United States

Department of

Agriculture

Rural Business–

Cooperative

Service

RBS Service

Report 59

Farmer Cooperative

Statistics, 1999
Abstract A survey of U.S. farmer cooperatives ending their business year during calendar year

1999 showed a net income of $1.3 billion, down from $1.7 billion in 1998. Gross and

net business volumes were down for the 3,466 cooperatives in the survey. Assets, liabilities, and net worth were up. Business volume by commodity handled is reported for

all cooperatives and by State. Number of cooperatives, cooperative memberships, and

number of employees are classified according to marketing, farm supply, and service

function. Trends in cooperative numbers, memberships, employees, business size,

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

on selected activities of other cooperative service organizations. 

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

FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 1999

Charles A. Kraenzle, Ralph M. Richardson,

Celestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille,

and Jacqueline E. Penn

U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Rural Development,

Rural Business-Cooperative Service,

STOP 3256

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

W ashington, DC 20250-3256

Service Report 59

December 2000

Price: Domestic—$5.00;

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

progress and trends in cooperatives' growth and development. Many people use these

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

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

the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926.

This report provides aggregate information on the number, membership, business volume, net income, and full-time employees of farmer cooperatives for calendar year

1999. Cooperatives are classified by principal product marketed and major function.

Fishery cooperatives are included as miscellaneous marketing cooperatives. Both

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

Statistics for 1999 are compiled on a national and State basis. State data are collected

every other year and next will be published in 2001.

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

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

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

cooperatives’ 1999 business year.

RBS conducts an annual census because of the need to make more accurate estimates for all cooperatives and to use current data on cooperatives for research, education, and technical assistance purposes. Information obtained from individual cooperatives is combined to maintain confidentiality.

Statistics for all cooperatives were derived by adding data estimated for nonrespondents to respondent data. Respondents to the 1999 survey accounted for 91 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

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

greatly appreciated.

i
Contents HIGHLIGHTS ......................................................vi

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

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

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

II--1999 STATISTICS ................................................2

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

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

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

Total Labor Expense ...........................................13

Business Size ............................................... 13

Business Volume ............................................. 13

Net Income ................................................. 26

Balance Sheet ...............................................28

Selected Financial Ratios .......................................30

Crop Protectant Operations of Local Cooperatives ...................30

III--COOPERATIVE TRENDS, 1990-99 .................................32

Number of Cooperatives ........................................33

Memberships ................................................35

Employees ..................................................36

Business Volume ............................................. 36

Net Income ................................................. 37

Balance Sheet ............................................... 38

IV--OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES ................................38

Farm Credit System ...........................................38

Rural Electric Cooperatives .....................................40

Rural Credit Unions ...........................................40

i
Contents Dairy Herd Improvement Associations .............................41

TABLES

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

activity, 1999 ..............................................2

Table 2— Number of cooperatives, by major function and State, 1999 .........4

Table 3— Number of co-ops and memberships, by major business

activity and State, 1999 .....................................6

Table 4— Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer

cooperatives, by type of co-op, 1998-99 .......................10

Table 5— Average total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by

selected type and size, 1998-99 ..............................14

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

reporting, by selected type and size, 1999 ......................15

Table 7— Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business

volume, 1999 ............................................ 16

Table 8— Cooperatives' gross and net business volumes by commodity,

1999 ...................................................17

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume, by commodity

and State,1999 ...........................................19

Table 10— Farmer cooperatives' net income, 1999 ........................27

Table 11 — Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1999 .......28

Table 12— Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 1999 .................29

Table 13— Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 1999 ..................31

Table 14— Number of farmer cooperatives, 1990-99 .......................33

Table 15— Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm

supply cooperatives, 1995-99 ...............................34

Table 16— Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and related-service

cooperatives, 1990-99 .....................................35

Table 17— Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 1995-99 ........... 37

Table 18— Cooperatives' net business volume, 1990 and 1999 .............. 38

Table 19— Cooperatives' gross and net business volumes, 1990-99 .......... 41

iii
Contents Table 20— Net income of farmer cooperatives, 1990-99 ................... 42

Table 21— Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives,

1990-99 ................................................43

Table 22— Farm Credit Association Structure, Oct. 1, 1999 .................44

Table 23— Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net worth, and net

income, 1995-99 ..........................................44

Table 24— Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and net income of

CoBank, ACB, 1995-99 ....................................44

Table 25— Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric

cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 1999 .........................45

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

unions, by State, Dec. 31, 1999 ..............................46

Table 27— Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd

improvement associations, by State, Dec. 31, 1999 ..............47

FIGURES

Figure 1— Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1999 .........3

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

1999 ....................................................5

Figure 3— Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 1999 ........ 10

Figure 4— Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross

Business Volume, 1999 ....................................11

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

Cooperative, 1999 ........................................11

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

Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 1999 ......................12

Figure 7— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business 

Volume, by Size, 1999 ..................................... 16

Figure 8— Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by 

Cooperatives, 1999 ....................................... 18

Figure 9— Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by

Cooperatives, 1999 ....................................... 18

Figure 10—Net Income or Loss by Type of Cooperative, 1999 ...............27

iv
Contents Figure 11 —Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth,

by Type of Cooperative, 1999 ...............................29

Figure 12—Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1990-99 ..............33

Figure 13—Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1990-99 ................34

Figure 14—Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1992-99 ......35

Figure 15—Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1990-99 ................36

Figure 16—Cooperatives' Net Business Volume, 1990-99 .................. 39

Figure 17—Cooperatives' Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1990-99 ....... 39

Figure 18—Cooperatives' Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1990-99 ...... 40

Figure 19—Cooperatives' Net Income, 1990-99 .......................... 42

Figure 20—Cooperatives' Net Worth and Liabilities, 1990-99 ................ 43

APPENDIX FIGURES

Appendix Figure 1—Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1975-99 .......... 49

Appendix Figure 2—Cooperatives' Gross and Net Business 

Volumes, 1975-99 ................................49

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

Memberships,1975-99 ............................50

Appendix Figure 4—Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 1999 ......50

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

Cooperative,1999 .................................51

Appendix Figure 6—Distribution of Total Losses, by 

Type of Cooperative, 1999 ..........................51

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

of Cooperative, 1999 ..............................52

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

Cooperative, 1999 ................................52

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

Cooperative,1999 .................................53

Appendix Figure 10—Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage 

Refunds Received from Other Cooperatives ............53

v
Highlights Both gross and net business volumes dropped and net income declined significantly

according to the 1999 survey of marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives by USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS). Although the number of

cooperatives and memberships declined, total assets, total liabilities, and net worth

increased. Number of full-time employees decreased. However, use of part-time and

seasonal employees was up.

● Total gross business volume (includes inter-cooperative business) handled by cooperatives dropped 4.7 percent, from $121 billion in 1998 to $115.3 billion in 1999.

● Total net business (excludes inter-cooperative business) dropped 5.4 percent or $5.6

billion from $104.7 billion to $99.1 billion.

● Total net income of $1.3 billion was down 23.8 percent from the $1.7 billion reported

for 1998. The 1999 net included inter-cooperative dividends and refunds of $383.5

million--down 33.1 percent from $573 million.

● The number of cooperatives declined 5.1 percent, from 3,651 to 3,466.

● Grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,330 branches in 1999,

down from 5,617 in 1998.

● Cooperative memberships were 3,173,323, down 5.3 percent from 3,352,577 in

1998.

● Cooperatives employed 172,951 full-time and 102,473 part-time and seasonal

employees in 1999. Numbers of full-time employees decreased 0.5 percent, while

part-time and seasonal employees increased 11.6 percent.

● Gross value of farm products marketed by cooperatives in 1999 decreased 4.8 percent, from $84.5 billion to $80.5 billion. Net value of these farm products, after eliminating duplication from inter-cooperative business, was $72 billion, down 6.1 percent

from $76.6 billion.

● Gross value of farm supplies handled by farmer cooperatives was down 6.3 percent,

from $33 billion to $30.9 billion. After adjusting for inter-cooperative business, the

decrease was 5.6 percent, from $24.6 billion to $23.2 billion.

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

plus other income, increased 12.4 percent, from $3.5 billion to $3.9 billion.

● Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives increased 2.4 percent, from $46.6 billion to $47.7 billion. Net assets, after eliminating inter-cooperative investments, was

up 1.1 percent, from $41.9 billion to $42.3 billion. This included investments in

CoBank.

● Total liabilities of $27.4 billion was up 3.1 percent from $26.6 billion.

● Net worth, or member and patron equity, rose 1.6 percent to nearly $20.3 billion from

$20 billion. Member and patron equity financed 42.5 percent of total assets, down

from 42.9 percent in 1998.

vi
Highlights HIGHLIGHTS CAPSULE

1998 1999 Change

Number of cooperatives 3,651 3,466 -185

Memberships 3,352,577 3,173,323 -179,254

Gross business volume (mil. dol.) 120,961 115,291 -5,670

Net business volume (mil. dol.) 104,667 99,064 -5,603

Net income (mil. dol.) 1,742 1,328 -414

Total assets (mil. dol.) 46,560 47,682 1,122

Net worth (mil. dol.) 19,954 20,263 309

Full-time employees 173,791 172,951 -840

Part-time and seasonal employees 91,799 102,473 10,674

Leading States 1997 1999

Minnesota Minnesota

Number of cooperatives 368 305 -63

Minnesota Kentucky

Memberships 296,058 231,862 N/A

Iowa Minnesota

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

vii
FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 1999

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

Katherine C. DeVille, and Jacqueline E. Penn

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

I—Definition of a Farmer Cooperative

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) in

U S D A’s Rural Development mission area considers

four major criteria in identifying an organization as a

farmer cooperative: (1) membership is limited to persons producing agricultural and aquacultural products

and to associations of such producers; (2) cooperative

members are limited to one vote regardless of the

amount of stock or membership capital owned, or the

cooperative does not pay dividends on stock or membership capital in excess of 8 percent a year, or the

legal rate in the State, whichever is higher; (3) business

conducted with nonmembers may not exceed the

value of business done with members; and (4) the

cooperative operates for the mutual interest of members by providing member benefits on the basis of

patronage.

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

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

included with miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

W ool 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 RBS

definition. Other reasons for possible differences in the

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

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

have completed and returned an initial questionnaire;

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

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

lists and classifications in State and Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

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

supply, and related-service.

Marketing cooperatives derive most of their total

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

commodities or commodity groups depending upon

which accounts for most of its business volume. RBS

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

Farm supply cooperatives derive most of their

business volume from the sale of farm production supplies. These cooperatives handle a wide variety of supplies, farm machinery and equipment, and building

materials. Many also handle farm and home items,

such as heating oil, lawn and garden supplies and

equipment, and food.

Service cooperatives provide specialized services

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

trucking, storing, drying, and artificial insemination.

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

1992 and 1993, respectively.

Many cooperatives handle multiple commodities

and provide both marketing and farm supply services,

as well as the facilities and equipment used to perform

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

indicated by their business volume.

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

credit unions, rural electric cooperatives, and dairy

herd improvement associations, is presented separately.

Organizational Membership Structures

Centralized

Of the 3,466 farmer cooperatives in 1999, 3,379

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

or State milk marketing order hearings.

Federated

Federated cooperatives comprise two or more

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

The 63 federated associations often operate at

points quite distant from their headquarters. Federated

cooperative members are usually local cooperatives,

although some are interregional associations with

regional cooperative members.

Mixed

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

combination of centralized and federated structures.

They serve large geographic areas, with members in

many States, and provide a variety of integrated services. RBS has identified 24 such cooperatives.

II—1999 STATISTICS

Cooperatives' net business volume was $99.1 billion in 1999, down from $104.7 billion in 1998; the second year in a row that business volume dropped. Net

income of $1.3 billion was down from $1.7 billion in

1998, a drop of 23.8 percent. Net income, like business

volume, also dropped for the second year. Numbers of

cooperatives and memberships, at 3,466 and 3,173,323,

respectively, were down. Combined assets, net worth

and liabilities were all up.

2

Table 1— Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 1999

Major business activity Cooperatives Memberships

Number

Beans and peas, dry edible 8 2,796

Cotton 15 43,754

Dairy 221 90,675

Fruits and vegetables 231 40,876

Grains and oilseeds 1 896 657,921

Livestock 81 137,054

Nuts 18 43,749

Poultry 2 15 29,190

Rice 17 11,799

Sugar 3 48 15,703

Tobacco 25 170,026

Wool and mohair 84 15,440

Miscellaneous 90 23,856 ——— —————

Total marketing 1,749 1,282,839

Farm supply 1,313 1,731,377

Service 404 159,107 ——— —————

Total 3,466 3,173,323

1 Cooperatives primarily handling grains and oilseeds, excluding

cottonseed.

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

3 Includes beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.
Number of Cooperatives

The 1999 survey accounted for 3,466 marketing,

farm supply, and related-service 1 cooperatives, compared with 3,651 in 1998. The net decrease of 185 associations (5.1 percent) largely reflects a continuing trend

involving dissolution, merger, or acquisition. The

largest decrease was in grain and oilseed (grain) cooperatives (68), followed by related-service (37) and farm

supply (34) cooperatives.

Of the 3,466 cooperatives, 1,749 primarily marketed farm products, 1,313 primarily handled farm

production supplies, and 404 provided services related

to marketing or purchasing activities (table 1).

Marketing cooperatives decreased slightly,fro m

51 percent in 1998 to 50.5 percent of the total number

of cooperatives in 1999, while farm supply cooperatives increased slightly,from 36.9 to 37.9 percent.

Related-service cooperatives decreased slightly,fro m

12.1 to 11.7 percent.

These percentage changes to some extent reflect

reclassification because of annual dollar volume

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

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

Cooperative numbers by marketing and farm

supply and service functions by State are shown in

table 2. North Dakota is the leading State in marketing 

cooperatives (151), followed closely by Minnesota

(143). Texas accounted for the largest number of farm

supply and service cooperatives.

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

number of cooperatives by function in each State. For

example, Minnesota had about an equal number of

marketing and farm supply cooperatives, while the

majority in Texas were service cooperatives, mainly

cotton gins. South Dakota, the ninth leading State, had

the largest percentage of farm supply cooperatives.

Grain and Farm Supply Branches

Many cooperatives operate branch facilities to

better serve their members. Most are owned. Some are

leased. A number of formerly independent cooperatives are serving a local community. For economic or

other reasons, many were acquired by or merged with

other cooperatives and operated as branches fro m

which to serve members and patrons at outlying locations.

3

Figure 1— Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1999

Number

Service

Supply

Marketing

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

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

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

artificial insemination, livestock shipping, and similar services

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

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

such services not directly related to marketing or purchasing

activities.
4

Table 2—Number of cooperatives1, by major function and State, 1999 2

Major function

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

Marketing and Service

Number

Alabama 10 53 63

Arizona 5 4 9

Arkansas 11 42 53

California 113 68 181

Colorado 27 20 47

Florida 32 7 39

Georgia 8 8 16

Hawaii 21 7 28

Idaho 25 15 40

Illinois 119 70 189

Indiana 23 32 55

Iowa 121 68 189

Kansas 113 24 137

Kentucky 12 29 41

Louisiana 17 31 48

Maryland 4 17 21

Massachusetts 8 5 13

Michigan 34 28 62

Minnesota 143 162 305

Mississippi 18 58 76

Missouri 25 46 71

Montana 38 35 73

Nebraska 68 42 110

New Jersey 13 5 18

New Mexico 5 5 10

New York 82 16 98

North Carolina 19 7 26

North Dakota 151 117 268

Ohio 59 24 83

Oklahoma 45 49 94

Oregon 20 15 35

Pennsylvania 42 14 56

South Dakota 62 74 136

Tennessee 8 71 79

Texas 61 190 251

Utah 10 7 17

Virginia 21 38 59

Washington 50 34 84

West Virginia 14 13 27

Wisconsin 40 151 191

Wyoming 7 6 13

Other States 3 45 10 55 ——— ——— ———

United States 1,749 1,717 3,466

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

2 Data covering operations of cooperatives whose fiscal years ended in 1999. 3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any function. States with at least three cooperatives were: Alaska, 9; Connecticut, 4;

Delaware, 3; Maine 24; South Carolina, 6; and Vermont, 5.
In 1999, grain and farm supply cooperatives

operated an estimated 5,330 branches--2,163 and 3,167,

respectively. There was a decrease of 136 branches for

grain cooperatives and a decrease of 151 branches for

farm supply cooperatives. Both grain and farm supply

cooperatives averaged 2.4 branches per cooperative in

1999. In 1998, grain and farm supply cooperatives

operated an estimated 5,617 branches.

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

smaller (local) cooperatives combined. The 51 largest

grain cooperatives--5.7 percent of all grain cooperatives--accounted for 35.2 percent of the total number of

branches operated by grain cooperatives. And the 94

largest farm supply cooperatives--7.2 percent of all

farm supply cooperatives--had 1,663 branches, 52.5

percent of all farm supply branches.

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives totaled an estimated

3,173,323 in 1999, down 5.3 percent from 3,352,577 in

1998 (table 3).

By the cooperative’s major business activity,54.5

percent were memberships of farm supply cooperatives (figure 3) and 20.7 percent were of grain. Dairy

cooperative memberships were only 2.9 percent of

cooperatives' total memberships, but accounted for

26.2 percent of cooperatives' net business volume in

1999, up from 24.2 percent in 1998.

Among marketing cooperatives, memberships

decreased in 1999 for every type except cotton.

The largest proportions of memberships in farm

supply cooperatives were among the smallest and

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

total memberships among those cooperatives with

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

Employees

Farmer cooperatives, like other businesses,

employ full-time and, in most cases, part-time and seasonal employees to run their operations. The number

and type of employees hired depends on a number of

factors, such as size of operation, type of commodity

handled, and involvement in value-added activities.

In 1999, farmer cooperatives employed an estimated 275,424 full-time, part-time and seasonal

employees, up from 265,590 in 1998 (table 4) due to

increased use of part-time employees. By type, marketing cooperatives had 192,920 employees (70 percent of

5

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

Total Assets (million dollars)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

Figure 2— Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives, by Size, 1999

Number

Co-ops

Branches
6

Table 3— Number of co-ops1 and memberships2, by major business activity and State,19993

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

Continued

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 3 666

North Dakota 3 1,000

Other States 2 1,130 –— — — —

United States 8 2,796

COTTON4

California 3 1,537

Mississippi 3 2,786

Texas 4 24,081

Other States 5 15,152

Foreign5 – 198 –— –———

United States 15 43,754

DAIRY

California 8 1,215

Illinois 4 2,609

Iowa 8 4,717

Massachusetts 3 243

Minnesota 35 17,097

New Mexico 5 316

New York 67 6,433

North Dakota 5 1,108

Ohio 5 845

Oregon 3 794

Pennsylvania 19 2,612

Texas 4 1,913

Virginia 4 1,187

Wisconsin 30 25,266

Other States 21 24,320 –—– – – — — —

United States 221 90,675

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 4 752

Arkansas 3 98

California 67 18,652

Colorado 9 471

Florida 23 1,738

Hawaii 7 343

Idaho 4 2,002

Maine 5 544

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Massachusetts 3 312

Michigan 14 3,379

Minnesota 3 221

New Jersey 9 713

New York 9 975

North Carolina 4 72

North Dakota 3 214

Ohio 5 457

Oregon 11 1,101

Pennsylvania 6 555

Texas 3 247

Washington 19 5,367

Other States 20 2,572

Foreign5 - 91 –—– – — — —

United States 231 40,876

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED6

California 3 231

Colorado 15 9,091

Idaho 5 1,141

Illinois 110 94,841

Indiana 19 29,224

Iowa 106 87,897

Kansas 113 113,038

Michigan 6 2,758

Minnesota 94 52,651

Mississippi 5 2,711

Missouri 17 22,637

Montana 12 3,121

Nebraska 60 61,592

North Dakota 119 45,786

Ohio 41 28,899

Oklahoma 41 30,821

South Dakota 60 36,813

Texas 37 17,577

Washington 21 11,568

Other States 12 5,524 –—–– ––———

United States 896 657,921
7

Table 3— Number of co-ops1, and memberships2, by major business activity and State,19993 (continued)

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

Continued

LIVESTOCK

Alabama 6 5,240

Hawaii 4 81

Idaho 3 4,355

Illinois 3 19,122

Indiana 3 2,081

Kentucky 4 868

Mississippi 4 4,225

Missouri 6 5,366

North Dakota 8 567

Ohio 4 7,425

Virginia 4 810

West Virginia 3 426

Wisconsin 5 60,617

Other States 24 25,871 – — –———––

United States 81 137,054

NUT

California 7 6,764

Other States 11 36,985 – — –———––

United States 18 43,749

POULTRY8

California 3 82

Utah 3 65

Other States 9 28,954

Foreign5 - 89 –— –———

United States 15 29,190

RICE

California 5 1,789

Louisiana 3 186

Texas 6 918

Other States 3 8,905

Foreign5 - 1 –— –———

United States 17 11,799

SUGAR9

Idaho 7 2,051

Louisiana 9 583

Michigan 7 2,117

Minnesota 3 2,467

Montana 3 517

Wyoming 4 455

Other States 15 7,511

Foreign5 - 2 –— –———

United States 48 15,703

TOBACCO7

Kentucky 5 76,989

North Carolina 7 24,852

Tennessee 7 67,112

Virginia 3 739

Other States 3 334 – — –––———

United States 25 170,026

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho 4 159

Montana 19 861

North Dakota 4 412

Ohio 3 1,518

Pennsylvania 14 1,901

Utah 3 125

Virginia 8 590

West Virginia 10 899

Wyoming 3 183

Other States 16 8,710

Foreign5 - 82 –— –———

United States 84 15,440

MISCELLANEOUS10

Alaska 9 1,603

California 10 1,383

Florida 6 325

Georgia 3 80

Hawaii 6 562

Maine 15 924

Minnesota 5 11,069

Mississippi 3 186

North Dakota 6 2,322

Washington 5 707

Other States 22 4,695 ––— – — — —

United States 90 23,856

TOTAL MARKETING

Alabama 10 14,498

Alaska 9 1,815

Arizona 5 2,191

Arkansas 11 12,460

California 113 34,903

Colorado 27 12,936

Florida 32 5,696

Georgia 8 23,931

Hawaii 21 1,300

Idaho 25 10,249

Illinois 119 116,926

Indiana 23 32,774

Iowa 121 99,245
8

Table 3— Number of co-ops1 and memberships2, by major business activity and State,19993 (continued)

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

Continued

TOTAL MARKETING (Continued)

Kansas 113 116,201

Kentucky 12 80,984

Louisiana 17 3,946

Maine 22 1,878

Maryland 4 789

Massachusetts 8 846

Michigan 34 13,636

Minnesota 143 85,225

Mississippi 18 11,782

Missouri 25 32,734

Montana 38 5,016

Nebraska 68 65,505

New Jersey 13 2,647

New Mexico 5 1,259

New York 82 9,630

North Carolina 19 27,635

North Dakota 151 55,582

Ohio 59 39,183

Oklahoma 45 41,832

Oregon 20 5,348

Pennsylvania 42 5,167

South Carolina 4 3,040

South Dakota 62 41,333

Tennessee 8 69,266

Texas 61 50,694

Utah 10 2,759

Vermont 5 1,614

Virginia 21 26,517

Washington 50 19,262

West Virginia 14 1,530

Wisconsin 40 87,382

Wyoming 7 1,016

Other States 5 2,214

Foreign5 - 463 –––— ––––———

United States 1,749 1,282,839

FARM SUPPLY

Alabama 48 39,208

Arkansas 36 42,468

California 19 14,686

Colorado 19 19,677

Florida 6 8,823

Georgia 5 2,377

Idaho 14 8,334

Illinois 66 78,077

Indiana 30 42,532

Iowa 67 75,918

Kansas 22 16,961

FARM SUPPLY (Continued)

Kentucky 28 147,137

Louisiana 19 6,529

Maryland 15 70,647

Massachusetts 5 4,371

Michigan 23 11,344

Minnesota 142 96,651

Mississippi 37 86,153

Missouri 45 109,267

Montana 35 23,704

Nebraska 39 26,848

New Jersey 3 4,636

New York 11 1,805

North Dakota 114 57,853

Ohio 20 13,225

Oklahoma 28 18,633

Oregon 14 19,288

Pennsylvania 7 28,262

South Dakota 74 60,713

Tennessee 70 68,265

Texas 48 33,106

Utah 6 5,642

Virginia 35 142,171

Washington 30 11,919

West Virginia 13 73,498

Wisconsin 102 97,009

Wyoming 6 4,129

Other States 12 155,185

Foreign5 – 4,326 –—–– ––––———

United States 1,313 1,731,377

SERVICE11

Alabama 5 180

Arizona 4 855

Arkansas 6 1,110

California 49 4,015

Georgia 3 365

Hawaii 5 107

Illinois 4 255

Louisiana 12 1,819

Michigan 5 4,808

Minnesota 20 5,026

Mississippi 21 7,304

New Mexico 4 1,504

New York 5 6,335

North Carolina 5 108

North Dakota 3 5,000

Ohio 4 3,562

Oklahoma 21 8,146
9

Table 3— Number of co-ops1 and memberships2, by major business activity and State,1999 3

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

SERVICE11 (Continued)

Pennsylvania 7 11,579

Texas 142 34,264

Virginia 3 5,620

Washington 4 2,722

Wisconsin 49 21,299

Other States 23 33,124 ––— – – — — —

United States 404 159,107

TOTAL

Alabama 63 53,886

Alaska 9 1,815

Arizona 9 3,376

Arkansas 53 56,038

California 181 53,604

Colorado 47 32,613

Connecticut 4 2,728

Delaware 3 43,422

Florida 39 26,050

Georgia 16 26,673

Hawaii 28 2,768

Idaho 40 18,583

Illinois 189 195,258

Indiana 55 75,409

Iowa 189 180,168

Kansas 137 133,269

Kentucky 41 231,862

Louisiana 48 12,294

Maine 24 8,348

Maryland 21 71,953

Massachusetts 13 5,551

Michigan 62 29,788

Minnesota 305 186,902

Mississippi 76 105,239

Missouri 71 142,771

Montana 73 28,720

Nebraska 110 92,353

New Jersey 18 7,347

New Mexico 10 2,974

New York 98 17,770

North Carolina 26 98,404

North Dakota 268 118,435

TOTAL (Continued)

Ohio 83 55,970

Oklahoma 94 68,611

Oregon 35 24,638

Pennsylvania 56 45,008

South Carolina 6 3,458

South Dakota 136 107,046

Tennessee 79 139,124

Texas 251 118,064

Utah 17 10,013

Vermont 5 5,981

Virginia 59 174,308

Washington 84 33,903

West Virginia 27 75,083

Wisconsin 191 205,690

Wyoming 13 5,145

Other States 4 30,121

Foreign5 --- 4,789 –—––– ––––———

United States 3,466 3,173,323

1 Includes centralized and federated cooperatives and those with

mixed organizational structures.

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

nonvoting patrons. (Duplication in these membership figures

occurs because many farmers belong to more than one

cooperative.) Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Data covering operations of cooperatives for fiscal years that

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

cooperatives or where disclosure is not a problem.

4 Cotton ginning cooperatives are included as service

cooperatives.

5 Includes memberships located in other countries.

6 Excludes soybean meal and oil.

7 Membership fluctuates annually and is affected by the extent to

which producers participate in price stabilization programs.

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

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

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

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

livestock shipping, storing, grinding, drying, and artificial

insemination.
10

Figure 3— Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Other Marketing1 2.2%

Tobacco 5.4%

Nut 1.4%

Livestock & Poultry 5.2% 

Farm Supply 54.5%

Service 5.0%

Cotton 1.4%

Dairy 2.9%

Fruit & Vegetable 1.3%

Grain & Oilseed 20.7%

Percent based on 3,173,323 total memberships.

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

Table 4— Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer cooperatives, by type of co-op, 1998-99

Principal product(s) Full-time employees Part-time and seasonal 1

marketed or ———————————— —————————————

major function 1998 1999 1998 1999

Number

Products marketed:

Cotton 1,844 1,787 1,050 1,409

Dairy 27,056 24,598 925 1,875

Fruits & vegetables 23,734 23,329 34,321 48,004

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 23,873 20,998 8,538 7,916

Livestock and poultry 28,031 32,690 13,776 2,666

Rice 2,655 2,600 231 1,443

Sugar 4,402 4,459 4,052 4,431

Other products 2 8,474 8,525 2,173 6,190 ———— ———— --——— --———

Marketing 120,069 118,986 65,066 73,934

Farm supply 48,171 49,466 18,335 20,774

Service 5,551 4,499 8,398 7,765 ———— ———— --——— --———

Total 173,791 172,951 91,799 102,473

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

2 Includes dry edible beans and peas, nuts, tobacco, wool, fishery, and miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
11

Figure 4— Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross Business Volume, 1999

1,000 Memberships

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

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

Gross business volume (million dollars)

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Figure 5— Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Cotton

Rice

Other Service

Cotton Gin

Sugar

Other Marketing1

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Livestock & Poultry

Farm Supply

Fruit & Vegetable

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

1,000 Employees

Full-Time

Part-Time and Seasonal

1 Includes dry bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool and mohair, fishery, and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
total); farm supply cooperatives had 70,240 employees

(25.5 percent); and related-service cooperatives had

12,264 employees (4.5 percent).

Among marketing cooperatives, those primarily

handling fruits and vegetables had the most employees (71,333), followed by livestock and poultry (35,356)

and grain and oilseed (28,914).

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

for 1999. Fruit and vegetable and farm supply cooperatives used the most employees and cotton cooperatives

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

Fruit and vegetable cooperatives, followed by cotton

gin and sugar cooperatives, had the largest proportion

of part-time and seasonal employees.

Full-time employees totaled 172,951 in 1999,

down from 173,791 in 1998, or 0.5 percent. The number

per association, however, was nearly 50, up from 48 in

1998, due to fewer cooperatives. The 1,749 marketing

cooperatives employed 118,986 persons, down 0.9 percent from 1998. Livestock and poultry cooperatives,

with 32,690, had the most full-time employees, while

dairy cooperatives, with 24,598, ranked second.

Together, they accounted for 48.1 percent of the fulltime employees of marketing cooperatives.

The 1,313 farm supply cooperatives hired 49,466

full-time employees, up 2.7 percent from 48,171 reported by 1,347 farm supply cooperatives for 1998. Fulltime employees of the 404 related-service cooperatives

totaled 4,499 in 1999, down from 5,551, or nearly 19

percent.

Cooperatives used 102,473 part-time and seasonal employees in 1999, up 10,674, or 11.6 percent, fro m

1998. Both marketing and farm supply cooperatives

increased their use of part-time and seasonal employees.

In 1999, marketing cooperatives reported 73,934

part-time and seasonal employees, or 72.1 percent of

the total. Number per cooperative averaged more than

42. Fruit and vegetable and grain cooperatives, with

55,920, accounted for 75.6 percent. Farm supply cooperatives had 20,774 part-time and seasonal employees,

an average of 16.

Most types of marketing cooperatives operated

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

averaged more than 368 employees (figure6).

12

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

Cooperative, 1999

Other Service

Grain & Oilseed

Cotton Gins

Farm Supply

Other1

Dairy

Sugar

Cotton

Rice

Fruit & Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Number

Part-Time and Seasonal

Full-Time

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

One of the largest expense items of any business

is wages and benefits. Cooperatives are no exception.

Hiring employees full-time or part-time and seasonally

involves decisions on the number of employees and

levels of salaries and wages. Other employee-related

expenses include associated payroll taxes, health and

life insurance, etc.

The average total labor expense per cooperative

for those reporting in both 1998 and 1999 is shown in

table 5. Average total labor expense (including director

fees) is shown by type of cooperative and, in some

cases, by asset group. This information can be used for

comparing the average total labor expense of individual cooperatives of similar type and size. For those

where no size grouping is shown, labor expense may

not be a good barometer because of the mix of sizes

included in the group.

Overall, total labor expense for the cooperatives

reporting total wages and benefits both years was up

3.1 percent. Average total labor expense varied fro m

1998 to 1999 (table 5). The change ranged from a 15.6-

percent decrease for rice cooperatives to an increase of

30.5 percent for miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

As expected, average total labor expense increased as

size of cooperative increased, especially for dairy,fruit

and vegetable and cotton gins. Average total labor

expense for cooperatives involved in processing or

manufacturing activities would be expected to be high.

Total Sales Per Dollar of Labor Expense

Labor productivity can be measured by examining the relationship between total sales and total labor

expense. Table 6 shows total sales per dollar of total

labor expense by type and size of cooperative, where

applicable.

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

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

In these situations, total labor requirements are low

and sales are high. Surveyed cooperatives reported on

the value of the product for which they bargained or

which they auctioned off.

Dairy cooperatives with assets of $500,000 to $1

million accounted for the highest sales per dollar of

labor expense, $166.20 (table 6). Other service cooperatives with assets in the same range had the lowest sales

per dollar of labor expense, $2.48.

Total sales per dollar of labor expense varied less

as cooperative size increased for grain and oilseed and

farm supply cooperatives than it did for dairy and

fruit and vegetable cooperatives. Dairy cooperatives

ranged from $23.53 to $166.20; fruit and vegetable

cooperatives from $7.77 to $49.20; grain and oilseed

cooperatives from $19.25 to $30.24; and farm supply

cooperatives ranged from $8.54 to $12.04.

Cooperative leaders may want to calculate their

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

well their cooperative is performing.

Business Size

Most farmer cooperatives, as measured by annual

gross business volume, arerelatively small and serve

local areas. Several are actively seeking regional,

national, and even international markets to increase

business volume. These larger cooperatives account

for much of cooperatives’ business volume.

The increased size comes, in large part, fro m

mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions. Data used

were not adjusted for changes in price levels, and

some size changes resulted from inflation.

In 1999, 77.4 percent of all farmer cooperatives

reported a business volume of less than $15 million.

However, they accounted for only 10.2 percent of the

total gross dollar volume, up slightly from 9.9 percent

in 1998 (table 7 and figure 7). Only 2.2 percent of

farmer cooperatives reported a business volume of at

least $200 million, but they accounted for 64.7 percent

of the total sales, up from 63.1 percent in 1998. 

Cooperatives with a business volume in the range of

$15 million to $200 million in 1999 accounted for a

smaller share of all cooperatives’ total gross dollar volume. In 1999, they accounted for 25.1 percent compared with 27.2 percent in 1998.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 3,466 marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives for

1999 was $115.3 billion (table 8), down 4.7 percent

from $121 billion in 1998. Cooperatives’ gross business

volume peaked at $128.1 billion in 1996.

Total net business volume of farmer cooperatives

in 1999 was $99.1 billion -- $72 billion from farm products marketed, $23.2 billion from farm supply sales,

and $3.9 billion from services performed and fro m

other income sources. The total net figure, excluding

inter-cooperative business, was down from $104.7 billion in 1998. Cooperatives’ net business volume

reached a high of $106.7 billion in 1997. However,

adjusting for price change, net business volume actual13
14

Table 5—Average total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type and size, 1998-99

Average total labor expense1

Type of co-op —————————————————————

and asset group (Mil. Dol.) 1998 1999 Change

$1,000 Percent

Dry bean and pea 2,274.1 2,392.5 5.2

Cotton 5,469.9 4,783.2 -12.6

Dairy 3,594.4 3,809.5 6.0

Less than 0.5 28.7 29.4 2.2

0.5 - .99 117.8 117.1 -0.6

1.0 - 2.49 180.6 186.0 3.0

2.5 - 24.99 1,087.1 1,163.5 7.0

25.0 and more 18,898.6 20,021.9 5.9

Fruit and vegetable 5,177.0 5,390.3 4.1

Less than 0.5 94.1 100.4 6.7

0.5 - .99 279.5 272.9 -2.4

1.0 - 2.49 783.7 873.0 11.4

2.5 - 24.99 2,207.3 2,077.8 -5.9

25.0 and more 18,509.1 19,541.6 5.6

Fruit and vegetable 5,177.0 5,390.3 4.1

Fresh only 1,866.5 1,899.4 1.8

Processed only 23,840.7 25,108.2 5.3

Fresh and processed 6,375.8 6,617.8 3.8

Grain and oilseed 872.0 897.1 2.9

Less than 0.5 114.4 115.0 0.5

1.0 - 2.49 218.6 227.2 3.9

2.5 - 24.99 899.2 936.1 4.1

25.0 and more 4,571.9 4,529.6 -0.9

Livestock 1,124.0 1,197.2 6.5

Nut 12,873.6 14,495.3 12.6

Poultry 85,246.7 99,479.5 16.7

Rice 6,416.3 5,412.5 -15.6

Sugar 28,697.8 30,336.9 5.7

Tobacco 159.4 164.3 3.1

Fishery 2,516.1 2,533.2 0.7

Miscellaneous marketing 886.7 1,157.2 30.5

Farm supply 1,569.2 1,628.5 3.8

Less than 0.5 77.5 76.3 -1.6

0.5 - .99 176.9 181.2 2.4

1.0 - 2.49 336.0 344.5 2.6

2.5 - 24.99 1,333.5 1,376.0 3.2

25.0 and more 24,615.2 25,763.5 4.7

Cotton gin 429.1 420.1 -2.1

Less than 0.5 126.2 110.8 -12.2

0.5 - .99 204.4 182.5 -10.7

1.0 - 2.49 348.0 337.5 -3.0

2.5 and more 815.2 819.5 0.5

Service 1,697.6 1,708.9 0.7

Less than 2.5 616.6 686.1 11.3

2.5 and more 1,494.3 1,520.2 1.7

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and director fees.
ly increased 4 percent,2 due to both lower commodity

prices and lower prices paid for production items in

1999.

Gross dollar volume of farm products marketed

by cooperatives decreased 4.8 percent, from $84.5 billion in 1998 to $80.5 billion in 1999, due mainly to a

14.2-percent decrease in grain and oilseed marketings.

The net volume of farm products marketed was $72

billion, or 72.7 percent of the total net volume of all

cooperatives, down 6.1 percent from $76.6 billion in

1998.

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

volume. Dairy (milk and milk products) led with 36.1

percent, followed by grains and oilseeds (excluding

cottonseed) with 23.8 percent, and fruits and vegetables with 12.9 percent. The proportions of milk and

milk products and fruit and vegetables were up compared with 1998, because of a significant drop in cooperatives’ grain business volume in 1999.

Gross volume of all farm supplies handled by

cooperatives was $30.9 billion, down 6.3 percent fro m

$33 billion in 1998. Net farm supply volume of nearly

15

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

and size, 1999

Sales per Sales per

Type of co-op $1 labor Type of co-op $1 labor

and asset group expense1 and asset group expense1

Million Dollars Dollars Million Dollars Dollars

Dry bean and pea 14.70 Livestock 58.91

Cotton 40.35 Nut 8.76

Poultry 6.59

Dairy 28.83 Rice 12.20

Less than 0.5 125.42 Sugar 9.17

0.5 - .99 166.20 Tobacco 38.28

1.0 - 2.49 66.65 Wool 16.24

2.5 - 24.99 76.67 Fishery 8.05

25.0 and more 23.53 Misc. Marketing 5.15

Fruit and vegetable 9.54 Farm supply 9.86

Less than 0.5 49.20 Less than 0.5 12.04

0.5 - .99 31.85 0.5 - .99 8.54

1.0 - 2.49 32.87 1.0 - 2.49 10.19

2.5 - 24.99 11.81 2.5 - 24.99 9.76

25.0 and more 7.77 25.0 and more 9.92

Fruit and vegetable 9.54 Cotton gin 7.60

Fresh only 13.37 Less than 0.5 4.05

Processed only 7.68 0.5 - .99 6.06

Fresh and processed 8.37 1.0 - 2.49 8.15

2.5 and more 7.71

Grain and oilseed 20.56

Less than 0.5 30.24 Other service 2.85

0.5 - .99 19.25 Less than 0.5 2.99

1.0 - 2.49 26.28 0.5 - .99 2.48

2.5 - 24.99 20.11 1.0 - 2.49 2.62

25.0 and more 20.84 2.5 and more 2.88

1 Labor expense includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and director fees. Sales includes receipts from marketings,

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

2 Deflated 1999 cooperative business volume was $103 billion, up 4

percent from the actual $99.1 billion in 1999. The $103 billion was

derived by deflating farm products marketed by the index of

prices received for all farm products and farm supplies (inputs)

and service income by the index of prices paid by farmers for all

production items adjusted for 1998 = 100.
16

Table 7— Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume, 19991

Cooperatives Dollar volume Memberships3

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

(mil. dol.) Number Percent of total Gross2 (mil. dol.) Percent of total Number (1,000) Percent of total

Less than $5.0 1,719 49.6 3,345 2.9 724 22.8

5 - 9.9 657 19.0 4,666 4.0 414 13.1

10 - 14.9 306 8.8 3,748 3.3 277 8.7

15 - 24.9 281 8.1 5,415 4.7 257 8.1

25 - 49.9 262 7.5 9,178 8.0 341 10.8

50 - 99.9 129 3.7 8,878 7.7 282 8.9

100 - 199.9 37 1.1 5,429 4.7 64 2.0

200 - 499.9 38 1.1 11,460 9.9 185 5.8

500 - 999.9 20 0.6 13,211 11.5 133 4.2

1,000 and more 17 0.5 49,962 43.3 496 15.6 ——— ———— ———— ——— ——— ———

Total4 3,466 100.0 115,291 100.0 3,173 100.0

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

sales, service receipts, and other income.

2 Includes intercooperative business volume.

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

such as local cooperative memberships in regional cooperatives.

4 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Figure 7— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business Volume, by Size, 1999

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

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

Gross business volume (million dollars)

Percent

Co-ops D ollar Volume
$23.2 billion, down 5.6 percent from $24.6 billion,

accounted for 23.4 percent of the total net business volume.

The leading farm production supplies handled by

cooperatives in terms of net business volume were

petroleum, 27 percent; fertilizer, 20.5; and feed, 20.4

percent (figure 9). While sales of "other" supplies and

seed were up in 1999, feed, fertilizer, petroleum and

crop protectants were down.

Receipts for services provided by marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives, plus

other income, were up 12.4 percent to $3.9 billion.

Service receipts and other income represented 3.9 percent of total net business volume.

Table 9 shows gross and net business volume by

State. Sales were allocated to the States in which the

product marketed was originated and the farm supplies were sold. Minnesota was the leading State in

total gross and net business volume, with $11.5 billion

and $9.3 billion, respectively. Iowa was second in gross

business ($9.7 billion) and third in net business volume

($7.9 billion). Wisconsin ranked second in net business

volume ($8 billion).

17

Table 8— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 1999 1

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

Million dollars Percent Million dollars Percent

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible) 174.9 0.2 174.9 0.2

Cotton 2,175.1 1.9 2,083.4 2.1

Dairy 28,461.1 24.7 25,999.1 26.3

Fruits and vegetables 10,103.2 8.8 9,285.6 9.4

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 21,748.9 18.9 17,113.1 17.3

Livestock 7,371.1 6.4 7,318.9 7.4

Nuts 899.1 0.8 899.1 0.9

Poultry3 2,225.9 1.9 2,225.9 2.3

Rice 911.7 0.8 911.7 0.9

Sugar 2,691.4 2.3 2,540.0 2.6

Tobacco 278.4 0.2 278.4 0.3

Wool and mohair 9.1 (2) 6.4 (2)

Miscellaneous4 3,456.3 3.0 3,145.5 3.2

————— — — ———— — —

Total farm products 80,506.3 69.8 71,981.9 72.7

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants 3,756.5 3.3 3,018.3 3.1

Feed 6,383.8 5.5 4,725.6 4.8

Fertilizer 7,251.8 6.3 4,758.6 4.8

Petroleum 8,142.3 7.1 6,259.8 6.3

Seed 1,072.0 0.9 752.1 0.8

Other supplies5 4,272.8 3.7 3,662.9 3.7

————— — — ———— — —

Total farm supplies 30,879.2 26.8 23,177.3 23.4

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, misc.6 3,905.1 3.4 3,905.1 3.9

————— — — ———— — —

Total business 115,290.6 100.0 99,064.3 100.0

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

2 Less than 0.05 percent.

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

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

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

by cooperatives.

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

hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified. 6 Charges for services related to marketing or purchasing not included in the volume reported for those activities, plus other income.
18

Figure 8— Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 1999

Tobacco 0.4%

Poultry 3.1%

Milk & Milk products 36.1%

Rice 1.3%

Percentage based on a total net marketing business volume of $72 billion.

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

Fruits & Vegetables 12.9%

Livestock 10.2%

Nuts 1.2%

Other products1 4.6%

Sugar 3.5%

Cotton 2.9%

Grains & oilseeds 23.8%

Figure 9— Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 1999

Feed 20.4%

Fertilizer 20.5%

Percentage based on a net farm supply business volume of $23.2 billion.

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

Crop Protectants 13.0%

Other Supplies1 15.8%

Seed 3.3%

Petroleum 27.0%
19

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

PRODUCTS MARKETED:

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 28,880 28,880

North Dakota 34,220 34,220

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

United States 174,910 174,910

COTTON

California 338,669 301,339

Mississippi 344,347 335,916

Texas 643,255 603,575

Other States 848,669 842,516

Foreign 3 164 90 ————— —————

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

DAIRY

California 2,391,308 2,227,535

Illinois 1,556,857 1,332,245

Iowa 1,479,705 1,339,633

Massachusetts 61,851 59,296

Minnesota 3,538,065 3,077,872

New Mexico 445,266 445,261

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

North Dakota 299,275 269,538

Ohio 171,496 167,011

Oregon 368,274 365,447

Pennsylvania 417,285 384,182

Texas 778,184 778,134

Virginia 384,041 351,796

Wisconsin 6,016,152 5,375,842

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

Foreign 3 83,300 74,554 ————— —————

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

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 329,596 269,241

Arkansas 902 902

California 3,474,530 3,148,643

Colorado 20,239 20,239

Florida 1,166,016 1,061,925

Hawaii 12,626 12,626

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Idaho 325,974 325,974

Maine 7,608 7,608

Massachusetts 504,928 504,928

Michigan 754,320 608,765

Minnesota 1,680 1,680

New Jersey 192,405 192,405

New York 596,669 492,360

North Carolina 31,567 30,411

North Dakota 13,280 13,280

Ohio 5,797 5,797

Oregon 441,857 437,449

Pennsylvania 360,796 345,989

Texas 49,526 49,526

Washington 1,069,619 1,052,079

Other States 679,937 640,424

Foreign 3 63,306 63,306 ————— —————

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

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED

California 17,886 17,886

Colorado 245,902 219,298

Idaho 74,986 49,333

Illinois 1,937,955 1,796,586

Indiana 540,602 520,887

Iowa 3,246,310 2,706,494

Kansas 2,428,666 1,863,224

Michigan 93,916 87,265

Minnesota 3,028,311 2,162,165

Mississippi 99,614 97,834

Missouri 900,105 539,806

Montana 294,975 175,777

Nebraska 2,382,799 1,796,787

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

Ohio 793,111 770,065

Oklahoma 472,981 330,938

South Dakota 1,156,173 953,379

Texas 689,855 436,886

Washington 487,736 430,194

Other States 1,113,111 880,156

Foreign 3 212,139 114,372 —————— ——————

United States 21,748,886 17,113,050
20

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

LIVESTOCK

Alabama 58,490 58,490

Hawaii 17,490 17,490

Idaho 81,420 81,420

Illinois 473,529 473,438

Indiana 115,107 115,098

Kentucky 117,388 117,388

Mississippi 52,320 52,320

Missouri 890,096 890,096

North Dakota 95,529 95,529

Ohio 460,160 460,160

Virginia 17,666 17,666

West Virginia 3,245 3,245

Wisconsin 526,085 526,077

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

Foreign 3 376 376 ————— —————

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

NUTS

California 602,102 602,102

Other States 297,008 297,008

———— ————

United States 899,111 899,111

POULTRY 4

California 37,256 37,256

Utah 114,732 114,732

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

————— —————

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

RICE

California 217,711 217,711

Louisiana 21,179 21,179

Texas 60,682 60,682

Other States 612,160 612,160

———— ————

United States 911,732 911,732

SUGAR

Idaho 474,175 474,175

Louisiana 353,946 202,547

Michigan 103,740 103,740

Minnesota 728,081 728,081

Montana 61,962 61,962

Wyoming 41,178 41,178

Other States 922,995 922,995

Foreign 3 5,314 5,314 ————— —————

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

TOBACCO

Kentucky 133,615 133,615

North Carolina 109,145 109,145

Tennessee 27,550 27,550

Virginia 4,559 4,559

Other States 3,554 3,554 ———— ————

United States 278,422 278,422

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho 11 11

Montana 224 224

North Dakota 10 10

Ohio 678 235

Pennsylvania 112 112

Utah 692 692

Virginia 26 26

West Virginia 135 135

Wyoming 157 157

Other States 6,989 4,662

Foreign 3 87 87 - ——— --———

United States 9,121 6,350

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING5

Alaska 14,119 14,119

California 91,664 91,664

Florida 18,231 18,231

Georgia 6,050 6,050

Hawaii 26,572 26,572

Maine 31,859 31,859

Minnesota 920,260 810,166
21

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING5(Continued)

Mississippi 137,475 120,447

North Dakota 197,694 197,694

Washington 87,543 74,133

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

Foreign 3 26,813 26,402 ————— —————

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

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED

Alabama 706,811 706,785

Alaska 14,495 14,495

Arizona 949,078 883,380

Arkansas 1,206,982 1,194,894

California 7,328,083 6,799,736

Colorado 497,514 470,911

Florida 2,114,760 1,968,093

Georgia 1,387,585 1,340,123

Hawaii 95,283 92,077

Idaho 1,134,005 1,108,352

Illinois 4,028,635 3,654,165

Indiana 1,108,416 1,008,123

Iowa 6,073,909 5,354,438

Kansas 4,093,908 3,528,022

Kentucky 366,517 364,617

Louisiana 651,920 438,089

Maine 98,113 95,839

Maryland 194,035 169,140

Massachusetts 570,759 568,203

Michigan 1,707,249 1,539,374

Minnesota 8,571,499 7,082,996

Mississippi 710,559 682,767

Missouri 4,003,112 3,614,577

Montana 428,821 309,623

Nebraska 3,863,529 3,266,602

New Jersey 222,141 221,001

New Mexico 536,011 535,769

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

North Carolina 579,016 536,358

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

Ohio 1,677,851 1,622,999

Oklahoma 1,152,622 1,007,188

Oregon 1,281,292 1,175,412

Pennsylvania 878,293 830,383

South Carolina 112,160 108,589

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

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED (Continued)

Tennessee 151,720 138,347

Texas 2,961,504 2,615,597

Utah 210,790 195,101

Vermont 416,484 408,176

Virginia 469,349 437,104

Washington 2,701,409 2,610,720

West Virginia 42,768 40,134

Wisconsin 7,156,158 6,481,057

Wyoming 63,376 62,901

Other States 279,961 220,195

Foreign 3 391,500 284,501 ————— —————

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

FARM SUPPLIES PROVIDED:

CROP PROTECTANTS

Alabama 76,511 28,434

Arkansas 99,802 83,236

California 28,938 28,755

Colorado 44,013 41,232

Florida 15,316 11,805

Georgia 193,722 188,963

Idaho 28,636 20,144

Illinois 476,224 301,045

Indiana 168,290 160,106

Iowa 481,081 380,386

Kansas 133,663 118,893

Kentucky 59,628 53,475

Louisiana 26,174 22,300

Maryland 16,928 15,933

Massachusetts 2,339 2,339

Michigan 30,681 29,834

Minnesota 323,664 263,001

Mississippi 33,150 28,498

Missouri 112,255 85,933

Montana 40,086 31,603

Nebraska 212,021 177,112

New Jersey 4,801 4,801

New York 35,419 34,507

North Dakota 147,742 120,103

Ohio 100,210 100,004

Oklahoma 24,780 23,688

Oregon 54,397 47,509

Pennsylvania 31,100 31,100

South Dakota 157,591 131,956
22

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

CROP PROTECTANTS (Continued)

Tennessee 120,347 65,042

Texas 63,024 60,612

Utah 11,213 11,035

Virginia 29,353 24,809

Washington 72,122 60,674

West Virginia 884 884

Wisconsin 170,560 131,859

Wyoming 8,874 8,726

Other States 94,179 87,099

Foreign 3 26,759 840 ––––——— ––––———

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

FEED

Alabama 263,928 228,724

Arkansas 103,677 79,012

California 157,821 107,580

Colorado 55,732 41,067

Florida 90,307 88,484

Georgia 285,619 281,326

Idaho 35,826 10,517

Illinois 250,515 188,676

Indiana 101,665 85,891

Iowa 960,511 650,494

Kansas 226,131 167,029

Kentucky 57,589 51,965

Louisiana 41,692 27,049

Maryland 41,252 38,556

Massachusetts 18,707 18,707

Michigan 63,746 61,145

Minnesota 604,214 420,152

Mississippi 82,863 53,268

Missouri 214,496 158,005

Montana 18,857 18,450

Nebraska 234,824 158,613

New Jersey 14,588 14,469

New York 129,218 121,263

North Dakota 56,216 44,431

Ohio 120,657 119,631

Oklahoma 86,334 64,833

Oregon 126,407 37,526

Pennsylvania 106,980 106,257

South Dakota 218,976 179,752

Tennessee 185,282 111,062

Texas 168,508 121,695

Utah 74,524 70,754

FEED (Continued)

Virginia 122,279 113,706

Washington 114,811 39,955

West Virginia 18,851 17,202

Wisconsin 462,008 289,175

Wyoming 6,888 6,170

Other States 324,854 266,094

Foreign 3 136,482 66,912 ––––——— ––––———

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

FERTILIZER

Alabama 106,041 65,268

Arkansas 110,609 87,431

California 105,663 94,500

Colorado 113,784 93,730

Florida 132,638 44,237

Georgia 69,799 58,946

Idaho 61,685 40,416

Illinois 742,559 415,740

Indiana 263,891 209,884

Iowa 790,378 500,807

Kansas 354,083 285,234

Kentucky 130,979 105,667

Louisiana 28,041 24,233

Maryland 27,252 25,638

Massachusetts 3,360 3,360

Michigan 55,056 50,439

Minnesota 609,418 358,865

Mississippi 57,198 47,900

Missouri 323,851 225,478

Montana 92,778 62,926

Nebraska 407,408 301,907

New Jersey 6,422 6,422

New York 60,900 54,112

North Dakota 354,210 203,830

Ohio 203,347 140,411

Oklahoma 136,871 95,680

Oregon 114,014 90,085

Pennsylvania 44,002 43,857

South Dakota 254,979 167,937

Tennessee 218,588 105,624

Texas 226,566 143,789

Utah 28,442 26,883

Virginia 78,629 74,311

Washington 95,257 76,540

West Virginia 11,553 9,359
23

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

FERTILIZER (continued)

Wisconsin 284,719 193,122

Wyoming 26,225 21,814

Other States 156,703 140,832

Foreign 3 363,930 61,392 - ———— - - ————

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

PETROLEUM

Alabama 5,394 4,665

Arkansas 64,938 57,075

California 6,049 4,851

Colorado 240,186 179,988

Florida 6,965 6,790

Georgia 55,256 43,603

Idaho 112,241 95,430

Illinois 508,820 417,297

Indiana 373,357 279,410

Iowa 734,837 522,885

Kansas 899,544 321,019

Kentucky 134,477 85,481

Louisiana 9,364 8,544

Maryland 56,698 51,487

Massachusetts 11,675 11,675

Michigan 91,825 80,083

Minnesota 712,220 543,442

Mississippi 18,336 16,303

Missouri 429,060 391,454

Montana 207,832 179,308

Nebraska 471,912 376,582

New Jersey 26,389 26,389

New York 186,910 182,510

North Dakota 336,612 288,090

Ohio 110,336 97,568

Oklahoma 150,965 109,539

Oregon 168,271 151,795

Pennsylvania 168,729 166,927

South Dakota 273,185 239,992

Tennessee 137,210 98,379

Texas 146,197 102,218

Utah 57,289 47,187

Virginia 166,058 144,544

Washington 203,649 179,684

West Virginia 6,378 6,378

PETROLEUM (continued)

Wisconsin 551,439 484,625

Wyoming 114,149 104,007

Other States 95,742 91,813

Foreign 3 91,774 60,790 ————— —————

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

SEED

Alabama 66,868 15,143

Arkansas 28,446 28,253

California 17,792 17,792

Colorado 4,090 4,089

Florida 19,855 15,910

Georgia 6,367 5,856

Idaho 20,703 6,181

Illinois 111,449 67,215

Indiana 35,995 26,032

Iowa 103,810 62,304

Kansas 14,401 14,401

Kentucky 30,616 28,830

Louisiana 9,498 9,370

Maryland 9,878 9,240

Massachusetts 1,100 1,100

Michigan 9,404 9,404

Minnesota 64,306 48,170

Mississippi 18,776 18,521

Missouri 91,694 35,630

Montana 10,006 6,779

Nebraska 20,752 15,912

New Jersey 2,121 2,121

New York 17,128 17,128

North Dakota 33,565 28,723

Ohio 29,330 29,330

Oklahoma 4,777 4,777

Oregon 12,014 12,014

Pennsylvania 14,339 14,339

South Dakota 26,959 21,796

Tennessee 68,588 37,777

Texas 16,577 16,577

Utah 3,201 3,144

Virginia 26,501 25,097

Washington 25,636 24,023

West Virginia 4,267 4,011
24

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

Continued

SEED (Continued)

Wisconsin 52,722 33,778

Wyoming 627 624

Other States 32,229 30,182

Foreign 3 5,607 552 ————— ————

United States 1,071,992 752,122

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES6

Alabama 116,632 103,322

Arkansas 61,749 58,877

California 99,876 76,767

Colorado 69,273 59,225

Florida 170,667 166,225

Georgia 87,841 81,378

Idaho 40,883 38,234

Illinois 137,753 97,059

Indiana 80,034 68,397

Iowa 243,751 183,790

Kansas 114,718 86,875

Kentucky 84,764 73,832

Louisiana 16,753 15,801

Maryland 39,641 36,132

Massachusetts 13,266 13,222

Michigan 106,022 102,041

Minnesota 262,306 222,648

Mississippi 53,583 51,359

Missouri 119,371 75,119

Montana 72,820 69,963

Nebraska 125,668 108,379

New Jersey 35,849 34,936

New York 156,367 152,157

North Dakota 116,651 109,274

Ohio 88,828 82,051

Oklahoma 43,323 35,065

Oregon 163,777 159,685

Pennsylvania 149,560 149,152

South Dakota 105,497 94,922

Tennessee 258,295 145,399

Texas 96,177 83,168

Utah 47,411 44,381

Virginia 169,526 145,370

Washington 158,201 127,739

West Virginia 9,904 9,904

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES6 (Continued)

Wisconsin 249,551 242,808

Wyoming 54,225 53,265

Other States 207,871 189,785

Foreign 3 44,437 15,176 ————–– ————––

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

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES

Alabama 635,375 445,556

Arkansas 469,222 393,884

California 416,139 330,245

Colorado 527,078 419,331

Florida 435,748 333,451

Georgia 698,605 660,072

Idaho 299,975 210,921

Illinois 2,227,319 1,487,032

Indiana 1,023,231 829,719

Iowa 3,314,367 2,300,666

Kansas 1,742,539 993,451

Kentucky 498,052 399,250

Louisiana 131,522 107,296

Maryland 191,650 176,986

Massachusetts 50,447 50,402

Michigan 356,735 332,947

Minnesota 2,576,129 1,856,279

Mississippi 263,907 215,849

Missouri 1,290,727 971,618

Montana 442,381 369,030

Nebraska 1,472,585 1,138,503

New Jersey 90,169 89,137

New York 585,942 561,676

North Dakota 1,044,995 794,451

Ohio 652,709 568,996

Oklahoma 447,050 333,582

Oregon 638,881 498,615

Pennsylvania 514,709 511,630

South Dakota 1,037,186 836,355

Tennessee 988,311 563,283

Texas 717,048 528,060

Utah 222,080 203,383

Virginia 592,347 527,837

Washington 669,676 508,614
25

Table 9— Cooperatives’ business volume1, by commodity and State, 19992 (continued)

Business volume Business volume

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

Gross Net

State

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

See footnotes next page

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES (Continued)

West Virginia 51,837 47,739

Wisconsin 1,770,999 1,375,366

Wyoming 210,987 194,606

Other States 911,577 805,806

Foreign 3 668,988 205,662 ————— —————

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

SERVICES PROVIDED7

:

Alabama 17,252 17,252

Arizona 23,858 23,858

Arkansas 54,421 54,421

California 693,568 693,568

Georgia 6,337 6,337

Hawaii 8,248 8,248

Illinois 174,840 174,840

Louisiana 18,807 18,807

Michigan 52,753 52,753

Minnesota 366,614 366,614

Mississippi 50,809 50,809

New Mexico 3,467 3,467

New York 232,470 232,470

North Carolina 24,438 24,438

North Dakota 51,565 51,565

Ohio 85,309 85,309

Oklahoma 45,725 45,725

Pennsylvania 11,027 11,027

Texas 257,212 257,212

Virginia 31,746 31,746

Washington 205,828 205,828

Wisconsin 162,042 162,042

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

————— —————

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

TOTAL:

Alabama 1,359,438 1,169,594

Alaska 92,867 76,496

Arizona 1,002,570 927,983

Arkansas 1,730,624 1,643,198

California 8,437,790 7,823,548

Colorado 1,063,167 928,817

Connecticut 228,238 175,897

Delaware 98,885 89,741

Florida 2,668,142 2,419,178

Georgia 2,092,527 2,006,532

TOTAL: (Continued)

Hawaii 122,525 103,807

Idaho 1,446,412 1,331,705

Illinois 6,430,795 5,316,036

Indiana 2,225,018 1,931,213

Iowa 9,665,341 7,932,170

Kansas 5,973,848 4,658,873

Kentucky 873,968 773,265

Louisiana 802,249 564,193

Maine 205,558 203,284

Maryland 391,835 352,277

Massachusetts 630,330 627,730

Michigan 2,116,737 1,925,074

Minnesota 11,514,242 9,305,888

Mississippi 1,025,276 949,425

Missouri 5,568,086 4,860,441

Montana 878,274 685,725

Nebraska 5,474,400 4,543,391

New Jersey 315,157 312,984

New Mexico 566,459 554,906

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

North Carolina 908,477 825,510

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

Ohio 2,415,868 2,277,303

Oklahoma 1,645,397 1,386,496

Oregon 1,962,678 1,716,532

Pennsylvania 1,404,029 1,353,040

South Carolina 255,424 246,516

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

Tennessee 1,168,383 729,982

Texas 3,935,764 3,400,868

Utah 495,847 461,461

Vermont 480,544 471,561

Virginia 1,093,442 996,687

Washington 3,576,913 3,325,162

West Virginia 95,435 88,703

Wisconsin 9,089,199 8,018,466

Wyoming 275,669 258,813

Other States 101,652 96,004

Foreign 3 1,060,487 490,163 ————— —————

U.S. 115,290,605 99,064,320
In 1999, Iowa was the leading State in both gross

and net sales of farm supplies, with $3.3 billion and

$2.3 billion, respectively. Minnesota was second.

Net Income

Total net income (adjusted for losses and before

taxes) for all cooperatives in 1999 was $1.3 billion,

including inter-cooperative dividends and refunds

(table 10). Cooperatives operating strictly on a pooling

basis were excluded. Net income was down 23.8 percent from the $1.7 billion in 1998. Patronage refunds

received from other cooperatives, including CoBank,

totaled $383.5 million, down 33.1 percent from $573

million in 1998.

Marketing cooperatives' total net income of

$871.1 million was down 14.4 percent from the $1,017.5

million generated in 1998. The drop in net income was

mainly due to decreased net income by dairy and

grain cooperatives. However, grain and dairy cooperatives together, accounted for most (69 percent) of marketing cooperatives' net income and 45.3 percent of

total net income (figure 10).

Total net income of farm supply cooperatives was

$352.5 million in 1999, down 39.1 percent from $578.8

million in 1998. They accounted for 26.5 percent of

cooperatives' total net income in 1999, compared with

33.2 percent in 1998. Income from their own operations, excluding patronage refunds from other cooperatives and CoBank, was $183 million, down 39.3 percent from $301.6 million in 1998.

Farmer cooperatives' net income from own operations in 1999 totaled $944.5 million, down 19.2 percent from $1,169.3 million. Nearly 28.9 percent, or

$383.5 million, of total net income ($1,328.1 million)

was generated by other cooperatives and CoBank,

down 33.1 percent from $573 in 1998. The proportion

generated by other cooperatives in 1998 was 32.9 percent. Marketing cooperatives' net income from other

cooperatives, including CoBank, totaled $184.2 million

and accounted for 21.1 percent of their total, down

from $269.3 million and 26.5 percent in 1998. Grain

cooperatives' net income from other cooperatives

totaled $125.9 million, or 38.8 percent of their total,

down from $200.1 million, or 45.3 percent in 1998.

Income before adjusting for losses was $1,612.2

million. Losses totaled $284.1 million in 1999, down

from $379.9 million in 1998. Number of cooperatives

with losses was down significantly,from 601 to 522.

The decrease in losses for 1999 was mainly due to

decreased losses by livestock and poultry cooperatives,from $148.2 million in 1998 to $9.9 million in

1999.

Marketing cooperative losses totaled $153.6 million in 1999, compared with $337.7 million in 1998.

Related-service cooperative losses totaled $6.4 million, 

compared with $20.6 million. Losses among farm supply cooperatives were up significantly,from $21.3 million in 1998 to $124.1 million in 1999.

26

Table 9.

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

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

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

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

sold.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

food, hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified. 7 Income from services related to marketing and purchasing activities not included in the volumes reported for these activities.
27

Table 10— Farmer cooperatives’ net income, 1999

Principal product(s) marketed Total Income from Income from

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

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

Products marketed:

Cotton 15 69.9 67.3 2.6

Dairy 221 276.6 251.6 25.0

Fruits & vegetables 231 57.9 44.5 13.4

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 896 324.5 198.6 125.9

Livestock and poultry 96 61.7 50.9 10.8

Rice 17 6.1 3.9 2.2

Sugar 48 -21.1 -22.1 1.0

Other products3 225 95.4 92.2 3.2 ——— ———— ———— ————

Total marketing 1,749 871.1 686.9 184.2

Total farm supply 1,313 352.5 183.0 169.5

Total related-service 404 104.5 74.7 29.8 ——— ———— ———— ————

Combined total4 3,466 1,328.1 944.5 383.5

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

2 Includes patronage refunds from CoBank.

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

4 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Figure 10— Net Income or Loss by Type of Cooperative, 1999

From Own Operations

From Other Cooperatives 1

0 100 200 300 400

Dollars (million)

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

Sugar

Rice

Nut

Fruit and Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

Cotton

Other Marketing2

Service

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Farm Supply
Balance Sheet

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives

totaled nearly $47.7 billion in 1999, up 2.4 percent fro m

$46.6 billion in 1998 (table 11). The increase in total

assets was partly due to a 14.4-percent increase in

investments in other cooperatives, from $4.7 billion in

1998 to $5.4 billion in 1999. Total assets of cooperatives, excluding inter-cooperative investments, was up

1.1 percent to $42.3 billion, compared with $41.9 billion

in 1998.

Total liabilities was $27.4 billion, up 3.1 percent

from $26.6 billion in 1998. Net worth, or member and

patron equity, was $20.3 billion, up 1.6 percent fro m

$20 billion in 1998. The proportion of total assets

financed by member and patron equity decreased

slightly,from 42.9 percent to 42.5 percent.

Net worth, or member and patron equity,forall

marketing cooperatives totaled $12.8 billion, up 1.3

percent from 1998. Marketing cooperatives accounted

for 63.3 percent of farmer cooperatives' combined net

worth, down slightly from 63.4 percent in 1998. The

net worth figure for farm supply cooperatives was 34.1

percent of the total, up from 33.9 percent. For marketing cooperatives, the highest percentage of total assets

represented by net worth shown in figure11 (51.5 percent) was for those marketing primarily "other" products. The lowest, 29.3 percent, was for cooperatives

marketing primarily fruits and vegetables. Marketing

and farm supply cooperatives had 39.7 percent and

47.8 percent, respectively, of their assets financed by

net worth.

Of the $47.7 billion in total assets, marketing

cooperatives accounted for $32.3 billion, up slightly (.9

percent) from 1998. Cooperatives primarily handling

grains and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed) had total

assets of $7 billion in 1999, down 12.7 percent from $8

billion in 1998. Among the marketing cooperatives,

those with primarily grain also maintained the largest

proportion of their assets as investments in other cooperatives in both 1999 (16.4 percent) and 1998 (15.5 percent). Dairy cooperatives had 15 percent of their assets

invested in other cooperatives, up from 9.6 percent in

1998 (table 12).

Assets of marketing cooperatives, excluding

investments in other cooperatives and CoBank, totaled

$29.2 billion, down 1.0 percent from $29.5 billion in

1998.

Farm supply cooperatives had total assets of

$14.4 billion, compared with $13.7 billion in 1998, up

5.7 percent. Excluding inter-cooperative investments,

total assets was up 5.9 percent, from $11.7 billion in

1998 to $12.3 billion.

28

Table 11— Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 19991

Principal product(s) marketed

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

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

Products marketed:

Cotton 15 909.7 519.7 390.0

Dairy 221 7,771.9 4,815.6 2,956.3

Fruits & vegetables 231 6,067.8 4,288.4 1,779.4

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 896 7,015.5 3,543.1 3,472.4

Livestock and poultry 96 4,688.5 3,220.7 1,467.8

Rice 17 554.7 300.2 254.5

Sugar 48 2,224.8 1,321.4 903.4

Other products 2 225 3,101.8 1,504.7 1,597.1 — — — ––———— ————— -—————

Total marketing 1,749 32,334.7 19,513.9 12,820.9

Total farm supply 1,313 14,435.7 7,532.4 6,903.3

Total related-service 404 911.3 372.1 539.2 — — — ––———— ————— -—————

Combined total 3,466 47,681.7 27,418.3 20,263.4

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Includes dry edible beans and peas, nuts, tobacco, wool, and miscellaneous products.
29

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

1999

Fruit & Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

Dairy

Sugar

Cotton

Rice

Farm Supply

Grain & Oilseed

Other M arketing1

Service

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percent

Table 12— Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 19991

Principal product(s) Investments in

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

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

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

Products marketed:

Cotton 15 881.8 27.9 909.7 3.1

Dairy 221 6,606.6 1,165.4 7,771.9 15.0

Fruits & vegetables 231 5,861.0 206.8 6,067.8 3.4

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed 896 5,865.4 1,150.1 7,015.5 16.4

Livestock and poultry 96 4,201.8 486.7 4,688.5 10.4

Rice 17 538.1 16.6 554.7 3.0

Sugar 48 2,181.6 43.2 2,224.8 1.9

Other products 4 225 3,029.0 72.8 3,101.8 2.3 ———— ————— ————— —————

Total farm products 1,749 29,165.4 3,169.3 32,334.7 9.8

Total farm supplies 1,313 12,343.7 2,092.0 14,435.7 14.5

Total selected services 404 821.0 90.3 911.3 9.9 ———— ————— ————— —————

Combined total 3,466 42,330.1 5,351.6 47,681.7 11.2

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

as indicated by business volume.

3 Also includes investments in CoBank.

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

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

Financial ratios express relationships between

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

economic and financial situation.

Financial ratios can indicate problem areas. While

they can’t solve problems, they can serve as guidelines

for planning 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. Ratio

interpretation is largely subjective.

Five financial ratios were selected to indicate

cooperative performance or financial condition--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

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

turnover ratio) indicates how efficiently a cooperative

is using its assets. The current ratio (current assets

divided by current liabilities) best measures a cooperative's ability to meet short-run obligations.

Table 13 presents the values of these ratios for the

cooperatives reporting to RBS. Extreme high and low

values were excluded so those used would be more

representative of the cooperatives reporting. Ratios are

also shown by selected asset category for those cooperatives where sufficient information was available.

These ratios offer cooperative leaders a general baro meter to use in comparing their operations with others

of the same type (and/or size).

The return on assets (net income/assets) varied

considerably. It was negative for sugar, small cotton

gins, small farm supply cooperatives, the smaller fruit

and vegetable cooperatives, and livestock cooperatives

with assets in the range of $2.5 million to $25 million.

The ratio was highest (17.2) for the largest group of

cotton ginning cooperatives. For dairy, the ratio was

highest for those cooperatives with assets of $25 million to $99.9 million, similar to what was reported in

1998. Among grain cooperatives, the largest return

(although small) came from the largest cooperatives.

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

of 25.1 percent for the largest fruit and vegetable cooperatives to a high of 99.4 percent for the tobacco cooperatives. Generally, as cooperatives become larger

and/or do more processing, a declining percentage of

their assets is financed by members, resulting in a

lower net worth-to-assets ratio.

The return on sales (net income/total sales)

ranged from a negative 6.9 percent for mid-sized livestock cooperatives to a high of 16.2 percent for the

largest cotton ginning cooperatives. Few cooperatives

generated a return on sales above 3 percent (only 11 of

the 50 groups shown in table 13).

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

52.9 for the small dairy (bargaining) cooperatives to a

low of 0.4 for the tobacco cooperatives. Among dairy,

fruit and vegetable, grain, and cotton ginning cooperatives, the ratio tended to decrease as cooperative size

increased. Generally,thisreflects 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

varied little with cooperative size. Most of these cooperatives are less involved in manufacturing or processing than the larger marketing cooperatives.

The generally high sales-to-assets ratios for the

smaller cooperatives, as well as for some types of

cooperatives, is due to bargaining activity or other

marketing functions not requiring a major investment

in plant and equipment.

The current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) ranged from a low of 1.1 for fruit and vegetable

cooperatives with assets of $25 million to $99.9 million

and sugar cooperatives, to 17.6 for tobacco cooperatives. Smaller cooperatives’ current liabilities are generally low, but become larger in relation to current

assets as business grows.

Crop Protectant Operations of Local

Cooperatives

To conduct a special study of the crop protectant

operations of local farm supply and marketing cooperatives, specific questions regarding the handling of

crop protectants were included in the questionnaires.

More than 380 local farm supply and marketing cooperatives provided information about their crop protectant sales, source, competition, type of competition,

and services. These cooperatives represented 43 percent of all locals that sold crop protectants.

In 1999, crop protectant sales of respondents

totaled $830 million, or nearly 37 percent of all locals’

crop protectant sales. The information gathered was

compared with crop protectant sales data for the past

nine years and to the results of a similar 1996 fertilizer

study.

Questionnaires were mailed to local cooperatives

with crop protectant sales in excess of $0.5 million.

Most werelarger cooperatives, for which crop protectant sales averaged $2.2 million, farm supply sales

averaged $10.6 million, and marketing sales averaged

30
31

Table 13— Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 19991

Type of co–op Return Net worth Return Sales Current

and asset group (mil. dol.) on assets2 to assets3 on sales4 to assets 5 ratio 6

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

Cotton 7.8 42.6 2.8 2.8 1.5

Less than $25 11.5 30.5 4.6 2.5 1.2

$25 and more 7.4 43.6 2.7 2.8 1.5

Dairy7 3.6 38.7 1.0 3.8 1.3

Less than $.99 1.1 58.8 0.02 52.9 1.5

$1.0 - $2.49 7.3 47.5 0.6 11.6 1.3

$2.5 - $24.99 5.2 38.3 0.5 11.2 1.2

$25.0 - $99.99 7.6 38.3 1.3 5.8 1.2

$100.0 and more 3.1 38.7 0.9 3.3 1.3

Fruit and vegetable 2.7 26.2 1.6 1.7 1.4

Less than $0.5 -0.6 69.4 -0.02 28.1 2.8

$0.5 - $.99 -3.4 84.9 -0.1 25.4 4.1

$1.0 - $2.49 -2.7 54.3 -0.9 3.2 1.6

$2.5 - $24.99 10.4 36.1 3.7 2.8 1.2

$25.0 - $99.99 0.9 26.8 0.5 1.7 1.1

$100.0 and more 2.5 25.1 1.6 1.6 1.5

Grain and oilseed 8 4.6 49.1 1.9 2.4 1.3

Less than $.99 4.4 72.3 1.0 4.3 2.4

$1.0 - $2.49 3.7 68.2 1.1 3.4 2.0

$2.5 - $24.99 4.6 51.7 1.8 2.6 1.3

$25.0 and more 4.7 43.0 2.2 2.1 1.2

Livestock7 0.4 29.4 0.1 3.5 1.3

Less than $2.49 1.7 68.6 0.1 23.3 3.1

$2.5 - $24.99 -11.3 29.9 -6.9 1.6 1.2

$25.0 and more 0.5 29.4 0.2 3.5 1.3

Nut 2.9 42.5 1.6 1.8 1.9

Poultry 3.9 35.3 1.3 3.1 1.4

Rice 1.1 48.9 0.4 2.4 1.5

Sugar -1.2 41.8 -1.2 1.0 1.1

Tobacco 5.7 99.4 14.3 0.4 17.6

Misc. marketing 2.7 53.2 1.5 1.9 1.6

Fishery 0.4 48.3 0.2 2.7 1.4

Farm supply 2.0 45.6 1.1 1.8 1.4

Less than $0.5 -.5 77.4 -.2 2.3 3.2

$0.5 - $.99 3.0 71.3 1.5 2.0 2.3

$1.0 - $2.49 5.2 71.4 2.5 2.1 2.3

$2.5 - $24.99 4.9 59.9 2.6 1.9 1.5

$25.0 - $99.99 4.4 46.2 2.0 2.2 1.3

$100.0 - $499.99 5.2 46.9 3.3 1.6 1.4

$500.0 and more 0.1 39.1 0.1 1.7 1.3

Artificial insemination 6.3 62.4 2.1 3.0 1.8

Continued
$11.1 million in 1999. Crop protectant sales growth was

fairly steady,increasing almost 11 percent per year

from 1991 to 1999.

An analysis of local cooperative crop protectant

operations showed the following:

● Herbicides comprised 81 percent of all crop

protectant sales, insecticides 14 percent, fungicides 3 percent, and all other 2 percent.

● Most locals purchased their crop protectants

from regional cooperatives. Regionals provided

nearly 68 percent of herbicides and insecticides,

and almost 50 percent of fungicides and all

other crop protectants sold by locals.

● Investor-owned crop protectant suppliers were

the primary competitors. Other cooperatives

were a close second. Price was, most often, the

major competitive factor.

● More than 95 percent of the cooperatives provided crop protectant applications, 93 percent

crop/agronomy specialists, 83 percent soil testing for organic matter, and 76 percent crop protectant records. Services offered varied by

cooperative size. Larger cooperatives with

higher sales volumes offered services most

often.

● Cooperatives embraced technology--global

positioning system (GPS) and global information system (GIS)--in applying crop protectants.

Sixty-eight percent offered field mapping using

this technology. GPS and GIS were also used

forrecord keeping by cooperatives with 48 percent of the crop protectant volume and by

those with 57 percent of the application equipment.

III—COOPERATIVE TRENDS, 1990-99

Although the number of cooperatives decreased

during the past decade, their business volume

increased, until recent years. Cooperatives continue to

adjust to the changing economic environment through

dissolution, merger, consolidation, acquisition, and the

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

alliances to become involved in value-added activities.

32

Table 13— Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 19991(continued)

Type of co–op Return Net worth Return Sales Current

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

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

Cotton gins 15.6 65.1 12.6 1.2 1.5

Less than $0.5 -1.6 40.4 -1.1 1.4 1.3

$0.5 - $.99 8.9 59.0 5.0 1.8 1.8

$1.0 - $2.49 13.0 71.3 8.0 1.6 2.0

$2.5 and more 17.2 63.9 16.2 1.1 1.4

Other service 9 6.2 48.5 7.3 0.9 1.3

Less than $.99 1.8 73.6 1.2 1.6 1.3

$1.0 - $2.49 12.4 50.1 10.9 1.1 1.6

$2.5 and more 5.6 47.1 7.1 0.8 1.3

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

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

excluded.

2 Includes net income before any income taxes are deducted. Calculated by dividing net income by total assets. Usually referred to as the

return on assets.

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

assets.

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

sales was found by dividing net income by total sales.

5 Calculated by dividing total sales by total assets.

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

8 Excludes cottonseed.

9 Includes cooperatives providing primarily services related to storage, transportation, livestock shipping, and rice drying.
In 1990, the net business volume of 4,663 cooperatives

totaled $77.3 billion. A decade later, net business volume, generated by 3,466 cooperatives, was $99.1 billion.

Number of Cooperatives

The total number of marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives declined from 4,663 in

1990 to 3,466 in 1999 (table 14 and figure 12).

Marketing cooperatives declined from 2,519 to 1,749

and farm supply cooperatives from 1,717 to 1,313.

Number of service cooperatives decreased from 427 to

404.

From 1990 through 1999, 1,861 cooperatives

(about 186 per year), wereremoved from RBS' list of

farmer cooperatives. Of those, 44.6 percent were dissolved, 32.2 percent merged or consolidated, 13.9 percent were acquired by other cooperatives or investorowned firms, and the remaining 9.2 percent were

removed for other reasons (figure 13).

Even while cooperatives were disappearing fro m

RBS’ list, newly formed ones or ones not previously on

the list were added. From 1990 through 1999, 528 cooperatives, (about 53 per year) were added. Only 8 cooperatives were added during 1999, the smallest increase

since the information was recorded.

Grain and Farm Supply Branches

In 1995, 2,548 grain and farm supply cooperatives

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

cooperatives and 2,929 by farm supply cooperatives. In

1999, grain and farm supply cooperative numbers had

dropped to 2,209, but branches had increased to 5,330

(table 15 and figure 14).

33

Table 14— Number of farmer cooperatives, 1990–99

Period1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

Number

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

1997 1,941 1,386 464 3,791

1998 1,863 1,347 441 3,651

1999 1,749 1,313 404 3,466

1 Prior to 1990, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, 

Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998.

Figure 12— Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1990-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Number

Marketing

Farm Supply

Service

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
34

Figure 13— Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1990-99

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

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

dropped due to inactivity and unknown and miscellaneous reasons.

Number

Merger

Dissolution

Acquisition

Other

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Table 15— Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm supply cooperatives, 1995-99 

Asset Group (million dollars)

———————————————————————————————————————————————— ------ — —

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

Grain Cooperatives

1995 658 223 174 35 1,090

1996 618 229 176 43 1,066

1997 616 196 155 47 1,014

1998 550 216 150 48 964

1999 512 187 147 50 896

Branches

1995 399 440 756 577 2,172

1996 387 505 743 691 2,326

1997 364 463 717 706 2,250

1998 292 517 774 716 2,299

1999 295 422 685 761 2,163

Farm Supply Cooperatives

1995 1,134 211 97 16 1,458

1996 1,064 213 109 17 1,403

1997 1,022 232 109 23 1,386

1998 928 277 112 30 1,347

1999 933 223 121 36 1,313

Branches

1995 571 502 460 1,396 2,929

1996 542 523 526 1,438 3,029

1997 481 579 576 1,576 3,183

1998 528 548 570 1,672 3,318

1999 423 547 534 1,663 3,167
Average number of branches per cooperative was

2 in 1995 and 2.4 in 1999. Larger cooperatives accounted for most of the branches, particularly among the

farm supply cooperatives. Of those with assets of $25

million or more in 1999, 36 farm supply cooperatives

had an estimated 1,663 branches and 50 grain cooperatives had 761 branches.

Memberships

Memberships in farmer cooperatives dropped

from 4.1 million in 1990 to 3.2 million in 1999 (table 16

and figure 15). The long-term decline, in large part,

reflects the decreasing number of farms and farmers in

the United States. Many farmers are members of more

than one cooperative and each membership is counted.

Consequently, number of memberships exceeds the

number of farmers. Duplication in membership cannot

be eliminated with current reporting methods.

Member classification depends on the type of

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

example, a member may market only one of the farm

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

or more production items. A member's business with

the cooperative, therefore, may not be in the group

35

Figure 14— Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1992-99

Number

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1992 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Branches

Cooperatives 

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

Table 16— Memberships in marketing, farm supply,

and related-service cooperatives, 1990–99

Period 1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

1,000

1990 1,882 2,006 232 4,119

1991 1,842 2,025 191 4,059

1992 1,839 2,020 212 4,072

1993 1,830 1,977 216 4,023

1994 1,805 1,936 245 3,986

1995 1,712 1,846 210 3,767

1996 1,682 1,795 187 3,664

1997 1,498 1,743 183 3,424

1998 1,398 1,774 181 3,353

1999 1,283 1,731 159 3,173

1 Prior to 1990, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, 

Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998.
that represents the cooperative's major business volume (the criterion for classifying cooperatives in this

report). The membership, however, will be included

arbitrarily in that classification.

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

than twice the rate of memberships in farm supply

cooperatives. Memberships in marketing cooperatives

dropped 599,297, or 31.8 percent, while memberships 

in farm supply cooperatives decreased 274,160, or 13.7

percent.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives had an estimated 172,951

full-time employees in 1999, down from 173,791 in

1998 (table 17). Employees appeared to peak in 1995, at

175,399. Marketing and related-service cooperatives

decreased their use of full-time employees during

1995-99. Farm supply cooperatives, however,increased

their use.

Overall, the trend appears to be the same with

marketing and related-service cooperatives that are

decreasing their use of full-time employees while farm

supply cooperatives are increasing their use. This is, in

part, due to many of the grain cooperatives being

reclassified as farm supply cooperatives because of

sharply declining grain prices during the past three-tofour years.

Business Volume

Net cooperative business, unadjusted for price

change, increased from $77.3 billion in 1990 to $99.1

billion in 1999 (table 18). When adjusted3, net business

totaled $101.9 billion in 1999 (figure 16). Consequently,

the difference between actual and real net business

volume in 1999 was $2.8 billion. The real net business

volume was above the actual value in 1999 due to low

prices received for farm products. Prices received for

all farm commodities dropped nearly 5 percent, while

prices paid for production items decreased .9 percent

from 1998-99.

Marketing sales of four major commodity

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

36

Figure 15— Cooperative Memberships by Function, 1990-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Million

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

5

4

3

2

1

0

3 Marketing sales was deflated by the index of producer prices

received for "all farm products" (1990 = 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 (1990 = 100).
slightly as a proportion of marketing sales, from 83.1

percent in 1990 to 83 percent in 1999. In 1990 and a

decade later, net volume (among commodity groups)

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

was $26 billion ($20.7 billion in 1990) and grains and

oilseeds $17.1 billion in 1999. In 1996 and 1997, grains

and oilseeds led commodity groups, due to high grain

prices (figure 17).

Milk and milk product sales showed the

strongest absolute dollar growth during 1990-99. Prior

to 1997, grain and oilseed sales surged, but subsequently dropped, because of sharply declining prices.

In the farm supply group, petroleum, feed, and

fertilizer were especially important. They accounted

for 70.5 percent of cooperatives' total farm supply sales

in 1990 and 67.9 percent in 1999. The drop reflected

increased sales of crop protectants and "other." In 1990,

they accounted for 26.2 percent of farm supply sales

versus 28.8 percent in 1999.

Cooperatives’ sales of petroleum, feed, fertilizer,

and crop protectants grew steadily until 1998. Seed

sales remained fairly stable (figure 18). In 1998 and

1999, feed and fertilizer sales dropped, due mainly to

lower prices.

Net marketing of farm products totaled $57.8 billion in 1990 and increased annually, except in 1991 and

1997-99. In 1999, net business volume of farm products

marketed dropped from $76.6 billion in 1998 to $72 billion (table 19). Aggregate farm supply sales increased

every year,from $17.1 billion in 1990 to $25.2 billion in

1997, but then dropped in 1998 and 1999 to $24.6 billion and $23.2 billion, respectively. Service receipts

(includes other income and revenue) increased fro m

$2.3 billion in 1990 to $3.9 billion in 1999, the highest

on record.

Gross business volume was $92.7 billion in 1990

and $115.3 billion in 1999, down from $121 billion in

1998 and a record high of $128.1 billion in 1996. The

1996 record increase in business volume ($15.9 billion)

was due mainly to higher prices for grains and

oilseeds.

Net Income

Starting with $1.44 billion in 1990, total net

income fluctuated and finally set a record at $2.36 billion in 1995. It dipped in 1996, climbed back in 1997,

but then dropped significantly in both 1998 and 1999

to $1.33 billion in 1999 (table 20 and figure 19). Low

prices and margins associated with overproduction in

agriculture were major factors.

Net income from own operations and other cooperatives varied over time. Both reflected better economic times in agriculture in the mid-1990s compared

with conditions in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and the

late 1990s. In 1990, refunds from other cooperatives

totaled $378 million, or 26.3 percent of total net

37

Table 17— Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 1995-99

Full-time Employees

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

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Number

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total 175,399 174,795 172,199 173,791 172,951
income. In 1999, refunds totaled $383.5 million, or 28.9

percent of total net income. CoBank refunds were also

included.

Balance Sheet

Cooperatives’ total assets grew by $17.7 billion,

from $30 billion in 1990 to $47.7 billion in 1999 (table

21 and figure20),reflecting added investments in their

own operations and investments in other cooperatives.

In 1990, nearly $3.1 billion (10.3 percent of total assets)

was invested in other cooperatives, including CoBank.

In 1999, these investments were $5.4 billion, up $2.3

billion from 1990, or 11.2 percent of total assets.

Cooperatives’ total liabilities also gre w,fro m

$16.6 billion in 1990 (55.2 percent) to $27.4 billion, up

$10.8 billion in 10 years.

Total liabilities financed 57.5 percent of total

assets in 1999. The strength of a balance sheet depends

on the proportion of total assets financed by net worth

or equity capital. In 1990, cooperatives’ net worth

totaled $13.4 billion and financed 44.8 percent of total

assets. By 1999, total net worth had reached nearly

$20.3 billion, and financed 42.5 percent. During the

decade, the proportion of net worth used to finance

total assets reached a high of 44.9 percent in 1991 and a

low of 40.8 percent in 1996. Most would say farmer

cooperatives, overall, have a strong balance sheet.

IV—OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES

In 1999, other service cooperatives, ones other

than those directly related to marketing and purchasing, included farm credit system cooperatives, rural

electric cooperatives, rural credit unions, and dairy

herd improvement associations.

Farm Credit System

The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide

network of financial cooperatives that 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.

By 1999, FCS was represented by 18 Federal Land

Bank Associations (FLBAs), 50 Federal Land Credit

Associations (FLCAs), 60 Production Credit

Associations (PCAs), and 50 Agricultural Credit

Associations (ACAs) (table 22).

The combined assets of FCS for 1999 totaled $88.7

billion--up 5.4 percent from $84.1 billion in 1998 (table

23). Net worth was $13.3 billion, up 6.4 percent fro m

1998, and net income was $1.23 billion, down fro m

$1.25 billion, or 1.4 percent.

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.

38

Table 18— Cooperatives’ net business volume,

1990 and 19991

Net Business Volume

Function 1990 1999

Million dollars 

Products marketed: 

Beans and peas (dry edible) 213.1 174.9

Cotton 2,087.5 2,083.4

Dairy 20,719.1 25,999.1

Fruits and vegetables 8,241.4 9,285.6

Grains and oilseeds 2 14,259.2 17,113.1

Livestock 4,861.4 7,318.9

Nuts 800.8 899.1

Poultry 1,130.4 2,225.9

Rice 733.1 911.7

Sugar 2,124.4 2,540.0

Tobacco 597.0 278.4

Wool and mohair 19.8 6.4

Other products 3 2,043.4 3,145.5

————— —————

Total farm products 57,830.6 71,981.9

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants. 1,767.9 3,018.3

Feed. 4,102.9 4,725.6

Fertilizer 3,230.4 4,758.6

Petroleum 4,715.2 6,259.8

Seed 562.0 752.1

Other supplies 2,710.2 3,662.9 ————— ——————

Total farm supplies 17,088.4 23,177.3

Services provided:

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, misc. 2,347.3 3,905.1

————— ——————

Total business 77,266.4 99,064.3

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

due to rounding.

2 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed sales were included with cotton.

Cottonseed meal and oil sales were included with feed and other

products, respectively.

3 Includes value of processed oilseeds.
39

Figure 16— Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1990-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

1 Actual sales were adjusted for price change based on 1990 = 100.

Billion dollars

Actual

Real 1

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

Figure 17— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1990-99

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Billion dollars

Milk & Milk Products

Grains & Oilseeds

Fruits & Vegetables

Livestock

30

25

20

15

10

5

0
Of the 50 FLCAs operating on Oct. 1, 1999, 18

were in the FCB of Wichita and 17 in the AgriBank,

FCB, District. FLCAs were authorized by the

Agricultural Credit Act of 1987. FLCAs are former

FLBAs that were given direct-lending authority by

FCBs.

P C As provide farmers and ranchers short- and

intermediate-term loans for various purposes, such as

operating expenses, farm equipment and livestock

purchases, and farm buildings and other capital

improvements. Of the 60 PCAs, 17 were located in the

AgriBank, FCB, District and 18 in the FCB of Wichita

territory.

A C Asresulted from the merger of FLBAs or

FLCAs with PCAs. ACAs offer both long- and shortterm loans. Of the 50 ACAs operating on Oct. 1, 1999,

32 of them were in AgFirst, FCB, territory and 8 in the

AgriBank, FCB, district.

The FCBs provide loans and support services to

FLBAs, ACAs, FLCAs, and PCAs within their districts.

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

long-term credit to agricultural cooperatives, rural

utility systems, and other rural businesses nationwide.

It also provides credit to the Farm Credit Associations

serving agricultural producers in the Northeast.

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

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

ACAs, and other businesses serving rural America.

CoBank also finances U.S. agricultural exports and

provides international banking services for farmer

cooperatives.

The combined assets of CoBank increased fro m

$22.1 billion in 1998 to $24.1 billion in 1999. Net worth

totaled nearly $1.7 billion. As of Dec. 31, 1999, CoBank

had net loans of $18.4 billion and net income of $121

million, down from $145 million in 1998 (table 24).

Rural Electric Cooperatives

Rural electric cooperatives increased in number

to 672 from 662 in 1998. Consumer members, however,

decreased to 10.5 million from 10.8 million, but revenue increased to $23.7 billion (table 25) from $14.2 billion in 1998. Texas had the most associations, with 44

(6.6 percent of the total), while Georgia had the most

consumer members, with 1,069 (10.2 percent), and the

largest revenue, $2,744 million (11.6 percent).

Rural Credit Unions

The 595 rural credit unions reported 3.9 million

members and savings of more than $18 billion, a

decrease from 653 credit unions, 4.4 million members,

and savings of $19.9 billion in 1998. Wisconsin, with

40

Figure 18— Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1990-99

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Billion dollars

Petroleum

Feed

Fertilizer

Crop Protectants

Seed

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
65, had the most associations, or 10.9 percent of the

total, while California had the most members and

credit union savings with 902,000 and $5.2 billion,

respectively. California, Wisconsin, and Michigan

accounted for more than 1.9 million memberships (48.6

percent of the total), and more than $9 billion in savings, or 50.1 percent of the total (table 26).

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA)

had 33,539 memberships in 1999 (table 27), down fro m

34,820 in 1998. The DHIAs tested nearly 4.3 million

cows in 1999, up from 4.2 million in 1998. Wisconsin

(8,512), Pennsylvania (4,730), Minnesota (3,792), and

New York (2,940), combined, accounted for 59.6 percent of total members, the same as in 1998. About

872,700 (20.4 percent) of the cows tested werein

California, up from 19.7 percent.

41

Table 19— Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 1990–991

Gross volume Net volume

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

Farm Farm Farm Farm

Period 2 products supplies Services 3 Total products supplies Services 3 Total

Billion dollars

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 69.3 21.2 3.3 93.8

1996 90.3 34.7 3.1 128.1 79.4 23.7 3.1 106.2

1997 85.9 37.1 3.6 126.7 77.8 25.2 3.6 106.7

1998 84.5 33.0 3.5 121.0 76.6 24.6 3.5 104.7

1999 80.5 30.9 3.9 115.3 72.0 23.2 3.9 99.1

Percent

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 2.8 100 73.4 23.3 3.3 100

1995 69.5 27.6 2.9 100 73.9 22.6 3.5 100

1996 70.5 27.1 2.4 100 74.8 22.3 2.9 100

1997 67.8 29.3 2.9 100 72.9 23.7 3.4 100

1998 69.9 27.2 2.9 100 73.2 23.5 3.3 100

1999 69.8 26.8 3.4 100 72.7 23.4 3.9 100

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

2 Prior to 1990, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR 1, Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998. Data for prior years are not entirely

comparable due to revisions in statistical procedures.

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

income and revenue were included with service receipts.
42

Table 20— Net income of farmer cooperatives, 

1990–991

From own From other

Year operations cooperatives2 Total

Million dollars

1990 1,062 378 1,440

1991 1,152 418 1,570

1992 1,034 406 1,440

1993 985 373 1,358

1994 1,571 392 1,963

1995 1,766 597 2,363

1996 1,475 773 2,248

1997 1,557 757 2,314

1998 1,169 573 1,742

1999 944 384 1,328

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

cooperative pooling operations.

2 Dividends and patronage refunds received from other marketing,

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

Banks for Cooperatives, where applicable.

Figure 19— Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1990-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

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

Billion dollars

From Own

Operations

From Other

Cooperatives1

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0
43

Table 21— Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1990–99

Assets Investments

from own in other Total Total Net

Year operations co–ops 1 assets liabilities worth

Million dollars 

1990 26,948 3,076 30,024 16,575 13,449

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1999 42,330 5,352 47,682 27,418 20,264

Percent of total assets

1990 89.8 10.2 100 55.2 44.8

1991 89.2 10.8 100 55.1 44.9

1992 90.5 9.5 100 55.6 44.4

1993 91.1 8.9 100 55.7 44.3

1994 91.2 8.8 100 56.6 43.4

1995 92.0 8.0 100 58.7 41.3

1996 91.6 8.4 100 59.2 40.8

1997 90.7 9.3 100 57.9 42.1

1998 90.0 10.0 100 57.1 42.9

1999 88.8 11.2 100 57.5 42.5

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

Figure 20— Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Liabilities, 1990-99

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Billion dollars

Liabilities

Net Worth

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0
44

Table 22— Farm Credit Association Structure, 

Oct. 1, 19991

District or bank affiliation FLBA PCA ACA FLCA

Number

CoBank, ACB 2 - -4 -

AgFirst FCB - 1 32 -

AgriBank, FCB - 17 8 17

FCB of Wichita 4 18 - 18

FCB of Texas 14 13 - 3

Western FCB3 - 10 5 11

AgAmerica, FCB - 1 1 1

-— -— -— -—

Total 18 60 50 50

- = No bank affiliation.

1 FLBA = Federal Land Bank Association, PCA = Production

Credit Association, ACA = Agricultural Credit Association, FLCA

= Federal Land Credit Association.

2 The St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives merged with CoBank,

effective July l, 1999.

3 1 ACS Parent - Designates ACS that has PCA & FLCA

Subsidaries

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Accountability Report FY

1999, McLean, VA, p. 32. 

Table 23— Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net

worth, and net income, 1995–991

Year Assets Net worth Net income

Million dollars

1995 71,438 9,864 1,165

1996 74,917 10,729 1,201

1997 78,144 11,694 1,267

1998 84,139 12,522 1,251

1999 88,692 13,319 1,233

1 Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statement, 1999,

Federal Farm Credit Banks, Funding Corporation, Jersey City,

NJ., Feb. 24, 2000, p. 3.

Table 24— Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and

net income of CoBank, ACB, 1995–991

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million dollars

1995 21,268 1,429 17,553 167

1996 20,771 1,504 16,871 145

1997 21,207 1,600 16,821 164

1998 22,104 1,671 17,513 145

1999 24,089 1,665 18,398 121

1 As of December 31 of each year. Effective July 1, 1999, CoBank,

ACB, and the former St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives merged

through an exchange of stock. Source: CoBank, ACB, Creating

Customer Value in the 21st Century, 1999 Annual Report,

Englewood, CO.
45

Table 25— Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electric1 cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 19992

State Cooperatives Members Revenue State Cooperatives Members Revenue

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

Alabama 19 395 813

Alaska 9 77 177

Arizona 6 125 320

Arkansas 16 291 972

California 3 15 21

Colorado 18 293 822

Florida 11 436 1,092

Georgia 38 1,069 2,744

Idaho 4 30 36

Illinois 8 53 135

Indiana 22 253 625

Iowa 31 136 395

Kansas 28 152 341

Kentucky 26 666 1,479

Louisiana 11 293 772

Maine 3 14 13

Michigan 6 101 81

Minnesota 37 394 828

Mississippi 15 405 896

Missouri 41 480 1,473

Montana 23 98 128

Nebraska 3 9 111

New Mexico 17 181 376

New York 4 16 14

North Dakota 23 118 883

Ohio 21 291 553

Oklahoma 20 271 491

Oregon 8 53 79

Pennsylvania 11 177 188

South Carolina 21 528 1,275

South Dakota 32 126 248

Tennessee 21 822 1,162

Texas 44 602 1,303

Virginia 12 365 546

Washington 5 32 49

Wisconsin 17 133 293

Wyoming 9 58 119

Other States 3 9 918 1,822 —--- —---–– —---––

United States 672 10,466 23,662

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives – Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and West

Virginia.
46

Table 26— Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit unions1,by State, Dec. 31, 19992

State Cooperatives Members Savings State Cooperatives Members Savings

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

Alabama 10 25 89

Arizona 4 18 51

Arkansas 3 8 32

California 52 902 5,211

Colorado 14 22 80

Florida 14 108 420

Georgia 10 35 97

Hawaii 17 105 627

Idaho 9 17 50

Illinois 11 65 284

Indiana 16 50 411

Iowa 7 7 20

Kansas 16 75 236

Kentucky 7 31 85

Louisiana 8 16 43

Maine 8 20 83

Maryland 5 59 284

Massachusetts 4 16 64

Michigan 24 391 1,290

Minnesota 35 213 1,042

Mississippi 4 14 38

Missouri 6 20 62

Montana 10 54 208

Nebraska 15 20 95

Nevada 5 45 291

New Jersey 6 12 20

New Mexico 3 48 188

New York 27 164 775

North Carolina 13 30 65

North Dakota 29 100 602

Ohio 12 39 70

Oklahoma 4 7 30

Oregon 9 63 239

Pennsylvania 19 32 85

Rhode Island 3 69 590

South Carolina 3 9 58

South Dakota 7 11 33

Tennessee 8 15 38

Texas 32 105 375

Utah 9 15 47

Vermont 3 21 55

Virginia 6 50 177

Washington 13 157 719

West Virginia 3 4 10

Wisconsin 65 616 2,525

Other States3 7 31 121 —--- —---–– —---––

United States 595 3,931 18,016

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

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives—Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.
47

Table 27— Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd improvement associations,1

by State, Dec. 31, 19992

Members Cows Members Cows

State (herds) tested State (herds) tested

Number 1,000 Number 1,000

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

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Fewer than 500.

4 Includes Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands with 167 members and 39,345 cows tested.

Alabama 64 11.1

Arizona 61 79.1

Arkansas 85 8.2

California 1,128 872.7

Colorado 85 40.1

Connecticut 125 14.2

Delaware 31 4.1

Florida 113 69.0

Georgia 238 59.2

Hawaii 5 2.5

Idaho 235 83.7

Illinois 697 57.6

Indiana 553 46.3

Iowa 1,421 115.2

Kansas 343 38.9

Kentucky 329 27.8

Louisiana 148 20.5

Maine 169 15.6

Maryland 439 39.8

Massachusetts 132 11.6

Michigan 1,060 148.8

Minnesota 3,792 307.4

Mississippi 81 12.5

Missouri 557 49.7

Montana 58 7.5

Nebraska 284 34.5

Nevada 21 10.2

New Hampshire 114 10.9

New Jersey 91 7.8

New Mexico 26 38.1

New York 2,940 331.6

North Carolina 252 41.5

North Dakota 94 8.3

Ohio 1,199 106.6

Oklahoma 142 19.2

Oregon 289 51.5

Pennsylvania 4,730 327.0

Rhode Island 7 .5

South Carolina 88 16.8

South Dakota 305 31.1

Tennessee 276 34.3

Texas 331 133.7

Utah 250 47.6

Vermont 565 56.8

Virginia 553 71.6

Washington 276 75.2

West Virginia 69 7.7

Wisconsin 8,512 641.0

Wyoming 9 1.6 ————— —————

United States 3 33,539 4,287.1
48

Appendix Figures
49

Appendix Figure 1— Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1975-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1975 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99

1 Total includes value of related services and other income.

Billion dollars

Total1

Marketing

Farm Supply

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Appendix Figure 2— Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1975-99

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1975 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99

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

Billion dollars

Gross1

Net2

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
50

Appendix Figure 4— Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives, by Type, 1999

Grain & Oilseed 25.8%

Dairy 6.4%

Livestock & Poultry 2.8%

Fruit & Vegetable 6.7%

Other Marketing1 8.4%

Percentage based on 3,466 cooperatives.

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

Cotton 0.4%

Service 11.6%

Farm Supply 37.9%

Appendix Figure 3— U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1975-99

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1975 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99

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

Million

Memberships1

Farms

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0
51

Appendix Figure 5— Distribution of Total Net Income, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Dairy 20.8%

Fruit & Vegetable 4.4%

Farm Supply 26.5%

Percentage based on net income of $1.3 billion.

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

Cotton 5.3%

Other Marketing 1 6.1%

Grain & Oilseed 24.4%

Livestock & Poultry 4.6%

Service 7.9%

Appendix Figure 6— Distribution of Total Losses, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Fruit & Vegetable 29.9%

Livestock & Poultry 3.5%

Other Marketing 1 2.7%

Dairy 4.3%

Percentage based on losses of $284.1 million.

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

Grain & Oilseed 4.5%

Cotton 0.1%

Sugar 9.0%

Service 2.3%

Farm Supply 43.7%
52

Appendix Figure 8— Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Livestock & Poultry 18.9%

Dairy 14.2%

Rice 1.5%

Sugar 2.6%

Other Marketing 1 5.0%

Farm Supply 28.6%

Percentage based on 172,951 full-time employees.

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

Grain & Oilseed 12.1%

Fruit & Vegetable 13.5%

Cotton 1.0%

Service 2.6%

Appendix Figure 7— Distribution of Total Net Worth, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Dairy 14.5%

Livestock & Poultry 7.2%

Fruit & Vegetable 8.8%

Rice 1.3%

Sugar 4.5%

Other Marketing 7.9%

Percentage based on total net worth of $20.3 billion.

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

Grain & Oilseed 17.1%

Service 2.7%

Cotton 1.9%

Farm Supply 34.1%
53

Appendix Figure 9— Assets Per Full-Time Employee, by Type of Cooperative, 1999

Livestock & Poultry

Service

Rice

Fruit & Vegetable

Farm Supply

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Other Marketing1

Sugar

Cotton

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Total assets (thousand dollars)

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

Cooperatives1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

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

Million dollars

Investments

Refunds

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

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

Rural Business–Cooperative Service

Stop 3250

Washington, D.C. 20250-3250

Rural Business–Cooperative Service (RBS) provides research,

management, and educational assistance to cooperatives to

strengthen the economic position of farmers and other rural

residents. It works directly with cooperative leaders and

Federal and State agencies to improve organization,

leadership, and operation of cooperatives and to give guidance

to further development.

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

rural residents develop cooperatives to obtain supplies and

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

sell; (2) advises rural residents on developing existing

resources through cooperative action to enhance rural living;

(3) helps cooperatives improve services and operating

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

public on how cooperatives work and benefit their members

and their communities; and (5) encourages international

cooperative programs. RBS also publishes research and

educational materials and issues Rural Cooperatives magazine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race,

color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political

beliefs, sexual orientation or marital or family status. (Not all

prohibited bases apply to all programs). Persons with disabilities

who require alternative means for communication of program

information (Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) should contact

USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD)

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

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

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

202-720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity

provider and employer.