total related services 469 125.0 94.2 30.8

Combined total 3,884 2,247.5 1,535.6 711.9

-= Less than .05 million.

1 Number of cooperatives includes those operating on a pooling rather than a net margin basis. Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

indicated by business volume.

3 Excludes patronage refunds from CoBank and Bank for Cooperatives.

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

10
Figure 7- Cooperatives’ Net Income by Cooperative Type, 1996

Farm Supply

Grain and Oilseed

Dairy

Livestock & Poultry

Service

Cotton

Fruit & Vegetable

Other Marketing’

Rice

Sugar )

From Own

Operations

From Other

Cooperatives

0 400 600 800 1000

Million dollars

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery,

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Table 7- Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1996 l

Principal products marketed

and major function co-ops 2 Total assets Total liabilities Net worth

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits & vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products 3

16 778.4 428.2 350.2

237 5,679.3 3,506.g 2,172.4

267 5,275.2 3,682.2 1,593.o

1,066

105

19

49

253

Total farm products 2,012

Total farm supplies 1,403 11648.1 6,065.l 5,782.g

Total related services 469 833.4 288.6 544.8

Combined total 3,684 42,587.5 25,195.4 17,392.l

Number -______-_- Miljion&lla~ ----------

9,445.8 5,612.7 3,833.0

4,048.6 2,788.0 1,260.6

578.1 343.1 235.0

1,085.5 648.7 436.7

3,015.2 1,831.8 1,183.4

29,906.O 18,841.6 11,064.3

* Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

as indicated by business volume.

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

11
Balance Sheet

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives

totaled nearly $42.6 billion in 1996, up 5.7 percent from

$40.3 billion in 1995 (table 7). Excluding intercooperative investments, assets of cooperatives totaled $39.2

billion, compared with $37.3 billion, a 5-percent

increase.

Total liabilities were $25.2 billion, up 6.6 percent

from $23.6 billion in 1995. Net worth, or member and

patron equity, was $17.4 billion, up 4.6 percent from

$16.6 billion in 1995. The proportion of total assets

financed by member and patron equity decreased from

41.3 percent to 40.8 percent.

Net worth of all marketing cooperatives totaled

$11.1 billion, up 3.4 percent from 1995. Marketing

cooperatives accounted for 63.6 percent of farmer

cooperatives’ combined net worth, down from 64.3

percent in 1995. The net worth figure for farm supply

cooperatives was 33.3 percent of the total, up from 32.6

percent.

For marketing cooperatives, the highest percentage of total assets represented by net worth shown

in table 7 (45 percent) was for those primarily marketing cotton and cotton products. The lowest, 30.2

percent, was for cooperatives primarily marketing

fruits and vegetables (figure 8). Cooperatives classified

as farm marketing and farm supply had 37 percent

and 48.8 percent, respectively, of their assets financed

by net worth.

Of the $42.6 billion in total assets, marketing

cooperatives accounted for $29.9 billion, up 6.9 percent

from 1995. Cooperatives principally handling grains

and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed) had total assets of

$9.4 billion in 1996 and $8.8 billion in 1995, up 7.4

percent. Among marketing cooperatives, those with

primarily grain also maintained the largest proportion

of investments in other cooperatives in both 1996 (11.4

percent) and 1995 (10.8 percent). Dairy cooperatives

had 9 percent of their assets invested in other cooperatives (table 8).

Assets of marketing cooperatives, excluding

investments in other cooperatives, were $28.1 billion,

up 6 percent from 1995.

Farm supply cooperatives had total assets of

$11.8 billion, compared with $11.5 billion in 1995, up

3.3 percent. Excluding intercooperative investments,

assets amounted to $10.3 billion in 1996, up 2.9 percent

from 1995.

Table a- Combined assets of farmer COOperStiVeS, 1996 l

Principal products

marketed and

major function

co-ops 2 Assets of own Investments in Total

operations other co-ops assets

Investments in

other co-ops as

percent of total

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Frutis 8 vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products 3

Total farm products 2,012

Total farm supplies 1,403 10,341.4 1,506.7 11,846.l 12.7

Total selected services 469 756.3 77.2 633.4 9.3

Combined total 3,664 39,193.0 3,394.5 42,567.5 6.0

Number

16 776.5 1.9 776.4 0.2

237 5,170.l 509.1 5,679.3 9.0

267 5,204.g 70.3 5,275.2 1.3

1,066

105

19

49

253

6,370.6 1,075.l 9,445.a

3,969.3 79.4 4,046.6

577.6 .5 576.1

1,043.g 41.5 1,065.5

2,962.4 32.6 3,015.2

26,095.3 1,610.7 29,906.O

Percent

11.4

2.0

.l

3.6

1.1

6.1

1

2

3

12

Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

indited by business volume.

Includes dry edible beans and peas, nuts, tobacco, wool, and miscellaneous products.
Figure 8- Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth, by Cooperative Type, 1996

Service

Farm Supply

Cotton

Rice

Grain and Oilseed

Other Marketing’

Dairy

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable

Sugar

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percent

I Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery,

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Selected Financial Ratios

Financial ratios are often used to show the relationship between items in the financial and income

statements of a business operation and help in analyzing a cooperative’s economic and financial situation.

While financial ratios can indicate problem areas,

they cannot solve problems. They do serve as a guideline for planning purposes and aid in formulating

actions. Care must be taken in their use because both

items used to calculate a ratio are subject to considerable variation. How a ratio is interpreted is largely

subjective.

Several financial ratios were selected to give

some indication of cooperative performance-return

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

sales-to-assets, and the current ratio.

The return on assets and return on sales ratios

indicate profitability. The net worth-to-assets ratio provides some indication of a cooperative’s ability to meet

long-term financial obligations. The total sales-toassets ratio (asset turnover ratio) shows how efficiently

a cooperative is using its assets. The current ratio

(current assets divided by current liabilities) measures

a cooperative’s ability to meet current obligations.

Table 9 lists the values of these ratios for the

cooperatives reporting to USDA. Extreme values (high

and low ratios) were excluded so that the ratios would

be more representative of the cooperatives reporting.

For the predominant types of cooperatives (dairy, fruit

and vegetable, grain, and farm supply), ratios are also

shown for cooperatives by selected asset category.

These ratios offer cooperative leaders a general barometer when comparing their operations with others of

the same type (and/or size).

The return on assets (net income/assets) varied

considerably. Generally, cooperatives with assets in the

$2.5 million to $25 million range had the highest return

on assets. It was 8.9 percent for dairy, 6 percent for

fruit and vegetable, 4.5 percent for grain, and 6.8

percent for farm supply cooperatives.

The return on sales (net income/total sales)

ranged from a negative 0.2 percent for the smallest

grain cooperatives to a high of 15.1 percent for cotton

ginning cooperatives. However, it was between 1

percent and 3 percent for most type and size groups.

The sales-to-assets ratio ranged from 1 for service

cooperatives to 11.9 for livestock cooperatives. Among

dairy, fruit and vegetable, and grain cooperatives to

some extent, the ratio tended to decrease as size of

13
Table g-selected financial ratios of cooperatives, 1996 l

Type of co-op Return Net worth Return Sales Current

and assets group (mil. dol.) on assets 2 to assets s on sales 4 to assets 4 ratio 5

Dry beans and peas

Cotton

Dairy

Less than $0.5

$0.5 -.99

$1 .o - 2.49

$2.5 - 24.99

$25.0 - 99.99

$100.0 - 499.99

Fruit and vegetable

Less than $0.5

$0.5 -.99

$1 .o - 2.49

$2.5 - 24.99

$25.0 - 99.99

$100.0 - 499.99

Grain and oilseed 8

Less than $0.5.

0.5 -.99

$1 .o - 2.49

$2.5 - 24.99

$25.0 - 99.99

Livestock

Nut

Poultry

Rice

Sugar

Tobacco

Miscellaneous marketing

Fishery

Farm supply

Less than $0.5

SO.5 -.99

$1 .o - 2.49

$2.5 - 24.99

$25.0 - 99.99

$100.0 - 499.99

Service

Cotton gins

----------pe~nt_______ --- Number-----

3.3 32.9

11.6 45.4

6.6 35.9

6.1 54.1

3.5 64.4

7.8 53.6

8.9 40.7

8.0 36.2

4.6 35.8

.5 29.1

2.8 52.0

7.0 70.1

-4.0 61.4

6.0 40.3

.3 40.7

1.7 27.6

3.8 38.7

-1 .o 71.7

2.4 78.2

3.8 66.2

4.5 47.9

4.2 31.6

.9 28.5

.3 37.3

4.1 33.6

4.2 42.0

1.2 40.3

3.6 61.7

8.2 43.8

2.1 47.0

9.4 51.7

1.5 75.3

4.4 74.1

6.6 71 .o

6.8 57.9

3.5 38.0

7.4 43.0

9.5 67.2

21.1 64.9

1.8 1.8 1.2

3.2 3.6 1.4

1.5 4.4 1.2

.4 4.9 -

.6 5.5 1.6

1.1 7.0 1.3

1.3 6.8 1.1

1.6 5.2 1.2

1 .o 4.7 1.2

.3 1.8 1.3

.5 5.6 1.9

2.0 3.6 2.4

-.03 4.7 2.1

1.8 3.3 1 .o

.2 1.9 1.2

.9 2.0 1.2

1 .o 4.0 1.2

-.2 5.1 6.8

.5 5.4 2.8

1 .o 4.0 1.6

1.3 3.5 1.3

1.6 2.7 1.1

.l 11.9 1.2

.2 2.2 1.5

1.6 2.6 1.2

2.0 2.1 1.3

.9 1.4 1.3

2.3 1.6 -

2.2 3.6 1.9

- 2.4 -

4.7 2.0 1.5

.4 3.8 2.5

1.4 3.1 2.3

3.1 2.2 2.2

3.2 2.2 1.5

1.4 2.5 1.4

3.0 2.5 1.4

9.0 1.0 1.8

15.1 1.4 1.5

- = Data not available.

1 Based on cooperatives reporting. Excludes strictly bargaining or pooling cooperatives. Ratios were calculated by summing the individual

items and dividing. No attempt was made to include the same cooperatives in each group to calculate all flve ratios. Extreme values not

representative of the group were excluded.

* Calculated by dividing net income (before any income taxes are deducted) by total assets. In calculating a return on assets, some financial

experts would include interest paid in net income. Interest paid was not included in net income.

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

assets.

4 Total sales includes service receipts and other income and patronage refunds received from other cooperatives, CoBank and Bank for

Cooperatives. The return on sales was found by dividing net income by total sales.

5 The current ratio was derived by dividing current assets by current liabilities. These data were taken from annual reports where provided. In

some cases, data were not available.

6 Exdudes cottonseed.

14
cooperative increased. Generally, this reflects the large

investment in processing or manufacturing equipment

typical of the larger dairy and fruit and vegetable

cooperatives. The sales-to-assets ratios for farm supply

cooperatives did not vary much with size of cooperative. Most farm supply cooperatives are not as

involved in manufacturing or processing as are the

dairy and fruit and vegetable cooperatives.

The generally high sales-to-assets ratios for the

smaller cooperatives as well as for some types of cooperatives is due to their involvement in bargaining or

other marketing functions not requiring major investments in plant and equipment.

The current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) ranged from 1 for fruit and vegetable cooperatives

with assets of $2.5 million to $25 million to 6.8 for the

smallest grain cooperatives. Current ratios tended to

be higher for the medium- and smaller-sized cooperatives than for the larger ones because larger cooperatives generally finance a greater proportion of their

assets with borrowed capital.

Fertilizer Operations of Local Cooperatives

Additional information was requested of local

cooperatives with estimated fertilizer sales in excess of

$0.5 million. Data were gathered on fertilizer sales, fertilizer sources, competition, type of competition, services provided, and how they paid for services. The

fertilizer operations of 497 local farm supply and marketing cooperatives were analyzed. The information

was combined with fertilizer sales during the past 11

years, with comparisons by region, growth in sales,

services offered, and comparisons to a 1985 agronomy

study.

In 1996, average sales figures for the 497 local

cooperatives were fertilizer, $2.2 million; farm supplies, $8.6 million; and farm products marketed, $9.9

million. Findings from the survey of local cooperative

fertilizer operations5 revealed the following:

Fertilizer sales included 54 percent dry, mixtures

and lime, 27 percent anhydrous ammonia, and 19

percent liquid.

Most fertilizer was purchased from regional cooperatives-88 percent of anhydrous ammonia and dry,

mixtures and lime and nearly 83 percent of liquid.

Investor-owned fertilizer suppliers were the number

one competitor. Other cooperatives were a close

5 For a more detailed discussion of the study on the fertilizer

operations of local cooperatives, see Eversull, E. Eldon, Fertilizer

Operations of Local Farm Supply and Marketing Cooperatives,

RBS, USDA, Wash., DC, Forthcoming.

second. Most often, price was the major competitive

factor.

More than 90 percent of the cooperatives provided

fertilizer applications, 88 percent soil testing, 74

percent fertilizer specialists, and 62 percent fertilizer

records. Services offered varied by cooperative size,

with larger local cooperatives offering services more

often. Growth in fertilizer sales for the 11-year study

period did not have a large impact on the frequency

of services offered. However, services offered varied

greatly by region. Cooperatives in the Corn Belt and

Lake States offered services more frequently.

Thirty-one percent of the local cooperatives offered

precision agriculture-global positioning system

and global information system (GPS/GIS)-in

applying fertilizer. This included computer record

keeping for 26 percent of the fertilizer volume and

24 percent for application equipment. Fourteen

percent of the local cooperatives sold, rented, or

leased the new GPS/GIS units to patrons.

Ill-Cooperative Trends, 198748

Although the number of cooperatives decreased

by 1,225 net during the past decade, business volume

of the survivors has increased. Cooperatives continue

to adjust to the changing economic environment

through dissolution, mergers or consolidations, acquisitions, and sale of assets. In some cases, farmers have

organized new-generation cooperatives as a way of

becoming more involved in value-added activities. In

1987, the net business volume of 5,109 cooperatives

totaled $60.3 billion. In 1996, net business volume generated by 3,884 cooperatives hit a record $106.2 billion

(appendix figure 1).

Number of Cooperatives

The total number of marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives declined from 5,109 in

1987 to 3,884 in 1996 (table 10 and figure 9). Marketing

cooperatives declined from 3,054 to 2,012 and farm

supply cooperatives from 1,941 to 1,403. Number of

service cooperatives, however, increased from 114 to

469, due primarily to reclassifying cotton ginning

cooperatives, livestock shipping associations, and rice

driers from marketing to service.

From 1987 through 1996,1,947 were removed

from Cs’ list of farmer cooperatives, an average loss of

nearly 195 per year. Of those, 39.7 percent were dissolved, 28.2 percent resulted from merger or consolidation, 16.4 percent were acquired by other cooperatives

15
Figure 9- Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1987-98

I Marketing

500

Service

0

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

cotton ginning cooperatives, livestock shipping associations, and rice driers reclassified from marketing to service

cooperatives in 1989, 1992, and 1993, respectively.

Table IO- Number of farmer cooperatives, 198748

Period 1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

Number

1987 3,054 1,941 114 5,109

1988 2,988 1,836 113 4,937

1989 2,550 1,803 446 4,799

1990 2,519 1,717 427 4,663

1991 2,384 1,689 421 4,494

1992 2,218 1,618 479 4,315

1993 2,214 1,547 483 4,244

1994 2,173 1,496 505 4,174

1995 2,074 1,458 474 4,006

1996 2,012 1,403 469 3,884

1 For years before 1987, see Cooperative Historical Statistics,

CIR 1, Section 26, USDA, ACS, Washington, DC, Revised

January 1993. Cotton ginning cooperatives. livestock shipping

associations, and rice drying cooperatives were reclassified from

marketing to service in 1989, 1992, and 1993, respectively.

or investor-owned firms, and the remaining 15.7

percent were removed for miscellaneous reasons

(figure 10).

Meanwhile, new cooperatives are being formed.

From 1987 through 1996,464 cooperatives, or an

average of more than 46 cooperatives per year, were

added to CS’ list.

Memberships

Memberships in farmer cooperatives dropped

from 4.4 million in 1987 to nearly 3.7 million in 1996

(table 11 and figure 11) reflecting, in part, declining

farm and farmer numbers in the United States. Many

farmers are members of more than one cooperative

and each membership is counted. Total membership

contains duplication that cannot be eliminated with

current reporting methods. Consequently, number of

memberships exceeds the number of farmers.

Member classification depends on the type of

cooperative they use and may not be related to the

member’s products marketed or supplies purchased.

For example, a member may use a cooperative to

market only one of the farm products handled by the

cooperative, or a member may use a cooperative classified in the marketing group to purchase production

supplies. A member’s business with the cooperative,

therefore, may not be in the group that represents the

16
Figure 1~ Cooperatives Removed from CS’ List, 1987-98

Number

120

80

60

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

Based on a list of all U.S. farmer cooperatives maintained by Cooperative Services. Mergers also include consolidations. Other includes cooperatives dropped due to inactiviiy and unknown and miscellaneous reasons.

cooperative’s major business volume (the criterion for

classifying cooperatives in this report). The member,

however, will be included arbitrarily in that classification.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives had 174,795 employees in

1996, an average of 45 persons per association on a

full-time basis--down 0.3 percent from 175,399 in 1995

(table 12). The 2,012 marketing cooperatives employed

123,525 persons, down 0.5 percent from 1995.

Livestock and poultry cooperatives had the most fulltime employees, 28,453-dawn 0.6 percent. Dairy

cooperatives ranked second with 27,621, a 7.4-percent

decrease. Together, these cooperatives accounted for

45.4 percent of the full-time employees of all marketing cooperatives. In 1986, one of the few years

where data were collected on full-time employees,

5,369 cooperatives had 166,560 full-time employees.

The 1,403 farm supply cooperatives employed

45,566 persons on a full-time basis, up only 0.6 percent

from the 45,302 reported in 1995. These cooperatives

had an average of 32 full-time employees in 1996.

Full-time employees of the 469 related-service

Table 1 I- Memberships In marketing, farm supply,

and service cooperatives, 1987-98

Period 1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

Number

1987 2,028 2,282 132 4,440

1988 1,912 2,142 141 4,195

1989 1,858 2,035 243 4,134

1990 1,882 2,008 232 4,119

1991 1,542 2,025 191 4,059

1992 1,839 2,020 212 4,072

1993 1,830 1,977 218 4,023

1994 1,805 1,938 245 3,988

1995 1,712 1,848 210 3,787

1998 1,882 1,795 187 3,864

1 For years before 1987, see Cooperative Histodcai Statistics,

CIR 1, Section 28, USDA, ACS, Washington, DC, Revised

January 1993. Cotton ginning cooperatives, livestodc shipping

associations, and rice drying cooperatives were reclassiffed from

marketing to service in 1989, 1992, and 1993, respectively.

17
Figure I I- Total Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1987-96

Million

5

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

Table 12-Number of farmer cooperatives and full-time employees, 1994-1996 l

Commodity

1994

Cooperatives

1995 1996 1994

Full-time Employees

1995 * 1996

Cotton 17 16 16 2,105 2,136 1,787

Dairy 247 241 237 31,261 29,828 27,621

Fruits & vegetables 288 281 267 21,201 24,944 26,456

Grains & oilseeds 1,159 1,090 1,066 24,759 24,811 25,981

Livestock, & poultry 117 112 105 26,408 28,635 28,453

Rice 21 19 19 2,796 2,785 2,636

Sugar 52 5 1 49 3,264 3,422 3,482

Other products 272 264 253 5,795 7,590 7,109

Number

Marketing 2,173 2,074 2,012 117,589 124,151 123,525

Farm supply 1,496 1,458

Service 505 474

Total 4,174 4,006

1,403 50,524

469 6,906

3,884 175,019

45,302 45,566

5,946 5,704

175,399 174,795

1 Totals may not add to rounding.

* Data for 1995 were revised.

18
cooperatives dropped from 5,946 in 1995 to 5,704 in

1996, a 4.1-percent decrease.

Business Volume

Net cooperative business volume, unadjusted for

changes in the price level, increased from $60.3 billion

in 1987 to $106.2 billion in 199~up 76.1 percent (table

13). Adjusted for price change,6 net cooperative business totaled $83.1 billion in 1996-1~~ 37.8 percent

(figure 12). In 1996, the difference between actual and

real net business volume totaled $23.1 billion.

Four major commodity groups-dairy; grains

and oilseeds, excluding cottonseed; fruits and vegetables; and livestock-increased from 81.3 percent of all

marketing sales in 1987 to 84 percent in 1996. Grains

and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed) increased from

22.8 percent to 34.8 percent. Dairy and fruits and vegetables, as a percentage of total cooperative business

volume, decreased from 37.6 percent in 1987 to 30.4

percent in 1996.

Trends in cooperatives’ sales of these major commodity groups for 1987-96 are shown in figure 13.

Grains and oilseeds sales show the largest variation

during this period and a significant increase in grain

sales in 1996, mainly due to higher prices.

In the farm supply group, petroleum, feed, and

fertilizer were especially important. They accounted

for 69.3 percent of cooperatives’ total farm supply

sales in 1987 and 71.4 percent in 1996.

Beginning with 1987, cooperative sales of petroleum, feed, fertilizer, and crop protectants have been

increasing (figure 14). Fertilizer and crop protectants

sales were at their lowest points in 1987. All

rebounded except seed sales, which remained fairly

steady.

Net marketing of farm products totaled $44.2

billion in 1987 and increased every year except in 1991.

In 1996, net business volume of farm products marketed reached a record $79.4 billion (table 14).

Aggregate farm supply sales were $14.3 billion in 1987

and $23.7 billion in 1996-1987 showed the lowest

farm supply sales of the period. Service receipts

increased from $1.9 billion in 1987 to $3.1 billion in

1996. Beginning in 1990, service receipts were

expanded to include other income and revenue.

6 Marketing sales was deflated by the index of producer prices

received for “farm products, processed foods and feeds” (1987 =

100). Supply sales and service receipts and other income were

deflated by the index of prices paid by farmers for “production

items” excluding interest, taxes, and wages (1987 = 100).

Gross business volume was $74.7 billion in 1987

and reached $92.7 billion in 1990 before dropping to

$90.8 billion in 1991. From 1991, gross business volume

increased every year to a record $128.1 billion in 1996.

Farm product marketings ranged from 67.3 percent to

70.5 percent of cooperatives’ total gross business

volume during 1987-96. Net business volume of farm

Table 13-Cooperatives’ net buslness VOhJITl0,

1997 and 1996 l

Net Volume

Commodity or function 1985 1994 Change

Products marketed:

Beans and peas

(dry edible)

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits and vegetables

Grains and oilseeds *

Livestock

Nuts

Poultry

Rice

Sugar

Tobacco

Wool and mohair

Other products

127.7 179.0 40.2

1 J42.6 2,658.6 72.3

16,546.3 22,934.5 36.6

6,113.6 9,392.0 53.6

10,056.6 27,656.g 175.0

3,156.4 6,725.2 112.9

941 .o 951.6 1.1

1,146.2 1,754.1 53.0

647.7 699.6 6.1

1.714.1 1,933.3 12.6

607.7 1.412.0 132.4

22.6 7.9 -65.0

1,327.l 3 2,923.6 120.3

Total farm products 44,155.6 79,426.6 79.9

Supplies sold:

Crop protectants

Feed

Fertilizer

Petroleum

Seed

Other supplies

1,291.2 2,629.2 119.1

2,966.6 5,366.0 60.4

2,731.6 5,200.6 90.4

4,175.l 6,295.2 50.6

576.6 656.5 14.2

2,509.4 3,261.3 30.6

Total farm supplies 14,270.6 23,652.6 65.7

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, mist

Total business

1,691.2 3,100.4 63.9

60,317.7 106,161.6 76.0

- - Million dollars -- Percent

1 Excludes intercooperative business volume. Totals may not add

due to rounding.

2 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed sales were included with

cotton. Cottonseed meal and oil sales were included with feed

and other products, respectively.

3 Includes value of processed oilseeds.

19
Figure 1%Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1987-98

Billion dollars

120

80

80

40

20

0

I I I I I I I I I I

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

1 Actual sales were adjusted for price change based on 1987 = 100.

Figure 1 B- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1987-96

Billion dollars

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Milk and Milk Products

rains and Oiiseeds

I I I I I I I I I I

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

20
Figure lb- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1987-98

Billion dollars

7

6

0 1 I I I I I I I I I I

1967 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

products marketed ranged from 73.2 percent to 74.8

percent of cooperatives’ total net business volume.

Net Income

Although net income has fluctuated since 1987,

the general trend has been an increase. In 1987, net

income was $1,486 million, rose to $1.85 billion in 1989,

dropped to $1.36 billion in 1993, reached a record $2.36

billion in 1995, and dropped to $2.25 billion in 1996

(table 15 and figure 15).

Net income from other cooperatives and from

own operations varied over time, but reflected better

recent economic times in agriculture compared with

the mid-1980s. In 1996, refunds from other cooperatives totaled $711.9 million, or 31.7 percent of total net

income. From 1987 to 1995, the percentage of total net

income received from other cooperatives ranged from

4.2 percent in 1987 to 24.7 percent in 1992. The significant increase in net income from patronage refunds

received from other cooperatives indicates the importance of cooperatives working together.

Balance Sheet

In 1987, farmer cooperatives financed 46.4

percent of their assets through member and patron

equity, or net worth. From 1988 through 1993, member

and patron equity used to finance assets ranged from

43.8 percent to 44.9 percent. In 1994, it dropped to 43.4

percent, continuing its downward trend to 40.8 percent

in 1996 (table 16 and figure 16).

This drop in assets financed by net worth should

be of some concern to cooperative leaders. If cooperatives continue to finance their assets with larger proportions of debt, and interest rates increase as happened in the late 1970s and early 198Os, some

cooperatives could find themselves in a financial

squeeze.

Investments in other cooperatives, as a percentage of total assets, increased in 1996 for the first

time since 1993. They had dropped to 8.7 percent in

1989 before increasing to 9.6 percent in 1990. In both

1994 and 1995, they were only 7.4 percent, before

increasing to 8 percent in 1996.

IV-Other Service Cooperatives

Other types of service cooperatives were operating in 1996 besides those directly related to marketing and purchasing.

21
Table id- COOpSrStiVSS’ gross and net business vohles, 1987-86 l

Period 2

Farm

products

Gross volume

Farm

supplies Services *

Farm

Total products

Billion dollars

Net volume

Farm

supplies Services s Total

1987 50.3 22.5 1.9 74.7 44.2 14.3 1.9 60.3

1988 56.2 24.0 1.9 82.1 49.1 15.4 1.9 66.4

1989 60.3 25.8 2.0 88.1 53.2 16.9 2.0 72.1

1990 64.1 26.3 2.3 92.7 57.8 17.1 2.3 77.3

1991 61.4 26.8 2.5 90.8 56.2 17.9 2.5 76.6

1992 63.8 27.0 2.6 93.4 58.2 18.5 2.6 79.3

1993 66.8 28.2 2.7 97.7 60.9 19.2 2.7 82.9

1994 72.1 30.4 3.0 105.5 65.5 20.8 3.0 89.3

1995 77.9 31.0 3.3 112.2 89.3 21.2 3.3 93.8

1996 90.3 34.7 3.1 128.1 79.4 23.7 3.1 106.2

Percent

1987 67.3 30.2 2.5 100 73.2 23.7 3.1 100

1988 68.4 29.2 2.4 100 73.9 23.2 2.9 100

1989 68.4 29.3 2.3 100 73.8 23.4 2.8 100

1990 69.1 28.4 2.5 100 74.9 22.1 3.0 100

1991 67.7 29.5 2.8 100 73.3 23.4 3.3 100

1992 68.3 28.9 2.8 100 73.4 23.4 3.2 100

1993 68.4 28.8 2.8 100 73.5 23.2 3.3 100

1994 68.4 28.8 2.6 100 73.4 23.3 3.3 100

1995 69.5 27.6 2.9 100 73.9 22.6 3.5 100

1996 70.5 27.1 2.4 100 74.8 22.3 2.9 100

1 Gross includes and net excludes intercooperative business.

2 For years before 1987, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, Section 28, USDA, ACS, Washington, DC, Revised January 1993. Data

for prior years are not entirely comparable due to revisions in statistical procedures.

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

income and revenue were included with service receipts.

Table 15- Cooperatives’ net Income, 1987-96 1

From own From other

Year operations cooperatives * Total

Million dollars

1987 1,423 63 1,466

1986 1,532 148 1,680

1989 1,543 308 1,851

1990 1,110 330 1,440

1991 1,189 381 1,570

1992 1,064 356 1,440

1993 1,041 318 1,358

1994 1,628 335 1,963

19953 1,820 544 2,363

1996 1,536 712 2,246

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

cooperative pooling operations.

2 Dividends and patronage refunds received from other marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives.

3 Revised.

22

Farm Credit System

The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide

network of financial cooperatives that lend to agriculture and rural America. FCS provides credit and

related services to farmers, ranchers, producers and

harvesters of aquatic products, rural homeowners,

certain farm-related businesses, agricultural and

aquatic cooperatives, rural utilities, and to certain

foreign or domestic entities in connection with international transactions.

On January 1,1997, the FCS represented 60

Federal Land Bank Associations (FLBAs); 31 Federal

Land Credit Associations (FLCAs); 65 Production

Credit Associations (PCAs); 1 Agricultural Credit Bank

(ACB), (CoBank, ACB); 61 Agricultural Credit

Associations (ACAs); 6 Farm Credit Banks (FCBs); and

1 Bank for Cooperatives (BC) (table 17).

On December 31,1996, the combined assets of the

FCS totaled $74.9 billion-up 4.9 percent from $71.4
Figure I !s- Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1987-98

Billion dollars

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98

From Other

cooperatives

From Own

Operations

Figure 16- Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Total Liabilities, 1987-98

Billion dollars

50

40

30

20

10

0

1987 88 89 90 92 93 94 95 98

Liabilltles

Net Worth

23
Table ~t+Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 198748’

Year

Assets Investments

from own in other

operations co-ops

Total Total Net

assets liabilities worth

1987 24,823 2,820 27,843 14,819 12,824

1988 28,524 2,782 29,288 18,481 12,825

1989 27,078 2,571 29,849 18,337 13,313 /

1990 27,155 2,889 30,024 18,575 13,449

1991 28,788 2,501 31,288 17,227 14,040

1992 29,572 2,422 31,994 17,780 14,213

1993 30,844 2,802 33,448 18,834 14,812

1994 33,304 2,858 35.980 20,339 15,821

1995 37,314 2,980 40,274 23,843 18,831

1998 39,193 3,395 42,588 25,195 17,392

1987 89.8 10.2

1988 90.8 9.4

1989 91.3 8.7

1990 90.4 9.8

1991 92.0 8.0

1992 92.4 7.8

1993 92.2 7.8

1994 92.8 7.4

1995 92.8 7.4

1998 92.0 8.0

Million dollars

Percent of total assets

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

53.8 48.4

58.2 43.8

55.1 44.9

55.2 44.8

55.1 44.9

55.8 44.4

55.7 44.3

58.8 43.4

58.7 41.3

59.2 40.8

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Table 17- Farm Credit Association structure, January I,1997 *

District or bank affiliation FLEA FLCAs PCA ACB ACA FCB BC

Number

CoBank, ACB * 1 5

AgFirst FCB 1 39 1

AgriBank, FCB 19 19 11 1

FCB of Wichita 22 18 1

FCB of Texas 38 18 1

Western FCB 11 10 5 1

St. Paul BC3 1

AgAmerica, FCB 1 1 1 1

- - - - - - -

Total 80 31 85 1 8 1 8 1

= No bank affiliation.

1 FLBA = Federal Land Bank Association; PCA = Production Credii Association; ACA = Agrtouttural Credtt Association; FLCA = Federal Land

Credit Association; ACB = Agricultural Credit Bank; FCB = Farm Credit Bank; and BC= Bank for Cooperatives

2 CoBank. ACB serves cooperatives nationwide and ACAs in the former Springfteld District.

3 The St. Paul BC serves cooperatives nationwide.

Source: Farm Credit Administration, 1996 Annual Report on the Financial Condition and Perfonance of the Farm Credit SYStem,

McLean, VA, p. 26.

24
billion in 1995 (table 18). Net worth totaled $10.7

billion, up 8.8 percent, and net income was $1.2 billion,

up 3.1 percent from 1995.

The FLBAs originate and service long-term loans

made by FCBs. Loan proceeds are used to purchase

agricultural real estate and rural homes and refinance

agricultural real estate and rural home mortgages.

Of the 31 FLCAs operating on January 1,1997,19

were in AgriBank, 11 in Western and one in

AgAmerica districts. FLCAs were authorized by the

Agricultural Credit Act of 1987. FLCAs are former

FLBAs that were given direct lending authority by

FCBs.

PCAs provide farmers and ranchers short- and

intermediate-term loans for various purposes, such as

operating expenses, farm equipment, livestock, farm

buildings, and other capital improvements. Four of the

six FCB districts contained 63 of the 65 PCAs.

ACAs resulted from the merger of FLBAs or

FLCAs with PCAs. ACAs offer both long- and shortterm loans. Of the 61 ACAs operating on January 1,

1997,39 of them were in AgFirst territory and 11 in the

AgriBank district.

The FCBs provide loan funds and support services to FLBAs, ACAs, FLCAs, and PCAs within their

districts. Combined assets of six FCBs, one ACB, and

one BC totaled $68.5 billion in 1997, up from $65.8

billion in 1995 (table 19). Net worth in 1996 was $5.8

billion and net loans totaled nearly $56.6 billion. Net

income was $622 million in 1996, a record for the past

5 years.

St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives, the sole BC, is

based in Minnesota. It offers a complete line of credit

and related financial services to agricultural cooperaTable is- Farm Credit System combined assets, net

worth, and net income, 1992-86 l

Year Assets Net worth

Million dollars

Net income

1992 63,197 7,214 986

1993 64,798 8,312 1,217

1994 66,376 8,980 1,005

1995 71,438 9,863 1,165

1996 74,917 10,729 1,201

1 As of December 31. Data for 1992-93 were taken from Farm

Credit System, Annual Information Statements, Federal Farm

Credit Banks, Funding Corporation, Jersey City, NJ. Data for

1994-96 were taken from Farm Credit System, Annual information

Statement-1996, Federal Farm Credit Banks, Funding

Corporation, Jersey City, NJ, February 27, 1997, p. F-3.

tives, rural utilities, and other eligible customers

nationwide.

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

long-term credit to agricultural cooperatives, rural

utility systems, and other rural businesses nationwide.

It also provides credit to the Farm Credit Associations

serving agricultural producers in the Northeast.

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

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

ACAs, and other businesses serving rural America.

CoBank is also authorized to finance U.S. agricultural

exports and to provide international banking services

for farmer cooperatives.

Rural Telephone Cooperatives

On December 31,1996,236 rural telephone cooperatives were borrowing from the Rural Electrification

Administration (REA), with revenues of $1,201 million

and 1,457,OOO subscriber members. Iowa had the most

cooperatives, 32, or 13.6 percent of the total. South

Carolina had more subscriber memberships (11.1

percent) than any other State (table 20). Texas led all

States in revenue, with $143 million, or 11.9 percent of

the total.

Rural Electric Cooperatives

The Nation’s 804 rural electric cooperatives

reported 11.1 million consumer members and revenue

of $24.4 billion (table 21). Texas led all States, with 55

associations, or 6.8 percent of the total, while Georgia

led with the most consumer members (9.1 percent) and

revenue (9.9 percent).

Table IQ- Farm Credit System banks’ and

associations’ combined assets, net worth,

net loans, and net income, 1992-96 1

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million dollars

1992 59,633 4,937 49,440 506

1993 60,382 5,231 50,327 590

1994 61,174 5,254 50,763 452

1995 65,754 5,629 54,525 555

1996 68,549 5,798 56,571 622

1 As of December 31. Includes six Farm Credit Banks, one

Agricultural Credit Bank, and one Bank for Cooperatives.

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Repoff on the Financial

Condition and Performance of the Farm Credit System, McLean,

VA, pp. 41-42.

25
Table m- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural telephone cooperatives

by State, December 31,1996 l

State Cooperatives

Members

(subscribers) Revenue State

Members

Cooperatives (subscribers) Revenue

Number 1,000 Mil. dol. Number 1,ooO Ml. dol.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

26

59

4

6

16

66

6

8

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

5

9

28

138

49

75

Colorado

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

9

32

10

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsyivania

10 59 53

6 4 3

1 9 14

9 46 35

Illinois 7 23 22 South Carolina 6 161 99

Indiana 8 34 25 South Dakota 13 50 45

Iowa 32 63 52 Tennessee 7 136 82

Kansas 10 56 7 1 Texas 20 126 143

Kentucky 8 97 64 Utah 3 19 17

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota 19 76 57

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

5

2

11

19

4

44

12

4

30

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

8 49

7 56

5 10

43

64

7

Wyoming 1 1 2

United States 236 1,457 1,201

- = None reported in the State.

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Totals may not add due to rounding.

Rural Credit Unions 845,600, or 18.7 percent, of the cows tested were in

The 690 rural credit unions reported 4.2 million California.

members and savings of $16.4 billion. Wisconsin led all

States in number of associations, with 69 (10 percent),

while California had the most members, with 990,000

(23.3 percent). California also led all States in credit

union savings, with $4.5 billion, or 27.5 percent of the

$16.4 billion (table 22).

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA)

had 41,277 members (table 23). The DHIAs tested 4.5

million cows. Wisconsin (10,628), Pennsylvania (5,219),

Minnesota (4,828), and New York (3,351), combined,

accounted for 58.2 percent of total members. About

26
Table 21- Number, ptiCipStiOn, and level of actlvlty of rural SktriC COOperStiVeS

by State, December 31,1996 l

State Cooperatives

Members

(subscribers) Revenue State

Members

Cooperatives (subscribers) Revenue

Alabama 2 2 422 770 New Hampshire 1 69 9 6

Alaska 11 7 1 206 New Jersey 1 10 14

Arizona 6 113 374 New Mexico 17 167 374

Arkansas 19 365 1,006 New York 4 15 13

California 3 14 2 0 North Carolina 26 644 1,516

Colorado 21 306 642 North Dakota 26 113 666

Delaware 1 53 6 0 Ohio 24 275 530

Florida 14 559 1,259 Oklahoma 24 310 553

Georgia 38 1,006 2,417 Oregon 13 96 146

Idaho 7 46 66 Pennsylvania 13 168 344

Illinois 2 1 167 296 South Carolina 22 519 1,171

Indiana 3 1 307 620 South Dakota 32 121 223

Iowa 43 178 435 Tennessee 2 1 750 1,013

Kansas 33 152 408 Texas 55 666 1,407

Kentucky 26 614 1,573 Utah 1 7 6

Louisiana 12 284 796 Vermont

Maine 3 14 13 Virginia

Maryland 2 146 252 Washington

Michigan 13 204 251 West Virginia

Minnesota 48 411 639 Wisconsin

3

12

7

1

2 1

12

804

9 6

335 508

32 47

5 5

145 323

Mississippi 19 444 923

Missouri 45 515 1,416

Montana 23 93 142

Nebraska 3 6 109

Nevada 2 11 52

Wyoming 60 127

United States 11,084 24,441

Number l.ooO Ml. dol. Number l,ooO Ml. dol.

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Totals may not add due to rounding.

27
Table n- Number, ptiCipStiOn, and level of activity of rural Credit UniOnS

by State, December 31,1996 I

State Cooperatives Members Savings State Cooperatives Members Savings

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Number

11

1

4

3

59

1,000

21

19

15

7

990

70 Montana

78 Nebraska

36 Nevada

20 New Hampshire

4,509 New Jersey

Number f,ooo

12 55

16 13

6 44

2 1

6 12

187

37

251

1

20

Colorado 14 20 69 New Mexico 3 35 133

Connecticut 1 1 1 New York 29 164 635

Delaware 1 2 8 North Carolina 14 32 68

Florida 16 92 336 North Dakota 32 99 500

Georgia 12 31 77 Ohio 12 39 60

Hawaii 17 97 537 Oklahoma 5 8 34

Idaho 9 14 33 Oregon 10 75 262

Illinois 13 60 208 Pennsytvania 21 3 1 68

Indiana 17 65 455 Rhode Island 3 55 446

Iowa 7 6 16 South Carolina 3 8 44

Kansas 16 75 214 South Dakota 8 10 24

Kentucky 7 31 73 Tennessee 8 14 34

Louisiana 9 15 35 Texas 34 111 345

Maine 10 23 82 Utah 9 14 40

Maryland 5 52 221 Vermont 4 17 43

Massachusetts 6 10 21 Virginia 6 43 134

Michigan 27 410 1,068 Washington 15 150 617

Minnesota 36 195 699 West Virginia 3 4 9

Mississippi 4 11 26 Wisconsin 69 573 1,915

Missouri 7 18 47 Wyoming 2 2 4

Ml. dol.

United States 2 690 4,240 16,383

AM. dol.

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

Totals may not add due to rounding.

* Includes Puerto Rico with 44 cooperatives, 352 members, and savings of $1,533 million.

28
Table 23- Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd Improvement associations by State,

December 31,1996 l

State

Members cows

(herds) tested State

Members

(herds)

cows

tested

l,ooO Number 1.000

Montana 74 8.6

Nebraska 352 34.2

Nevada 27 9.1

New Hampshire 132 11.3

New Jersey 117 9.5

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

86 14.4

2 (*)

61 59.7

114 10.8

‘I ,256 645.6

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

112 41 .o

141 16.0

33 4.4

126 65.5

265 60.0

New Mexico 54 56.5

New York 3,351 329.6

North Carolina 305 50.8

North Dakota 125 10.2

Ohio 1,701 123.0

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

6 2.5

316 74.8

936 66.6

al5 64.8

1,816 121.3

Oklahoma 191 21.6

Oregon 293 51.3

Pennsylvania 5,219 336.8

Rhode Island 6 .4

South Carolina 111 21.1

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

440 39.3

367 31 .o

200 25.6

190 16.3

529 44.1

South Dakota 422 33.7

Tennessee 352 42.5

Texas 583 188.8

Utah 305 52.0

Vermont 639 58.7

Massachusetts

Michigan

151

1,445

4,828

113

12.6 Virginia 612

148.3 Washington 398

320.2 West Virginia a9

la.5 Wisconsin 10,628

55.3 Wyoming 11

77.1

93.8

9.2

685.7

1.4

Mississippi

Missouri

United States3 41,277 4,516.7

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

* Fewer than 500.

3 Includes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with 177 members and 38,772 cows tested.

29
Appendix Table l- Number l of co-ops and memberships* by maJor business activity and State,19953

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

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 5

Other States

-

5

United States 10

COTTON 4

California

Mississippi

Texas

Other States

Foreign

United States

3

3

4

6

-

16

DAIRY

California 10

Hawaii 3

Illinois 4

Iowa 10

Michigan 3

Minnesota 48

New York 61

North Dakota 5

Ohio 6

Oregon 3

Pennsytvania 21

Virginia 4

Wisconsin 35

Other States 28

United States 241

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 6

Arizona 4

Arkansas 6

California 75

Colorado 10

Florida 33

Georgia 5

Hawaii 10

Kentucky 4

834

2.419

3,253

2,711

3,315

24,300

11,490

68

41,884

1,979

45

2,423

10,742

4,334

17,519

6,349

1,040

3,692

661

7,920

1,219

32,769

26,621

117,313

734

440

21,710

421

2,376

189

512

334

FRUITS AND VEGETABLESs(Continued)

Maine 4 485

Massachusetts 4 508

Michigan 18 3,759

Mississippi 4 283

New Jersey 10 864

New York 10 1,120

North Carolina 3 56

Ohio 5 1,376

Oregon 12 1,637

Pennsylvania 6 1,673

Texas 5 337

Vermont 3 108

Virginia 4 207

Washington 23 5,644

Other States 23 4,258

Foreign 8 81

United States 281 49,112

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS EXCLUDING COlTONSEED 7

,Arkansas 3 1,362

Colorado 16 10,029

Idaho 6 1,633

Illinois 125 94,706

Indiana 26 40,855

Iowa 152 99,608

Kansas 129 123,535

Michigan 12 6,351

Minnesota 111 75,218

Mississippi 6 2,332

Missouri 21 30,040

Montana 15 11,199

Nebraska 77 68,687

North Dakota 142 75,104

Ohio 49 37,815

Oklahoma 48 36,201

Oregon 3 3,562

South Dakota 77 55,119

Texas 38 18,311

Washington 25 10,136

Other States 9 3,732

Foreign 6 327

United States 1,090 805,862

Continued

30
LIVESTOCK 5

Alabama

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

North Dakota

Ohio

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Other States

Foreign 6

United States

NUTS

California

Hawaii

Other States

United States

POULTRY 9

California

Utah

Other States

Foreign E

United States

RICE 5

California

Louisiana

Texas

Other States

Foreign 6

United States

SUGAR ‘0

Idaho

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 6

United States

7

4

3

3

3

4

4

7

5

7

4

6

3

7

27

-

94

6

3

-

12

21

3

3

12

-

16

-

19

7

10

6

3

3

4

16

-

51

6,666

10,476

6,939

23,332

2,247

377

29,504

6,921

6,652

9,359

7,832

1,312

606

24,422

131,236

1,736

273,619

6,556

547

41,315

46,416

76

113

26,319

42

26,552

2.206

166

1,233

12,266

1

15,914

941

604

2,675

2,066

535

466

7,950

2

15,261

TOBACCO *

Kentucky

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Other States

Foreign 8

United States

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho

Montana

North Dakota

Pennsylvania

Utah

Virginia

West Virginia

Wyoming

Other States

United States

MISCELLANEOUS ”

Alaska

California

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

North Dakota

Oregon

Washington

Other States

United States

TOTAL MARKETING

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

70,889

66,460

74,510

14,708

43,189

-

277

26 270,053

6

20

6

17

4

6

10

4

-

23

96

232

998

247

2,230

515

674

767

108

13,960

19,731

13

11

7

4

7

15

4

3

7

4

3

3

5

-

23

109

6,245

1,352

309

353

399

832

278

109

5,113

262

2,834

152

461

3,837

22,536

11 14,411

13 6,246

5 2,015

16 15,142

122 41,419

32 14,246

45 8,164

15 37,041

26 12,082

26 12,289

136 120,837

29 49,277

Appendix gable I- Number l Of co-ops and memberships * by major business activity and State,199W (continued)

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

Continued

31
Appendix Table l- Number l of co-ops and membenrhlps* by major business activity and State,1995~ (continued)

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

TOTAL MARKETING (Continued)

167

129

15

20

20

11

4

49

177

25

29

44

66

15

76

20

170

70

53

24

48

5

79

8

67

13

7

27

57

14

47

8

9

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Massachusetts

New Mexico

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 6 -

139,509

129,223

74,924

5,543

1,746

1,433

1,539

47,858

155,439

17,566

44,172

14,487

82,513

3,101

10,031

69,009

91,897

67,083

50,996

9,984

11,991

19,170

63,682

76,376

52,906

5,626

2,156

41,323

17,725

3,558

58,981

611

3,867

2,534

United States 2,074 1,7 11,508

FARM SUPPLY

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

48 41,347

42 46,699

20 13,915

22 19,694

6 8,332

8 2,737

6 2,739

16 14,152

69 114,091

30 62,576

87 100,149

26 22,165

FARM SUPPLY (Continued)

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsyfvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 6

29

21

15

4

33

170

38

44

39

51

12

115

22

29

15

7

72

70

53

8

38

31

14

129

6

13

-

123,237

7,237

52,324

3,910

16,638

147,767

86,391

135,422

20,820

38,281

37,144

51,451

14,806

21,024

21,319

33,164

52,034

71,110

35,480

5,322

121,687

13,278

60,190

123,088

4,008

99,471

626

United States 1,458 l&$5,535

SERVICE ‘*

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Hawaii

Illinois

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

5 180

4 922

6 1,191

48 4,217

6 107

5 311

3 1,690

4 144

14 2,306

3 104

5 6,225

42 26,035

26 8,346

4 1,527

5 14,755

6 123

9 496

7 4,993

26 8,757

Continued

32
Appendix Table I- Number l of co-ops and memberships* by major business activity and State,1995 3 (continued)

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

SERVICE I* (Continued)

Pennsylvania 8 16,916

Texas 162 42,343

Washington 4 5,676

Wisconsin 49 32,450

Other States 23 30,434

United States 474 210,252

TOTAL

Alabama 64 55,936

Alaska 13 6,246

Arizona 10 10,017

Arkansas 64 63,032

California 192 59,551

Colorado 55 33,665

Connecticut 4 3,310

Delaware 3 29,072

Florida 53 26,362

Georgia 25 40,156

Hawaii 40 14,928

Idaho 43 26,441

Illinois 210 235,239

Indiana 61 111,952

Iowa 257 24 1,348

Kansas 159 151,532

Kentucky 45 203,061

Louisiana 55 15,086

Maine 22 9,527

Maryland 20 53,464

Massachusetts 15 5,343

Michigan 67 70.521

Minnesota 369 329,241

Mississippi 69 112,303

Missouri 74 180,235

Montana 63 35,107

Nebraska 139 121,266

New Jersey 19 8,220

New Mexico 9 3,330

New York 95 61,930

North Carolina 26 113,082

North Dakota 294 143,844

Ohio 99 90,447

Oklahoma 106 77,651

Oregon 41 30,877

Pennsylvania 63 62,073

South Carolina 7 19,612

South Dakota 151 116,128

Tennessee 79 148,933

Texas 262 130,729

TOTAL (Continued)

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 13

22

7

67

92

28

225

14

5

13,268

7,454

167,890

36,681

63,748

214,519

4,619

2,937

3,160

United States 4,006 3,767,295

1 lndudes centralized and federated cooperatives and those with

mixed organizational structures.

* lndudes farmer-members (entftied to vote for directors), but not

nonvoting patrons. (Duplication in these membership figures

occurs because many faners belong to more than one

cooperative.) Totals may not add due to rounding.

5 Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that

ended in 1995. States listed are those with more than two

cooperatives or where disclosure is not a problem.

4 Cotton ginning cooperatives in previous reports were included in

this classification but reclassified as service cooperatives in 1989.

6 Cooperatives performing spectffc services related to a commodiiy

are included. incorporated local associations of a federation that

perform the actual marketing or processing are counted.

6 indudes foreign memberships.

7 Excludes soybean meal and oil.

8 Membership fluctuates annually depending upon producer

participation in price stabilization programs.

o includes eggs, turkeys, ratfte, squab, and related products.

lo includes sugar, sugarcane, sugar beats, honey, maple syrup,

molasses, and sorghum.

I1 includes forest products, hay, hops, nursery stock, coffee, and

other farm products not separately dassffied.

I2 Cooperatives providing services related to marketing or

purchasing activities. Major services provided are cotton ginning,

truddng, storing, grinding, drying, and artificial insemination.

33
ApptmdixTable2- Cooperative business volume I by commodity and State, 1995*

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

1.000 dollars 1,OtW dollars

PRODUCTS MARKETED:

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 120,504 117,737

Other States 90.717 90,718

United States 3 211,221 208,455

COTTON

California

Mississippi

Texas

Other States

635,298 587,321

421,460 418,634

1,057,201 1,006,424

788,926 786,704

United States 2,902,885 2,799,083

DAIRY

California

Hawaii

Illinois

Iowa

Michigan

Minnesota

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Virginia

Wisconsin

Other States

2,791,553 2,662,609

21,433 21,433

931,340 811,771

930,828 862,796

652,961 624,033

2,052,404 1,788,794

1,621,652 1,228,835

173,157 157,713

651,465 623,028

256,390 241,765

1,280,285 965,356

113,643 111,397

4,677,481 4,383,774

7,513,893 7,300,505

United States 23,668,484 21,783,809

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 159,451

Arkansas 1,355

California 3846,187

Colorado 27,055

Floriia 1,338,037

Georgia 24,359

Hawaii 25,446

Kentucky 7,894

Maine 33,683

Massachusetts 504,103

Michigan 502,198

139,156

1,355

3,469,272

27,055

1,28 1,838

20,402

25,446

7,894

33,683

504,103

411,307

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Mississippi 13,657 13,262

New Jersey 211,438 211,062

New York 298,802 293,002

North Carolina 21,003 19,447

Ohio 6,953 6,953

Oregon 575,884 575,647

Pennsyhrania 289,416 279,438

Texas 44,487 16,301

Vermont 9,427 9,427

Virginia 13,754 13,145

Washington 818,620 771,572

Other States 1 ,155,054 1,122,360

Foreign 4 19,629 18,826

United States 9,947,892 9,271,953

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS EXCLUDING

COlTONSEED

Arkansas

Colorado

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Dakota

Texas

Washington

Other States

Foreign 4

187,296 186,213

280,851 249,146

43,315 43,315

2,076,317 2,068,292

1,301,046 967,560

3803,565 2,825,505

2,073,069 1.773.049

412,655 270,923

3,219,309 2,377,433

86,430 80,775

820,718 570.775

453,804 284,345

2.012.738 1,737,404

2.256,260 1,831,526

1,321,884 988,399

615,396 447,918

150,380 150,150

1548,192 1.198,988

1,070,349 644,652

845,660 631,773

570,750 510.555

47,655 25,734

United States 25,197,639 19,864.430

Continued

34
Appendix Table 2- Cooperative business VOhw 1 by commodity and State, 1995 * (COntir’tUBd)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

LIVESTOCK

Alabama

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

North Dakota

Ohio

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Other States

Foreign 4

69,804 69,804

4,086 4,086

64,206 62,336

524,734 524,734

116,694 116,894

24,062 24,082

675,979 675,979

94,524 94,524

244.316 244,316

91,244 84,119

304,856 304,858

31,777 31,777

3,261 3,261

555,291 548,166

3,711,462 3,669.258

15,549 15,549

United States 6,532,089 6,473,743

NUTS

California

Hawaii

Other States

United States

618,904 618,904

24,056 24,056

222,640 222,640

865,600 865,600

POULTRY 5

California

Utah

Other States

United States

41,882 41,882

214,707 78,504

1,618,698 1,471,144

1,875,287 1,591,530

RICE

California

Louisiana

Texas

Other States

230,729 229,439

25,954 25,954

58,151 58,151

585,998 585,998

United States 900,832 899,542

1.lm.l dolkrs

SUGAR

Idaho

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 4

139,942 139,942

260,472 260,472

113,261 113,261

590,726 522,467

71,881 71,881

41,353 41,353

748,885 718,929

298 298

United States 1,966,818 1,868,603

TOBACCO

Kentucky

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Other States

528,550 528,550

231,834 231,834

292,463 292,463

24,683 24,683

83,387 83,387

United States 1 ,160,917 1,160,917

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho

Montana

North Dakota

Pennsylvania

Utah

Virginia

West Virginia

Wyoming

Other States

116 116

1,111 1,111

95 95

264 264

430 430

124 124

168 168

82 82

20,014 13,031

United States 22,404 15,421

l,CXXl dollars

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING0

Alaska 13,040

California 247,692

Florida 18,766

Georgia 17,145

Hawaii 13,792

Maine 23,056

Massachusetts 2,345

Michigan 65,414

Minnesota 476,466

13,040

247,848

18,677

17,145

13,792

23,056

2,345

64,680

391,143

Continued

35
Appendix Table 2- Cooperative business volume l by commodity and State, 1995* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

7,000 dollars

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING6 (continued)

Mississippi 163,493 159,451

North Dakota 59,320 45,666

Oregon 61,097 61,097

Washington 199,037 198,993

Other States 1,116,214 1,049,521

Foreign 4 216,993 211,305

United States 2,694,070

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED

Alabama 1,017,012 970,180

Alaska 13,040 13,040

Arizona 704,420 666,601

Arkansas 1,172,449 1,164,760

California 8,705,309 8,146,437

Colorado 614,683 581,642

Florida 2,227,104 2,165,583

Georgia 774,767 767,566

Hawaii 92,606 92,606

Idaho 856,545 849,727

Illinois 3,563,710 3,436,117

Indiana 1,903,130 1,530,556

Iowa 6,586,714 5,522,612

Kansas 2,782,406 2,482,386

Kentucky 813,399 783,664

Louisiana 454,128 450,447

Maine 76,014 75,557

Massachusetts 909,132 904,852

Michigan 2,472,931 2,210,646

Minnesota 6,765,968 5,386,882

Mississippi 854,029 841,110

Missouri 2,220,784 1,956,533

Montana 596,106 426,647

Nebraska 3,579,743 3,281,694

New Jersey 256,869 252,541

New Mexico 163,275 162,784

New York 2,003,628 1,605,012

North Carolina 531,132 525,277

North Dakota 2,902,811 2,411,840

Ohio 2,433,507 2$X4,600

Oklahoma 1,006,510 836,959

Oregon 1 ,159,840 1 ,120,445

Pennsylvania 1,680,201 1,355,293

South Carolina 61,930 61,558

South Dakota 1,968,806 1,571,116

2,517,761

1,000 dollars

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED (continued)

Tennessee 392,574

Texas 3,175,371

Utah 523,774

Vermont 390,774

Virginia 254,445

Washington 2,732,649

West Virginia 58,382

Wisconsin 5,814,239

Wyoming 47,044

Other States 332,124

Foreign 4 300,124

United States 77,946,138

FARM SUPPLIES PROVIDED:

CROP PROTECTANTS

Alabama 90,610

Arkansas 161,261

California 23,138

Colorado 41,308

Florida 16.200

Georgia 59,895

Hawaii 1,671

Idaho 34,049

Illinois 398,906

Indiana 235,406

Iowa 463,370

Kansas 136,721

Kentucky 44,466

Louisiana 64,795

Maryland 20,813

Massachusetts 2,433

Michigan 40,721

Minnesota 340,786

Mississippi 58,812

Missouri 86,274

Montana 46,680

Nebraska 191,704

New York 16,409

North Dakota 140,348

Ohio 94,079

Oklahoma 27,256

Oregon 37,742

Pennsylvania 12,576

South Dakota 132,044

391,217

2,620,836

380,434

382,984

249,550

2,420,036

55,373

5,510,694

47,044

315,697

271.712

69,320X%46

45,871

84,517

19,115

26,171

15,970

56,922

1,671

16,812

268,829

164,213

369,544

92,939

40,096

33,279

18,783

2,346

29,633

286,763

57,892

67,803

30,907

152,777

13,411

106,599

82,396

19,544

26,900

12,041

102,895

Continued

36
Appendix Table 2- Cooperative business VOlUfYM l by commodity and state, 1995* (continued)

Business volume Business volume

State State

Gross Net Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

CROP PROTECTANTS (Continued)

Tennessee 123,169 68,002

Texas 76,139 57,035

Utah 20,316 9,928

Virginia 22,290 18,857

Washington 51,958 37,213

West Virginia 3,165 2,861

Wisconsin 169,996 117,440

Wyoming 15,357 4,969

Other States 75,428 67,434

Foreign 4 33,816 3,307

United States

FEED

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

3,612,107 2,627,685

188,607 171,139

152,189 94,331

166,732 131,843

47,593 36,481

84,930 83,125

247,388 245,663

17,428 5,798

40,105 21,789

275,550 202,332

285,714 140,275

1,020,081 778,024

262,819 177,338

57,694 47,825

49,836 30,736

40,711 36,397

32,898 31,623

64,578 60,800

617,285 463,391

75,218 57,462

233,188 188,749

23,279 17,714

225,110 157,884

138,048 123,817

59,887 40,797

131,299 128,663

81,050 59,974

108,220 42,512

117,973 110,069

151,959 110,603

202,128 118,521

157,238 127,809

78,705 77,833

FEED (Continued)

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 4

United States

FERTILIZER

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

102,796 88,793

87,398 33,320

16,112 13,721

397,122 268,351

1,607 1,807

465,634 427,750

133,127 61,953

6,639,436 5,017,012

126,082 69,972

168,321 90,385

77,151 75,906

114,665 80,437

165,604 41,809

81,403 74,541

20,878 2,402

59,784 32,329

794,485 414,224

555,430 264,877

800,698 491,633

495,982 339,456

147,336 98,983

52,212 28,417

31,673 28,944

4,354 4,193

69,044 46,447

613,307 379,525

69,878 65,956

370,395 226,764

91,067 61,022

386,904 288,337

24,979 24,097

348,456 208,504

188,759 129,446

147,770 104,914

63,669 42,270

22,324 21,549

227,186 145,290

237,085 125,032

243,092 158,113

31,280 20,160

67,174 61,034

46,572 30,394

9,279 8,462

Continued

37
Appendix Table z- COOperStiVe bUSineSS VOlUtne 1 by commodity and State, 1995* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

7.000 dollars 1,000 dollars

FERTILIZER (continued)

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 4

PETROLEUM (Continued)

Other States 205,966 174,516

Foreign 4 195,842 59,064

323,328 181,176

27,418 9,080

131,246 118,044

475,446 97,992

United States 7,911,716

PETROLEUM

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsyivania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

7,626 7,400

105,198 62,597

7,054 6,984

209,945 124,523

3,449 3,449

7,983 7,983

488 488

122,121 61,515

634,458 377,794

369,870 238,527

705,653 426,448

884,936 317,091

81,362 64,413

20,533 13,867

62,309 56,085

25,577 21,165

145,745 70,835

556,398 461,857

20,876 19,614

511,977 361,768

174,238 128,565

404,901 276,656

173,518 143,233

296,656 228,075

112,636 91,873

261,547 90,505

142,690 93,987

152,812 126,512

306,112 220,221

101,926 64,691

157,682 106,931

78,342 15,879

111,486 94,938

159,598 115,918

27,091 25,351

486,518 394,295

100,816 55,279

4,692,116

United States

SEED

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

8,133,935 5,210,892

47,398 19,806

36,701 21,695

19,393 19,393

3,192 3,192

7,493 5,818

15,707 14,987

313 313

12,646 6,127

59,589 39,775

44,115 25,173

60,239 38,786

10,113 10,113

22,695 20,591

20,508 10,676

10,641 9,656

2,332 2,279

11,536 11,228

47,612 40,229

13,682 13,682

49,511 22,475

5,933 4,512

9,279 7,021

8,006 7,656

24,448 22,272

20,207 20,207

4,306 4,306

12,782 12,782

7,015 6,707

13,396 10,905

53,807 33,400

16,067 16,067

2,387 2,387

21,585 19,635

19,739 19,029

4,119 3,701

Continued

38
Appendix Table 2- Cooperative business volume l by commodity and State, 1995 * (continued)

Business volume Business volume

State State

Gross Net Gross Net

1,000 dollars

SEED (continued)

Wisconsin 33,358

Wyoming 809

Other States 34,238

Foreign 4 4,289

United States 790,984

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES’

Alabama 92,211

Arkansas 128,148

California 187,328

Colorado 54,258

Florida 95,318

Georgia 82,718

Hawaii 8,833

Idaho 41,110

Illinois 149,049

Indiana 88,593

Iowa 200,089

Kansas 114,831

Kentucky 70,440

Louisiana 49,484

Maryland 35,788

Massachusetts 23,748

Michigan 90,392

Minnesota 249,235

Mississippi 45,298

Missouri 107,928

Montana 49,402

Nebraska 93,557

New York 187,310

North Dakota 115,151

Ohio 85,258

Oklahoma 42,350

Oregon 112,625

Pennsylvania 100,371

South Dakota 77,879

Tennessee 165,714

Texas 99,582

Utah 43,955

Virginia 155,407

Washington 105,062

West Virginia 28,062

23,729

591

30,889

912

582,702

80,775

88,907

91,990

45,473

95,312

79,168

5,109

35,895

80,274

48,692

148,125

80,243

60,319

34,051

32,288

23,065

76,377

198,647

45,296

67,209

45,445

75,734

136,042

107,019

66,594

31,687

108,711

96,340

68,416

97,545

80,374

41,318

115,407

74,089

24,824

1,000 dollars

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES 7 (continued)

Wisconsin 232,943

Wyoming 29,378

Other States 271,607

Foreign 4 30,231

United States 3,876,369

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES

215,918

27,610

244,816

7,873

3,082,977

Alabama 552,534 394,963

Arkansas 749,818 442,432

California 460,794 345,232

Colorado 470,960 316,277

Florida 372,993 245,482

Georgia 495,092 479,263

Hawaii 49,410 15,781

Idaho 309,816 174,467

Illinois 2,312,037 1,383,228

Indiana 1,557,128 881,757

Iowa 3,250,llO 2,252,561

Kansas 1,905,403 1,017,180

Kentucky 423,992 332,226

Louisiana 257,349 151,025

Maryland 201,915 182,153

Massachusetts 91,340 84,671

Michigan 422,016 295,321

Minnesota 2,424,623 1,824,412

Mississippi 283,761 259,901

Missouri 1,359,271 934,768

Montana 390,599 288,165

Nebraska 1,311,455 958,409

New York 528,270 448,256

North Dakota 984,947 713,266

Ohio 632,236 519,178

Oklahoma 564,280 310,929

Oregon 477,728 327,162

Pennsylvania 413,071 373,217

South Dakota 908,576 658,329

Tennessee 883,828 507,192

Texas 749,800 546,329

Utah 254,985 167,505

Virginia 480,738 398,665

Washington 470,327 309,962

Continued

39
Appendix Table z- Cooperative business volume l by commodity and State, 1995 * (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

1,ooo dollars

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES (continued)

West Virginia 87,828

Wisconsin 1,843,285

Wyoming 175,384

Other States 1,184,118

Foreign 4 872,750

United States 30,964,547

SERVICES PROVIDED: 8

Alabama 15,280 15,260

Arizona 28,633 28,633

Arkansas 125,359 125,359

California 399,299 399,299

Hawaii 10,355 10,355

Illinois 202,054 202,054

Iowa 219,954 219,954

Kansas 107,691 107,891

Louisiana 21,839 21,839

Maryland 3,895 3,895

Michigan 72,066 72,066

Minnesota 211,144 211,144

Mississippi 55,214 55,214

New Mexico 3,683 3,663

New York 201,946 201,946

North Carolina 20,916 20,916

North Dakota 46,506 46,506

Ohio 90,588 90,588

Oklahoma 37,192 37,192

Pennsylvania 40,944 40,944

Texas 340,518 340,518

Washington 154,096 154,096

Wisconsin 88,871 88,871

Other States 785,794 785,794

United States 3,284,017 3,284,017

TOTAL:

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

1,564,806 1,380,403

52,313 41,846

774,972 721,816

2,047,625 1,732,551

9,565,402 8,890,968

1,111,800 924,076

135,552 126,710

94,375 86,123

2,687,777 2,498,745

1,305,067 1,282,038

78,919

1,200,910

99,336

1,063,453

231 ,102

21,213,364

TOTAL: (continued)

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsyhrania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign 4

152,372 118,743

1 ,174,433 1,032,266

6,077,801 5,021,399

3,539,946 2,492,OOl

10,056,777 7,995,126

4,795,699 3,607,457

1,247,313 1,125,812

733,316 623,311

235,597 226,460

427,835 396,489

1,008.168 997,220

2,967,013 2,578,034

9,401,735 7.422,439

1 ,193.004 1,156,226

3,760,417 3,091,663

993,521 721,629

5,006,270 4,355,176

392,934 373,128

179,428 178,066

2,733,844 2,255,214

802,832 760,505

3,934,263 3,171,612

3,156,330 2,674,366

1,607,982 1,185,081

1,863,264 1,493,302

2,134,216 1,769,454

276,064 270,859

2,922,705 2,274,768

1,304,892 926,899

4,265,690 3,507,682

810,199 579,378

503,741 466,653

771,113 664,145

3,357,072 2,884,094

146,921 135,003

7,546,376 6.600,475

223,226 147,178

117,810 110.646

1,172,874 502,814

U.S. 112,194,702 93,818,247

1.000 dollars

See footnotes next page

40
Footnotes to appendix Table 2.

1 Data covering operations of cooperatives whose business years

ended in 1995. Includes independent local cooperatives,

federations, centralized regional cooperatives, and cooperatives

with mixed organizational structures. The volume of products

marketed is allocated to the State in which they were originated

and the volume of farm supplies is allocated to the State in which

they were sold; service volume and other income is allocated to

the State of origin when services relate to farm products

marketed or to the State of destination when related to farm

supplies sold.

2 Gross business volume includes sales between cooperatives.

Net business volume excludes sales between cooperatives.

States listed are those where more than two cooperatives handle

the commodity or farm supply or where disclosure is not a

problem. Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Revised.

4 Includes value of farm products imported, farm supplies

exported, services related to imported farm products or exported

farm supplies, sales to domestic military installations, or sales of

farm products not received directly from member-patrons.

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

o Includes forest products, hay, hops, nursery stock, fish, coffee,

seed marketed for growers, and other farm products not

separately classified plus manufactured food products and resale

items marketed by cooperatives.

7 Includes building supplies, containers and packaging supplies,

farm machinery and equipment, animal health products,

automotive supplies, food, hardware, chicks, and other supplies

not separately classified.

0 Income from services related to marketing and purchasing

activities not included in these volumes.

4 1
Appendix Figure l- Cooperatives’ Net 6usfness Volume, 1972-96

Billion dollars

120

80

60

40

20

0 l I IIll IllI l I l I l l l l ,,, l

1972 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

l Total includes value of related services and other income.

42
Appendix Figure 2- Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1972-96

Billion dollars

140

120

80

60

40

20

Gross’

Net*

011”““““““““““”

1972 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

l Includes intercooperative business. 2 Excludes intercooperative business.

43
Appendix Figure 3- U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1972-96

Million

_

Memberships l

Farms

III I 11 II 11 11 11 1 II 11 11 ’ I”

1972 74 76 78 80 a2 a4 a6 aa 90 92 94 96

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

44
Appendix Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Grain and Oilseed 27.4%

Cotton 0.4%

Service 12.1%

Nut 0.5%

Farm Supply 36.1%

Poultry 0.4%

Dairy 6.1%

Tobacco 0.79/o

Fruit 8 Vegetable 6.9%

Livestock 2.3%

Other’ 7.1%

Percent based on 3,884 cooperatives.

I Includes dry bean and pea, rice, wool and mohair, sugar, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Net Income by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Grain and Oilseed 16.8%

Cotton 3.7%

Service 5.6%

Farm Supply 41.9%

‘.

. . . . . . . .

. . . .

/

. . . .

..::....?..?.j~~

. . .,.......,.

.:. . ._._.,.. Dairy 16.6%

Livestock & Poultry 9.9%

Fruit & Vegetable 2.6%

Other 1 2.9%

Percent based on total net income of $2.25 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, rice, sugar, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Losses by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Grain and Oilseed 20.4%

Other I 46.4%

Dairy 1.5%

Service 2.7%

Farm Supply 6.7%

Livestock & Poultry 0.8%

Fruit & Vegetable 21.5%

Percent based on losses of $187.8 million.

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

47
Appendix Figure 7- Distribution of Net Worth by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Grain and Oilseed 22.0%

Cotton 2.0%

Service 3.1%

Farm Supply 33.3%

Dairv 12.5%

.

I \-Livestock 8 Poultry

-Fruit & Vegetable 9

7--------Other I 6.6%

7.3%

.2%

Percent based on total net worth of $17.4 billion.

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Full-Time Employees by Type of Cooperative, 1996

Fruit & Vegetable 1

Other 1

Sugar

Rice

4.1% A

2.0%

1.5%- A

5.1%-l I I I

Live& xk & Poultry 1 6.2% b

Farm Supply 26.1%

Service 3.3%

Cotton 1 .O%

Grain and Oilseed 14.9%

Dairy 16.6%

Percent based on 174,795 full-time employees.

i Includes dry bean and pea, nut, sugar, tobacco, wool and mohair, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
Appendix Figure g- Average Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative, by Co-op Type, 1996

Livestock & Poultry

Other Marketing’

Rice

Dairy

Cotton

Fruit 81 Vegetable

Sugar

Farm Supply

Grain and Oilseed

Service

0 400 600 800

Full-Time Employees

1000 1200 1400

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, and other miscellaneous marketing co-ops.
Appendix Figure 1 o- Cooperatives’ Investments in Other Cooperatives, 1987-98

Billion dollars

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

1987 88

51
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

1400 Independence Ave., SW, Stop 3257

Washington, D.C. 20250-3257

Rural Business-Cooperative Service (FIBS) provides research, management, and

educational assistance to cooperatives to strengthen the economic position of farmers and

other rural residents. It works directly with cooperative leaders and Federal and State

agencies to improve organization, leadership, and operation of cooperatives and to give

guidance to further development.

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

cooperatives to obtain supplies and services at lower cost and to get better prices for

products they sell; (2) advises rural residents on developing existing resources through

cooperative action to enhance rural living; (3) helps cooperatives improve services and

operating efficiency; (4) informs members, directors, employees, and the public on how

cooperatives work and benefit their members and their communities; and (5) encourages

international cooperative programs. RBS also publishes research and educational

materials and issues Rural Cooperatives magazine.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its

programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political

beliefs and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program

information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at

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

To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Washington, D.C. 20250, or call l-800-245-6340 (voice) or (202) 720-l 127 (TDD). USDA

is an equal employment opportunity employer.