United States

Department of

Agriculture

Rural BusinessCooperative

Service

FIBS Service

Report 57

USDA

m

Farmer Cooperative

Statistics, 1998
Abstract A survey of all U.S. farmer cooperatives ending their business years during calendar

year 1998 showed a net income of $1.7 billion, down from $2.3 billion in 1997. Gross

and net business volumes were down for the 3,651 cooperatives in the survey. Assets,

liabilities, and net worth were up. Business volume by commodity handled is reported

for all cooperatives and by State for 1997. 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 service organizations.

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

Farmer Cooperative Statistics, 1998

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.

Washington, DC 20250-3256

Service Report 57

November 1999

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 whose business

years ended in 1998. Cooperatives are classified by principal product marketed and

major function. Fishery cooperatives are included as miscellaneous marketing cooperatives. Both gross (includes intercooperative business) and net (excludes intercooperative business) dollar volumes are reported.

Statistics for 1998 were compiled on a national basis. State data on cooperative business volume and memberships are reported for 1997. State data are collected every

other year.

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’ 1998 business years.

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. Responses to the 1998 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.
Contents HIGHLIGHTS .......................................................

.

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

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

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

II-1 998 STATISTICS ................................................ .2

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

Memberships .............................................

.

Employees ...............................................

.

TotalLaborExpense .......................................

.

BusinessSize ........................................... ..g

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

.

Netlncome..............................................14

BalanceSheet .........................................

..16

Selected Financial Ratios ...................................18

Ill-COOPERATIVE TRENDS, 1989-98 .................................21

Number of Cooperatives ...................................21

Memberships ..........................................

..2 2

Employees ............................................

..2 3

Business Volume .........................................24

Netlncome..............................................2 6

BalanceSheet ........................................

..2 6

IV-OTHER SERVICE COOPERATIVES ................................27

Farm Credit System .......................................27

Rural Telephone Cooperatives ...............................30

Rural Electric Cooperatives .................................30

Rural Credit Unions .......................................31

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations .........................31

TABLES

Table lTable 2-

Table 3-

Table 4-

Table 5-

Table 6-

Table 7-

Table 8-

Table 9-

Table lONumber of cooperatives and memberships, by major

business activity, 1998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Number of cooperatives, by major function and State, 1998 . . . . . . . .4

Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees

of farmer cooperatives, by type of cooperative, 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Average total labor expense for cooperatives

reporting, by selected type and size, 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lO

Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for cooperatives

reporting, by selected type and size, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l 1

Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross

business volume, 1998.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by

commodity,1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...13

Farmer cooperatives’ net income, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1998 . . . . . . .17

Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Table 1 l- Selected financial ratios for,cooperatives, 1998 ..................19

Table 12- Number of farmer cooperatives, 1989-98 .......................21

Table 13- Estimated number of branches operated by grain

and farm supply cooperatives, 1992-98 ........................23

Table 14- Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and service

cooperatives, 1989-98 .....................................24

Table l!+ Cooperatives’ number of full-time employees, 1994-98 ........... .25
Contents Table 16

Table 17-

Table 18-

Table 19-

Table 20-

Table 21-

Table 22-

Table 23-

Table 24-

Table 25-

Table 26-

Table 27-

FIGURES

Figure lFigure 2-

Figure 3-

Figure 4-

Figure 5-

Figure 6-

Figure 7-

Figure 8-

Figure 9-

Figure lOCooperatives’ net business volume, 1989 and 1998 ............. .26

Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 1989-98 ......... .29

Net income of farmer cooperatives, 1989-98 ....................30

Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1989-98 ... .31

Farm Credit Association Structure, Jan. 1, 1999 .................32

Farm Credit System’s combined assets, net worth,

and net income, 1994-98 ...................................33

Farm Credit Banks’ combined assets, net worth,

net loans, and net income, 1994-98 ...........................33

Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and net income of the

St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives and CoBank, ACB, 1994-98 ....... -33

Number, participation, and level of activity of rural

telephone cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 1998 .................34

Number, participation, and level of activity of rural

electric cooperatives, by State, Dec. 31, 1998 ...................35

Number, participation, and level of activity of rural

credit unions, by State, Dec. 31,1998 .........................36

Number, participation, and level of activity of dairy herd

improvement associations, by State, Dec. 31, 1998 ............. -37

Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1998 ........ .3

Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives by Size, 1998 .... 5

Distribution of Memberships by Type of Cooperative, 1998 ......... .6

Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function

and Gross Business Volume, 1998 ............................6

Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees,

by Type of Cooperative, 1998 ................................ .8

Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal

Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 1998 ...................... .9

Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives and Gross Business

Volume, by Size, 1998 ....................................-12

Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed

by Cooperatives, 1998 .....................................14

Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled

by Cooperatives, 1998 .....................................15

Total Net Income or Loss by Cooperative Type, 1998 ............ .16

Figure 1 l- Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed

by Net Worth, by Cooperative Type, 1998 ......................17

Figure 12- Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1989-98 ............. .21

Figure 13- Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1989-98 .................22

Figure 14- Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1992-98 ..... .24

Figure 15- Cooperatives’ Memberships by Function, 1989-98 .............. .25

Figure 16- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1989-98 ...................27

Figure 17- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1989-98 ....... .28

Figure 18- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1989-98 ..... .28

Figure 19- Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1989-98 ...........................30

Figure 20- Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Liabilities, 1989-98 ................32

. . . 111
Contents APPENDIX TABLES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Appendix Table l- Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity and State, 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Appendix Table 2- Cooperatives’ business volume, by

commodity and State, 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

APPENDIX FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Appendix Figure l- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1974-98 . . . . . . . . . . .52

Appendix Figure 2- Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business

Volumes, 1974-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -52

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

Memberships, 1974-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Appendix Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives

byType, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...53

Appendix Figure 5- Distribution of Total Net Income by Type

of Cooperative, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Total Losses by Type

of Cooperative, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Appendix Figure 7- Distribution of Total Net Worth by Type

of Cooperative, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Appendix Figure 8- Distribution of Total Full-time Employees

by Type of Cooperative, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Appendix Figure 9- Assets Per Full-Time Employee,

by Type of Cooperative, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Appendix Figure 1 O- Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage

Refunds Received from Other Cooperatives, 1989-98 . . . . .56

iv
Highlights Both gross and net business volumes dropped and net income declined significantly in

1998 according to a survey of marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives

by USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service (FIBS). Although the number of cooperatives and memberships declined, total assets, total liabilities, net worth, and number

of full-time employees increased.

l Total gross business volume (includes intercooperative business) handled by cooperatives dropped 4.5 percent, to $121 billion in 1998 from $126.7 billion in 1997.

Total net business (excludes intercooperative business) dropped 1.9 percent, or $2

billion, to $104.7 billion from $106.7 billion.

Total net income of $1.7 billion was down 24.7 percent from the $2.3 billion reported

in 1997. The 1998 net included intercooperative dividends and refunds of $573 million-down 24.3 percent from $757.1 million. This included, reporting for the first

time, refunds from CoBank and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.

The number of cooperatives declined 3.7 percent, from 3,791 to 3,651.

Grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,617 branches in 1998,

up from 5,433 in 1997.

Cooperative memberships were 3,352,577, down 2.1 percent from 3,424,168 in

1997.

Cooperatives employed 173,791 full-time and 91,799 part-time and seasonal

employees in 1998. Numbers of full-time employees increased 0.9 percent, while

part-time and seasonal employees decreased 4.8 percent.

Gross value of farm products marketed by cooperatives in 1998 decreased 1.7 percent, to $84.5 billion from $85.9 billion. Net value of these farm products, after eliminating intercooperative business, was $76.6 billion, down 1.5 percent from $77.8 billion.

Gross value of farm supplies handled by farmer cooperatives was down 11 .l percent, to $33 billion from $37.1 billion. After adjusting for intercooperative business,

the decrease was 2.5 percent, to $24.6billion from $25.2 billion.

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

plus other income, decreased 4.8 percent to $3.5 billion.

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives increased 5.8 percent to $46.6 billion

from $44 billion. Net assets, after eliminating intercooperative investments, was up

6.2 percent, to $41.9 billion from $39.4 billion. This included investments in CoBank

and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.

Total liabilities of $26.6 billion was up 4.5 percent from $25.5 billion.

Net worth, or member and patron equity, rose 7.6 percent to nearly $20 billion from

$18.5 billion. Member and patron equity financed 42.9 percent of total assets, up

from 42.1 percent in 1997.

V
Highlights HIGHLIGHTS CAPSULE

1997 1998 Change

Number of cooperatives

Memberships

Gross business volume (mil. dol.)

Net business volume (mil. dol.)

Net income (mil. dol.)

Total assets (mil. dol.)

Net worth (mil. dol.)

Full-time employees

Part-time and seasonal employees

Leading States 1995

Number of cooperatives 389

Memberships

Net business volume (mil. dol.) 8,891

3,791 3,651

3,424,168 3,352,577

126,673 120,961

106,670 104,667

2,314 1,742

43,996 46,560

18,537 19,954

172,199 173,791

96,472 91,799

Minnesota

Minnesota

329,241

California

1997

Minnesota

368

Minnesota

296,058

Iowa

10,941

-140

-71,591

-5,712

-2,003

-572

2,564

1,417

1,592

-4,673

-21

-33,183

N/A
FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 1998

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

Katherine C. DeVille, and Jacqueline E. Penn

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

l-Definition of a Farmer Cooperative

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) of

USDA’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.

Wool pools are included as marketing cooperatives.

Livestock shipping associations and rice drying cooperatives, beginning with 1992 and 1993, respectively,

are considered service cooperatives.

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

cooperatives, as well as those that do not meet RBS

definition. Other reasons for possible differences in the

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

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

have completed and returned an initial questionnaire;

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

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

lists and classifications in State and Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

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

farm supply, and related-service.

Marketing cooperatives derive most of their total

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

commodities or commodity groups depending upon

which accounts for most of its business volume. RBS

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

Farm supply cooperatives derive most of their

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

Many also handle farm and home items such as heating oil, lawn and garden supplies and equipment, and

food.

Service cooperatives provide specialized business

services related to the agricultural business operations

of farmers, ranchers, or cooperatives such as cotton

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

cooperatives, added in 1993, previously were listed

with rice marketing cooperatives.

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 3,651 farmer cooperatives in 1998,3,546

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 42 such cooperatives.

II-1 998 STATISTICS

Cooperatives’ net business volume was $104.7

billion in 1998, down from $106.7 billion in 1997 and

the first drop in business volume since 1991. Net

income of $1.7 billion was down from $2.3 billion in

1997, a drop of 24.7 percent. That was the lowest

income level since 1993 and well off the income record

of $2.36 billion set in 1995. Numbers of cooperatives

Table I- Number of cooperatives and memberships,

by major business activity, 1998

Major business activity Cooperatives Memberships

Beans and peas, dry edible 8 2,872

Cotton 15 41,255

Dairy 228 92,892

Fruits and vegetables 249 43,953

Grains and oilseeds’ 964 728,694

Livestock 80 161,515

Nuts 18 46,029

Poultry2 18 36,329

Rice 17 12,865

Sugar3 52 15,915

Tobacco 26 172,823

Wool and mohair 91 17,911

Miscellaneous 97 25,303

Total marketing 1,863 1,398,356

Farm supply 1,347 1,773,659

Service 441 180,562

Total 3,651 3,352,577

Number

1 Excludes cotton. Cottonseed sales were included with cotton. Cottonseed

meal and oil were included with feed and miscellaneous, respectively.

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

3 Includes beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.

2
and memberships, at 3,651 and 3,352,577, respectively,

were down. Combined assets, net worth, and liabilities

were all up.

Number of Cooperatives

The 1998 survey accounted for 3,651 marketing,

farm supply, and related-service* cooperatives, compared with 3,791 in 1997. The net decrease of 140

associations (3.7 percent) largely reflects a continuing

trend involving dissolution, merger, or acquisition.

The largest decrease was in grain and oilseed (grain)

cooperatives (50), followed by farm supply (39). Wool

cooperatives increased by three and nut, dry bean, and

sugar each increased by one.

Of the 3,651 cooperatives, 1,863 primarily marketed farm products, 1,347 primarily handled farm

production supplies, and 441 provided services related

to marketing or purchasing activities (table 1).

Marketing cooperatives decreased slightly, from

51.2 percent in 1997 to 51 percent of the total number

of cooperatives in 1998, while farm supply coopera-

’ 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.

tives increased slightly, from 36.6 to 36.9 percent.

Related-service cooperatives decreased slightly, from

12.2 to 12.1 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 (157), followed closely by Minnesota

(155). 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 the same number of

marketing and farm supply cooperatives, while the

majority in Texas were service cooperatives, mainly

cotton gins. Wisconsin, the fifth 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 are formerly independent cooperatives serving a local community. For economic or other

Figure I- Number of Cooperatives by Function, Leading States, 1998

Numb

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

ler

Service

SUPPlY

Marketing

MN ND TX IA WI IL CA KS SD NE

3
Table n-Number of cooperatives,1 by major function and State, 1998*

Major function

State

Marketing

Farm Supply

and Service

Total

Alabama 10 5 3 63

Arizona 5 5 10

Arkansas 12 4 5 57

California 116 7 0 186

Colorado 29 2 3 52

Florida 36 8 44

Georgia 9 8 17

Hawaii 22 7 29

Idaho 24 16 40

Illinois 127 69 196

Indiana 27 3 1 58

Iowa 136 68 204

Kansas 122 22 144

Kentucky 12 30 42

Louisiana 18 32 50

Maryland 3 17 20

Massachusetts 10 6 16

Michigan 38 30 68

Minnesota 155 186 341

Mississippi 19 59 78

Missouri 27 46 73

Montana 38 37 75

Nebraska 75 47 122

New Jersey 13 5 18

New Mexico 4 5 9

New York 82 17 99

North Carolina 20 9 29

North Dakota 157 126 283

Ohio 63 25 88

Oklahoma 45 50 95

Oregon 25 14 39

Pennsylvania 46 14 60

South Dakota 66 73 139

Tennessee 8 71” 79

Texas 69 193 262

Utah 10 8 18

Virginia 22 41 63

Washington 55 35 90

West Virginia 14 13 27

Wisconsin 40 158 198

Wyoming 7 6 13

Other States3 47 10 57

Number

United States 1,863 1,788 3,651

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

2 Data covering operations of coopeTatives for fiscal years that ended in 1998.

3 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any function. States with at least three cooperatives were: Connecticut, 5; Delaware,

3; South Carolina, 8.

4
reasons, many were acquired by or merged with other

cooperatives and operated as branches from which to

serve members and patrons at outlying locations.

In 1998, grain and farm supply cooperatives

operated an estimated 5,617 branches-2,299 and

3,318, respectively. There was an increase of 49 branches for grain cooperatives and an increase of 135

branches for farm supply cooperatives. Both grain

and farm supply cooperatives averaged 2.4 branches

per cooperative in 1998. In 1997, grain and farm supply cooperatives operated an estimated 5,433 branches.

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

smaller (local) cooperatives combined. The 48 largest

grain cooperatives-5 percent of all grain cooperatives-accounted for 31.1 percent of the total number

of branches operated by grain cooperatives. And the

30 largest farm supply cooperatives had 1,672 branches, 50.4 percent of all farm supply branches.

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives totaled an estimated

3,352,577 in 1998, down 2.1 percent from 3,424,168 in

1997 (table 1).

By the cooperative’s major business activity, 52.9

percent were memberships of farm supply cooperatives and 21.7 percent were of grain (figure 3). Dairy

cooperative memberships were only 2.8 percent of

cooperatives’ total memberships, but accounted for

24.2 percent of cooperatives’ net business volume in

1998, up from 21.9 percent in 1997.

Among marketing cooperatives, memberships

decreased in 1998 for every type except sugar, nut,

wool, poultry, and dry-edible bean cooperatives-all

of which increased.

The largest proportions of memberships in farm

supply cooperatives were among the smallest and

largest cooperatives, as shown in figure 4.

Memberships in marketing cooperatives were the

greatest proportion of total memberships among those

cooperatives with gross business volumes of $15 million to $250 million. When grouped by function and

size, the largest number of memberships was in those

cooperatives with a gross business volume of $15 million to $100 million.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives, like other businesses,

employ full-time and, in many cases, part-time and

seasonal employees to run their operations. The numFigure 2- Branches of Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives by Size, 1998

Number

2,500 ,

Branches

”

Less than 5 ’ 5-9.9 1 o-24.9 25 and more

Total Assets (million dollars)

5
Figure 3- Distribution of Memberships by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Other Marketing’ 2.2%

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable

Tobacco 5.2%

Dairy 2.8%

5.9%

1.3%

Percent based on 3,352,577 total memberships.

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

Farm Supply 52.9%

Nut 1.4%

Service 5.4%

Cotton 1.2%

Grain & Oilseed 21.7%

Figure 4- Cooperative Memberships Grouped by Function and Gross Business Volume, 1998

1.000 Memberships

1000

900

800

700

600

500

450

300

200

100

0

Less than 5 100-249.9 250 and more

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

Gross business volume (million dollars)
ber 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 1998, farmer cooperatives employed an estimated 265,590 full-time and part-time and seasonal

employees, down from 268,671 in 1997 (table 3). By

type, marketing cooperatives had 185,135 employees

(69.7 percent of total); farm supply cooperatives had

66,506 employees (25 percent); and related-service

cooperatives had 13,949 employees (5.3 percent).

Among marketing cooperatives, those primarily

handling fruits and vegetables had the most employees (58,055), followed by livestock and poultry (41,807)

and grain and oilseed (32,411).

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

for 1998. Farm supply cooperatives used the most

employees and rice cooperatives the fewest. Rice cooperatives had the smallest proportion of total part-time

and seasonal employees. Related-service, followed by

fruit and vegetable, cooperatives had the largest proportion of part-time and seasonal employees.

Full-time employees totaled 173,791 in 1998, up

from 172,199 in 1997, or 0.9 percent. The number per

association, however, was nearly 48, up from 45 in

1997, due both to fewer cooperatives and more fulltime employees. The 1,863 marketing cooperatives

employed 120,069 persons, up 1.3 percent from 1997.

Livestock and poultry cooperatives, with 28,031, had

the most full-time employees, while dairy cooperatives, with 27,056, ranked second. Together, they

accounted for 45.9 percent of the full-time employees

of marketing cooperatives.

The 1,347 farm supply cooperatives employed

48,171 persons on a full-time basis, up only 0.6 percent

from the 47,870 reported for 1997. Full-time employees

of the 441 related-service cooperatives totaled 5,551 in

1998, down from 5,850, or 5.1 percent.

Cooperatives used 91,799 part-time and seasonal

employees in 1998, down 4,673, or 4.8 percent, from

1997. Cooperatives marketing fruits and vegetables

hired an additional 2,796 part-time and seasonal

employees.

In 1998, marketing cooperatives reported 65,066

part-time and seasonal employees, or 70.9 percent of

the total. Number per cooperative averaged nearly 35.

Fruit and vegetable and livestock and poultry cooperatives, with 48,097, accounted for 73.9 percent. Farm

supply cooperatives had 18,355 part-time and seasonal

employees, an average of nearly 14. Many of the marTable ZI- Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of farmer cooperatives, by type of co-op, 1997-98

Principal product(s)

marketed or

major function

Full-time employees

1997 1998

Number

Part-time and seasonal 1

1997 1998

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits & vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products*

1,995 1,844 643 1,050

28,323 27,056 825 925

22,847 23,734 31,525 34,321

23,538

26,399

2,713

3,473

9,191

23,873 9,106 8,538

28,031 17,477 13,776

2,655 226 231

4,402 4,203 4,052

8,474 2,826 2,173

Marketing 118,479 120,069 66,830 65,066

Farm supply 47,870 48,171 19,264 18,335

Total c 172,199 173,791 96,472

5,850 5.551 10.377 8,398

91,799

1 Number of part-time employees was estimated for all cooperatives based on the relationship of part-time to full-time employees for the

respondent cooperaOves. Data for 1997 were revised. Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

7
Figure 5- Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Rice

Cotton

Sugar

Other Marketing’

Service

Dairy

Grain & Oilseed

Livestock & Poultry

Fruit & Vegetable

Farm Supply

-7, Full-Time 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

1,000

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

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

keting cooperatives needed more employees than did

farm supply cooperatives. For example, livestock and

poultry cooperatives averaged nearly 427 employees

(figure 6).

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, insurance

expenses, etc.

The average total labor expense per cooperative

for those reporting in both 1997 and 1998 is shown in

table 4. Average total labor expense (including director

fees) is shown by type of cooperative and by asset

group. This information can be used for comparing the

average total labor expense of individual cooperatives

of similar type and size. 2 For those where no size

* In a 1999 USDA survey of farmer cooperative statistics users, twothirds of those responding thought the most useful information to

add to USDA’s statistics of farmer cooperatives would be

information on wages and benefits.

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. As shown in table 4, average total labor

expense varied from a decrease from 1997 to 1998 of

16.3 percent for the small cotton gins (assets less than

$500,000) to an increase of 15 percent for the relatedservice cooperatives. Also, average total labor expense

increased as size of cooperative increased, especially

for some of the largest cooperatives. In most cases,

these larger cooperatives are involved in processing or

manufacturing activities that are very labor intensive.

Total Sales Per Dollar of Labor Expense

The productivity of labor can be measured by

examining the relationship between total sales and

total labor expense. Table 5 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

8
Figure 6- Average Number of Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, by Type of

Cooperative, 1998

Service

Grain & Oilseed

Other’

Farm Supply

Dairy

Sugar

Rice

Cotton

Fruit & Vegetable

Livestock & Poultry

‘ime and Seasone

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Number

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

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

and sales are high. Surveyed cooperatives reported 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, $216.12 (table 5). Other service cooperatives with assets in the $1 million to $2.5 million range

had the lowest sales per dollar of labor expense, $2.21.

Total sales per dollar of labor expense varies less

as the size of cooperatives becomes larger for grain

and oilseed and farm supply cooperatives than it does

in differing sizes for dairy and fruit and vegetable

cooperatives. Dairy cooperatives ranged from $23.91 to

$216.12; fruit and vegetable cooperatives from $7.99 to

$90.20; grain and oilseed cooperatives from $19.60 to

$49.67; and farm supply cooperatives from $9.92 to

$14.65.

Cooperative leaders may want to calculate their

total sales per dollar of total labor expense and compare it with the appropriate figure in table 5 to see how

well their cooperative is performing.

Business Size

Most farmer cooperatives, as measured by annual

gross business volume, are relatively 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 part from mergers,

consolidations, and acquisitions. Data used were not

adjusted for changes in price levels, and some size

changes resulted from inflation.

In 1998,75.3 percent of all farmer cooperatives

reported a business volume of less than $15 million.

However, they accounted for only 9.9 percent of the

total gross dollar volume (table 6 and figure 7). Only

1.7 percent of farmer cooperatives reported a business

volume of at least $250 million, but they accounted for

59.2 percent of the total sales, down from 60.5 percent

in 1997.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 3,651 marketing, farm supply, and related-service cooperatives for

1998 was $121 billion (table 7), down 4.5 percent from

$126.7 billion in 1997.

Total net business volume of farmer cooperatives

in 1998 was $104.7 billion, $76.6 billion from farm

products marketed, $24.6 billion from farm supply

9
Table S-Average total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type and size, 1997-98

Type of co-op

and asset group (Ml. Dol.)

Average total labor expense

1997 1998 Change

Dry bean and pea 2,557

Cotton 4,154

Dairy 2,778 2,997 7.9

Less than 0.5 20 20 -.7

0.5 - .99 153 152 -.5

1.0 - 2.49 175 177 1.5

2.5 - 24.99 1,528 1,592 4.3

25.0 - 99.99 10,998 12,167 10.6

Fruit and vegetable 5,984 6,238 4.6

Less than 0.5 70 71 .6

0.5 - .99 311 312 .2

1.0 - 2.49 355 332 -6.3

2.5 - 24.99 2,148 2,150 .2

25.0 - 99.99 9,231 9,384 1.7

100.0 and more 53,972 57,391 6.3

Fruit and vegetable 5,964 6,238 4.6

Fresh only 1,348 1,394 3.4

Processed only 25,628 25,660 .l

Fresh and processed 12,943 14,404 11.3

Grain and oilseed 1,228 1,303 6.1

Less than 0.5 56 55 -2.0

0.5 - .99 117 122 3.9

1.0 - 2.49 219 226 3.1

2.5 - 24.99 999 1,050 5.1

25.0 - 99.99 3,446 3,795 10.1

100.0 and more 30,530 32,390 6.1

Livestock 1,207 1,122 -7.0

Nut 11,806 12,874 9.0

Pouttry 54,513 49,808 -8.6

Rice 22,718 23,029 1.4

Sugar 22,349 22,183 -.7

Tobacco 151 139 -8.2

Fishery 5,598 5,813 3.8

Miscellaneous marketing 20,646 20,618 -.l

Farm supply 1,691 1,774 4.9

Less than 0.5 73 74 0.9

0.5 - .99 161 167 4.1

1.0 - 2.49 307 319 3.8

2.5 - 24.99 1,241 1,295 4.3

25.0 - 99.99 5,126 5,818 13.5

100.0 and more 65,893 68,882 4.5

Cotton gin 361 398 10.1

Less than 0.5 107 89 -16.3

0.5 - .99 208 216 3.7

1.0 - 2.49 282 317 12.2

2.5 - 24.99 643 716 11.3

Service 1,478 1,699 15.0

$1,000

2,925

4,062

Percent

14.4

-2.2

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and director fees.

10
Tables- Total sales per dollar of total labor expense for cooperatives reporting, by selected type

and size 1998

Type of coop

and asset group

Sales per

$1 labor

expense’

Type of cc-cp

and asset group

-

Sales per

$1 labor

expense’

Million Dollars Dollars Million Dollars Dollars

Dry bean and pea 15.48

Cotton 38.58

Dairy 31.29

Less than 0.5 139.59

0.5 - .99 216.12

1.0 - 2.49 170.75

2.5 - 24.99 61.47

25.00 - 99.99 23.91

100.0 and more 25.77

Fruit and vegetable 9.52

Less than 0.5 90.20

0.5 - .99 29.29

1 .o - 2.49 58.84

2.5 - 24.99 12.87

25.0 - 99.99 9.15

100.0 and more 7.99

Fruit and vegetable 9.52

Fresh only 14.18

Processed only 8.78

Fresh and processed 7.03

Grain and oilseed 28.68

Less than 0.5 19.60

0.5 - .99 27.96

1 .o - 2.49 29.34

2.5 - 24.99 24.04

25.0 - 99.99 24.11

100.0 and more 49.67

Livestock 91.97

Nut 10.29

Poultry 10.04

Rice 12.97

Sugar 7.96

Tobacco 85.80

Fishery 7.16

Misc. Marketing 19.49

Farm supply 12.54

Less than 0.5 13.05

0.5 - .99 9.92

1.0 - 2.49 11.14

2.5 - 24.99 10.62

25.00 - 99.99 12.89

100.0 and more 14.65

Cotton gin 7.96

Less than 0.5 10.19

0.5 - .99 6.73

1 .o - 2.49 8.09

2.5 - 24.99 8.02

Other service 2.24

Less than 0.5 2.81

0.5 - .99 2.60

1.0 - 2.49 2.21

1 Includes wages and salaries, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and director fees.

11
Table 6- Farmer cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume, 1998’

Volume group

(mil. dol.)

Cooperatives Dollar volume Memberships3

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

Less than 5.0 1,769 48.5 3,331 2.8 690 20.6

5 - 9.9 667 18.3 4,706 3.9 463 13.8

1 - 14.9 315 8.6 3,832 3.2 275 8.2

15 - 24.9 335 9.2 6,381 5.3 314 9.4

25 - 49.9 293 8.0 9,998 8.3 426 12.7

50 - 99.9 146 4.0 10,195 8.4 248 7.4

100 - 199.9 44 1.2 6,295 5.2 123 3.7

200 - 249.9 21 0.6 4,661 3.9 35 1.0

250 - 499.9 24 0.7 8,265 6.8 165 4.9

500 - 999.9 21 0.6 14,601 12.1 115 3.4

1,000 and more 16 0.4 48,696 40.3 498 14.9

Total4 3,651 100.0 120,961 100.0 3,353 100.0

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, 1998

Percent

6 0

5 0

4 0

3 0

2 0

10

0

I r 1

Dollar Volume

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

Gross business volume (million dollars)

12
sales, and nearly $3.5 billion from services performed

and from other income sources. The total net figure (the

difference between gross and net business volumes),

which excludes intercooperative business, was down

from $106.7 billion set in 1997. However, adjusting for

price change, net business volume actually increased 5.4

percent3, due to both lower commodity prices and

lower prices paid for production items in 1998.

3 Deflated 1997 cooperative business volume was $109.4 billion, up 3

percent from the actual $106.2 billion in 1996. The $109.4 billion was

derived by deflating farm products marketed by indices of prices

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

income by the index of prices paid by farmers for production items.

Gross volume of farm products marketed by

cooperatives decreased 1.7 percent, from $85.9 billion

in 1997 to $84.5 billion in 1998, due mainly to a 12-percent decrease in grain and oilseed marketings. The net

volume of farm products marketed was $76.6 billion,

or 73.2 percent of the total net volume of all cooperatives, down 1.5 percent from $77.8 billion in 1997.

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

volume. Dairy (milk and milk products) led with 33

percent, followed by grains and oilseeds (excluding

cottonseed) with 27.8 percent, and fruits and vegetables with 12.2 percent. The proportions of milk and

Table 7- Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 1998 l

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible)

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits and vegetables

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed

Livestock

Nuts

Poultry3

Rice

Sugar

Tobacco

Wool and mohair

Miscellaneous 4

Total farm products 64,523.g 69.9 76.642.0 73.2

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants

Feed

Fertilizer

Petroleum

Seed

Other supplies5

4,078.6

7,186.4

7,764.4

8,767.7

1,019.8

4,147.0

3.4

5.9

6.4

7.3

::t

3,165.7 3.0

5,405.3 5.2

5,170.3 4.9

6,616.3 6.3

731.8 0.7

3,462.0 3.3

Total farm supplies 32,963.8 27.3 24,551.4 23.5

Services provided: Trucking,

cotton ginning,storage, grinding,

locker plants, misc.B 3,473.2 2.9 3,473.2 3.3

Total business 120,960.g 100.0 104,666.6 100.0

Million dollars Percent Million dollars Percent

187.3 0.2 187.2 0.2

3,004.4 2.5 2,961 .l 2.8

27,807.6 23.0 25,329.4 24.2

9,903.8 8.2 9.391.2 9.0

25,338.g

7,575.0

900.7

2,137.3

932.0

2,681 .l

348.5

11.3

3,696.l

21 .o

6.3

.7

1.8

E

0:3

(21

3.1

21,290.g 20.3

7,418.1 7.1

900.7 .9

2,137.3 2.0

932.0 0.9

2,444.7 2.3

348.5 0.3

6.8 (2)

3,294.2 3.2

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

* Less than 0.05 percent.

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

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

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

cooperatives.

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

hardware, chicks, and other supplies not separately classified.

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

13
Figure 8- Relative Importance of Farm Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 1998

Cotton 3.9%

Sugar 3.2%

Other Marketingsl4.5% ~

Nuts 1.2%

Grains & Oilseeds 27.8%

Livestock 9.7% -

Fruits & Vegetables 12.2% -

Tobacco 0.5%

Poultry 2.8%

-Milk & Milk Products 33.0%

Percent based on a net marketing business volume of $76.6 billion.

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

milk products and fruits and vegetables were up compared with 1997, because of a significant drop in cooperatives’ grain business volume in 1998.

Gross volume of all farm supplies handled by cooperatives was $33 billion, down 11.1 percent from $37.1 billion in 1997. Net farm supply volume of nearly $24.6 billion, down 2.5 percent from $25.2 billion, accounted for

23.5 percent of the total net business volume.

The leading farm production supplies handled by

cooperatives in terms of net business volume were

petroleum, 26.9 percent; feed, 22 percent; and fertilizer,

21.1 percent (figure 9). While sales of “other” supplies,

seed, and crop protectants were up in 1998, feed, fertilizer, and petroleum were down.

Receipts for services provided by marketing,

farm supply, and related-service cooperatives, plus

other income, were down 4.8 percent to $3.5 billion.

Service receipts and other income represented 3.3 percent of total net business volume.

Net Income

Total net income (adjusted for losses and before

taxes) for all cooperatives in 1998 was $1.7 billion,

including intercooperative dividends and refunds

(table 8). Cooperatives operating strictly on a pooling

basis were excluded. Net income was down 24.7 percent from the $2.3 billion in 1997. Patronage refunds

received from other cooperatives, including CoBank

and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives, totaled $573

million, down 24.3 percent from $757.1 million in

1997.

Marketing cooperatives’ total net income of

$1,017.5 million was down 22.5 percent from the

$1,313.3 million generated in 1997. Losses by poultry,

fruit and vegetable, sugar, and miscellaneous marketing cooperatives were the major factor. Grain and

oilseed (43.4 percent) and dairy (43.9 percent) cooperatives together accounted for most (87.3 percent) of

marketing cooperatives’ net income and a majority (51

percent) of total net income (figure 10).

Total net income of farm supply cooperatives was

$578.8 million in 1998, down 30.6 percent from $834.6

million in 1997. And they accounted for 33.2 percent of

cooperatives’ total net income in 1998, compared with

36.1 percent in 1997. Income from their own operations, excluding patronage refunds from other cooperatives, CoBank, and the St. Paul Bank for

Cooperatives, was $301.6 million, down 37.3 percent

from $480.8 million in 1997.

14
Figure 9- Relative Importance of Farm Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 1998

Otlier Supplies’ 14.1%

Seed 3.0%

Petroleum 26.9%

Crop Protectants 12.9%

Feed 22.0%

Fertilizer 21 .l%

Percent based on a net farm supply business volume of $24.6 billion.

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

Table 8- Farmer COOperStiVeS’ net hICOme 19981

Principal product(s) marketed

and major function

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits & vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products3

co-ops’

Number

15

228

249

964

98

17

52

240

Total Income from Income from

net income own operations other co-ops’

---------- Milliondollars ----------

64.0 60.7 3.4

447.2 414.9 32.3

76.9 61.3 15.6

441.4 241.3 200.1

-71.2 -80.0 8.8

7.3 5.4 1.9

-12.1 -15.5 3.4

64.0 60.2 3.9

Total marketing 1,863 1 ,017.5 748.2

Total farm supply 1,347 578.8 301.6

Total related-service 441 146.0 119.5

Combined total 3,651 1,742.3 1,169.3

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

* Includes patronage refunds from CoBank and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.

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

269.3

277.2

26.5

573.0

15
Figure IO- Total Net Income or Loss by Cooperative Type, 1998

Livestock & Poultry

Sugar

Rice

Cotton

Other Marketing2

Fruit and Vegetable

Service

Grain & Oilseed

Dairy

Farm Supply

c

Frdm Own Opeiations / I I

-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

i Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other farmer cooperatives, CoBank, and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.

* Includes drv bean and oea. nut. tobacco. wool and mohair. fisherv. and other miscellaneous marketina coooeratives.

Farmer cooperatives’ net income from own operations in 1998 totaled $1,169.3 million, down 24.9 percent from $1,557.2 million. Nearly 32.9 percent, or $573

million, of total net income ($1,742.3 million) was generated by other cooperatives, CoBank, and the St. Paul

Bank for Cooperatives, down 24.3 percent from $757.1

in 1997. However, the proportion generated by other

cooperatives in 1997 was about the same, 32.7 percent.

Marketing cooperatives’ net income from other cooperatives, including CoBank and the St. Paul Bank for

Cooperatives, totaled $269.3 million and accounted for

26.5 percent of their total, down from $368.8 million

and 28.1 percent in 1997. Grain cooperatives’ net

income from other cooperatives totaled $200.1 million,

or 45.3 percent of their total, down from $233.6 million,

or 53.5 percent in 1997.

Income before adjusting for losses was !$2,122.2

million. Losses by an estimated 601 cooperatives

totaled $379.9 million in 1998, up from $162.8 million

in 1997. Number of cooperatives with losses was up

significantly, from 506 to 601. The increased losses

came from marketing and related-service cooperatives.

Marketing cooperative losses totaled $338 million

in 1998, compared to $119.5 million in 1997. Relatedservice cooperative losses totaled $20.6 million, compared with $4.8 million. Losses among farm supply

cooperatives were down, $21.3 million versus $38.5

million in 1997.

Balance Sheet

Combined assets for all farmer cooperatives

totaled nearly $46.6 billion in 1998, up 5.8 percent from

$44 billion in 1997 (table 9). Assets of cooperatives,

excluding intercooperative investments, were up 6.2

percent to $41.9 billion, compared with $39.4 billion in

1997.

Total liabilities were $26.6 billion, up 4.5 percent

from $25.5 billion in 1997. Net worth, or member and

patron equity, was $20 billion, up 7.6 percent from

$18.5 billion in 1997. The proportion of total assets

financed by member and patron equity increased to

42.9 percent from 42.1 percent.

Net worth, or member and patron equity, for all

marketing cooperatives totaled $12.7 billion, up 7.5

percent from 1997. Marketing cooperatives accounted

for 63.4 percent of farmer cooperatives’ combined net

worth, down slightly from 63.5 percent in 1997. The

net worth figure for farm supply cooperatives was 33.9

percent of the total, up from 33.5 percent. For marketing cooperatives, the highest percentage of total assets

represented by net worth shown in figure 11 (50.6 per16
Table CL Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1998’

Principal product(s) marketed

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

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits & vegetables

Grains and oilseeds,

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products2

15 831.2 468.7 362.5

228 7,457.2 4,525.2 2,932.0

249 5,511.8 3,876.3 1,635.5

964

98

17

52

240

Total marketing 1,863

Total farm supply 1.347 13,657.g 6,894.3 6,763.6

Total related-service 441

Combined total 3,651

Number ---------- Milliondollars ----------

8,035.2 4,136.7 3,898.6

4,503.2 3,093.6 1,409.6

588.9 341.1 247.8

2,070.7 1,444.4 626.4

3,040.4 1,502.4 1,538.O

32,038.6 19,388.3 12,650.3

863.4 323.3 540.1

46,559.g 26,605.g 19,954.o

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

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

Figure 11- Percentage of Cooperatives’ Assets Financed by Net Worth, by Cooperative Type, 1998

Sugar

Livestock & Poultry

Dairy

Rice

Cotton

Grain & Oilseed

Farm Supply

Other Marketing’

Service

I I I I I

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percent

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

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

17
cent) was for those marketing primarily “other” products. The lowest, 29.7 percent, was for cooperatives

marketing primarily fruits and vegetables. Marketing

and farm supply cooperatives had 39.5 percent and

49.5 percent, respectively, of their assets financed by

net worth. Both were up from 1997.

Of the $46.6 billion in total assets, marketing

cooperatives accounted for $32 billion, up 5.9 percent

from 1997. Cooperatives primarily handling grains

and oilseeds (excluding cottonseed) had total assets of

$8 billion in 1998, slightly up from nearly $8 billion in

1997. Among the marketing cooperatives, those with

primarily grain also maintained the largest proportion

of their assets as investments in other cooperatives in

both 1998 (15.5 percent) and 1997 (14.6 percent). Dairy

cooperatives had 9.6 percent of their assets invested in

other cooperatives (table 10).

Assets of marketing cooperatives, excluding

investments in other cooperatives, CoBank and the St.

Paul Bank for Cooperatives, were $29.5 billion, up 5.9

percent from $27.8 billion in 1997.

Farm supply cooperatives had total assets of

$13.7 billion, compared with $12.9 billion in 1997, up

6.1 percent. Excluding intercooperative investments,

assets were up 7.6 percent to $11.7 billion from 10.8 billion in 1997.

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 give some

indication of 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 11 lists the values of these ratios for the

cooperatives reporting to RBS. Extreme high and low

values were excluded so those used would be more

Table IO- Combined assets for farmer cooperatives, 1998’

Principal product(s)

marketed and

major function

co-ops2 Assets of own Investments in Total

operations other co-ops 3 assets

Investments in

other co-ops as

percent of total

Products marketed:

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits & vegetables

Grains and oilseeds

excluding cottonseed

Livestock and poultry

Rice

Sugar

Other products4

15 803.7 27.5 831.2 3.3

228 6,744.3 712.9 7,457.2 9.6

249 5.329.2 182.5 5,511.8 3.3

964

98

17

52

240

Total farm products 1,863

Total farm supplies 1,347

Total selected services 441

Combined total 3,651

Number ---------- Milliondollars---------- Percent

6,787.g 1,247.3 8,035.2

4,205.l 298.1 4,503.2

573.4 15.5 588.9

2,029.l 41.7 2,070.7

2,978.2 62.2 3,040.4

29,451.0 2,587.6 32,038.6

11,657.g 2,000.0 13,657.g

774.7 88.7 863.4

41,883.6 4,676.3 46,559.g

15.5

6.6

2.6

2.0

2.0

8.1

14.6

10.3

10.0

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

* 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 and the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.

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

18
Table I I- Selected financial ratios for cooperatives, 1998’

Type of co-op Return Net worth

and asset group (mil. dol.) on asset.9 to assets3

Return

on sale.9

Sales

to assets 4

Current

ratio5

---a-Number-----

Cotton 7.7 43.3 2.1 3.7 1.4

Less than 25 8.4 35.4 2.7 3.1 1.4

$25 - 99.99 1.5 48.3 0.3 5.2 1.6

$100.0 and more 9.6 42.9 2.9 3.3 1.3

Dairy 5.9 39.5 1.6 3.7 1.3

Less than $O.V 2.8 60.9 0.5 5.3 1.9

$0.5 - $.99 7.1 57.3 1.4 4.9 1.9

$1 .o - $2.49 4.8 55.2 0.9 5.2 1.5

$2.5 - $24.99 7.0 33.8 1.1 6.4 1.2

$25.0 - $99.99 9.0 38.0 1.7 5.3 1.2

$100.0 and more 5.4 39.9 1.6 3.4 1.3

Fruit and vegetable 2.6 29.0 1.4 1.9 1.3

Less than $0.5 8.1 53.7 0.5 15.8 1.7

$0.5 - $.99 6.8 67.9 1.9 3.5 2.3

$1 .o - $2.49 6.8 58.3 1.7 4.0 1.6

$2.5 - $24.99 10.7 42.5 2.8 3.8 1.2

$25.0 - $99.99 1.4 27.4 0.8 1.7 1.1

$100.0 and more 2.6 29.0 1.4 1.9 1.3

Grain and oilseed 5.6 48.6 1.7 3.3 1.3

Less than $0.5 -0.3 87.7 -0.1 4.5 5.1

$0.5 - $.99 5.7 78.0 1.4 4.0 3.2

$1 .o - $2.49 4.5 66.8 1.2 3.7 1.9

$2.5 - $24.99 5.7 52.7 1.9 3.0 1.3

$25.0 - $99.99 5.2 43.3 2.0 2.6 1.2

$100.0 and more 6.0 40.3 1.2 5.0 1.1

Livestock 1.8 32.7 0.5 3.4 1.3

Less than $2.49 2.2 76.5 0.1 16.1 2.7

$2.5 - $24.99 1.4 26.7 0.1 9.8 1.2

$25.0 and more 1.8 32.8 0.6 3.2 1.3

Nut 1.7 38.4 1.0 1.8 1.7

Poultly -11.6 22.8 -3.9 3.0 1.3

Rice 1.3 44.3 0.6 2.3 1.4

Sugar -0.7 36.8 -0.7 1.0 1.2

Tobacco 1.4 25.8 ‘i.6 0.8 1.1

Misc. marketing 1.6 52.9 0.7 2.3 1.5

Fishery -0.2 48.8 -0.1 2.3 1.3

Farm supply 4.0 47.8 2.4 1.7 1.5

Less than $0.5 1.2 73.2 0.3 3.8 2.7

$0.5 - $.99 4.0 75.0 1.9 2.1 2.9

$1 .o - $2.49 5.2 71.3 2.5 2.1 2.3

$2.5 - $24.99 6.1 59.9 3.0 2.0 1.5

$25.0 - $99.99 5.6 45.2 2.6 2.1 1.3

$100.0 - $499.99 3.6 43.8 ‘1.5 2.4 1.4

$500.0 and more 3.0 42.9 2.4 1.3 1.4

Artificial insemination 8.5 76.9 7.2 1.2 3.0

Continued

19
Table I I- Selected finanCiSl ratios for COOperatiVeS, 1998l(continued)

Type of co-op

and asset group (mil. dol.)

Cotton gins

Less than $0.5

$0.5 - $.99

$1 .o - $2.49

$2.5 and more

Return Net worth Return

on assets2 to assets3

on sales4

-_---__---Percent---------_

20.1 59.7 14.4

5.1 30.8 1.3

11.9 65.0 6.9

16.7 66.9 10.4

22.7 56.2 18.2

Sales Current

to assets4

ratio5

_____ Number ____ -

1.4 1.3

4.0 2.0

1.7 1.6

1.6 1.7

1.2 1.2

Other services 14.6 57.6 17.1 0.9 1.5

Less than $0.5 9.7 91.9 7.2 1.4 6.5

$0.5 - $.99 6.8 58.1 6.0 1.1 1.6

$1 .o - $2.49 13.3 55.9 10.5 1.3 1.7

$2.5 and more 16.1 55.6 24.9 .6 1.2

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. Outliers (extreme values) not representative of the

group were excluded.

x 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, CoBank. and the St. Paul Bank

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

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

* Includes bargaining cooperatives.

7 Excludes cottonseed.

* Includes cooperatives providing primarily services related to storage, transportation, livestock shipping, and rice drying.

representative of the cooperatives reporting. Ratios are The return on sales (net income/total sales)

also shown by selected asset category for those cooper- ranged from a negative 3.9 percent for poultry cooperatives where sufficient information was available. atives to a high of 24.9 percent for the largest “other”

These ratios offer cooperative leaders a general barom- service cooperatives. Few cooperatives generated a

eter to use in comparing their operations with others return on sales above 3 percent (only 10 of the 55

of the same type (and/or size). groups shown in table 11).

The return on assets (net income/assets) varied

considerably. It was negative for poultry, sugar, fishery, and small grain cooperatives. The ratio (20.1) was

highest for cotton ginning cooperatives. By size group,

fruit and vegetable and farm supply cooperatives with

assets in the range of $2.5 million to $24.9 million had

the largest return on assets. For dairy, it was highest

for those cooperatives with assets of $25 million to

$99.9 million. Among grain cooperatives, the largest

return came from the largest cooperatives.

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

of 22.8 percent for poultry cooperatives to a high of

91.9 percent for the smallest “other” service cooperatives. Generally, as cooperatives become larger and/or

do more processing, a declining percentage of their

assets is financed by members,,resulting in a lower net

worth-to-assets ratio.

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

16.1 for the small livestock cooperatives to a low of 0.6

for the largest “other” service cooperatives. Among

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

of cooperative increased. Generally, this reflects the

large investment in processing or manufacturing

equipment typical of the larger dairy and fruit and

vegetable cooperatives. The sales-to-assets ratios for

farm supply cooperatives did not vary much with size

of the cooperative. 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 major investments

in plant and equipment.

20
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,

the largest grain cooperatives, and tobacco cooperatives to 5.1 for the smallest grain and oilseed cooperatives. Smaller cooperatives’ current liabilities are generally low, but become larger in relation to current

assets as business grows.

Table 12-Number of farmer cooperatives, 1989-98

Period 1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

Number

1989 2,550 1,803 446 4,799

1990 2,519 1,717 427 4,663

1991 2,384 1,689 421 4,494

1992 2,218 1,618 479 4,315

1993 2,214 1,547 483 4,244

1994 2,173 1,496 505 4,174

1995 2,074 1,458 474 4,006

1996 2,012 1,403 469 3,884

1997 1,941 1,386 464 3,791

1998 1,863 1,347 441 3,651

1 For years before 1989, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR

1, Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998. Cotton ginning

cooperatives, livestock shipping associations, and rice drying

cooperatives were reclassified from marketing to service in 1989,

1992, and 1993, respectively.

III-Cooperative Trends, 1989-98

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 to become involved in valueadded activities. In 1989, the net business volume of

4,799 cooperatives totaled $72.1 billion. A decade later,

that volume generated by 3,651 cooperatives was

$104.7 billion.

Number of Cooperatives

The total number of marketing, farm supply, and

related-service cooperatives declined from 4,799 in

1989 to 3,651 in 1998 (table 12 and figure 12).

Marketing cooperatives declined from 2,550 to 1,863

and farm supply cooperatives from 1,803 to 1,347.

Number of service cooperatives decreased from 446 to

441.

From 1989 through 1998,1,796 cooperatives

(about 180 per year), were removed from RBS’ list of

farmer cooperatives. Of those, 40.1 percent were disFigure 12- Farmer Cooperatives in the United States, 1989-98

Number

3,500

3,000

Marketing

Farm Supply

500 Service

01 I I I I I I I I I I

1989 90 ’ 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

21
solved, 33.5 percent were merged or consolidated, 15

percent were acquired by other cooperatives or

investor-owned firms, and the remaining 11.4 percent

were removed for other reasons (figure 13).

Even while cooperatives were disappearing from

RBS’ list, new ones or ones not previously on the list

were added. From 1989 through 1998,524 cooperatives

(about 52 per year) were added. During 1998,55 cooperatives were added to RBS’ list of cooperatives, the

largest increase since 1993 when 65 were added.

Grain and Farm Supply Branches

In 1992,2,861 grain and farm supply cooperatives

had an estimated 4,644 branches, 1,867 owned by grain

cooperatives and 2,777 by farm supply cooperatives. In

1998, grain and farm supply cooperative numbers

dropped to 2,311, but branches had increased to 5,617

(table 13 and figure 14).

Average number of branches per cooperative was

1.6 in 1992 and 2.4 in 1998. Larger cooperatives

accounted for the most branches, particularly among

the farm supply cooperatives. For cooperatives with

assets of $25 million or more in 1998,30 farm supply

cooperatives had an estimated 1,672 branches and 48

grain cooperatives had 716 branches.

Memberships

Memberships in farmer cooperatives, 4.1 million

in 1989, dropped to 3.4 million in 1998 (table 14 and

figure 15). The long-term decline, in 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. Total membership duplication 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 use a cooperative to market

only one of the farm products handled by the cooperative, or a member may use a cooperative classified in

the marketing group to purchase one or more production items. A member’s business with the cooperative,

therefore, may not be in the group that represents the

cooperative’s major business volume (the criterion for

Figure 13- Cooperatives Removed from RBS’ List, 1989-98

Number

80

60

Merger

Dissolution

Acquisition

Other

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

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.

22
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 nearly twice the rate of memberships in farm supply cooperatives. Memberships in marketing cooperatives

dropped 458,000, or 24.7 percent, while memberships

in farm supply cooperatives decreased 261,000, or 12.8

percent.

Employees

Farmer cooperatives had an estimated 173,791

full-time employees in 1998, up from 172,199 in 1997,

but still down from the 1995 peak of 175,399 (table 15).

In 1997, it appeared that the number of full-time

employees was declining in marketing cooperatives

and increasing in farm supply cooperatives, but 1998

survey results showed employee numbers were up in

marketing and farm supply cooperatives, but down in

related-service cooperatives.

Overall, total number of full-time employees

averaged 174,241 from 1994 to 1998. Although the

number of full-time employees was up in 1998, it was

still below the five-year average. The major change

during this period was the significant increase in number of full-time employees by the miscellaneous marketing cooperatives, from 5,795 in 1994 to 9,191 in

1997.

Table IS- Estimated number of branches operated by grain and farm supply cooperatives, 1992-98

Asset Group (million dollars)

Year Lessthan 5 5- 9.9 10 - 24.9 250r more Total

1992 902

1993 808

1994 772

1995 658

1996 618

1997 616

1998 550

1992 441 480

1993 410 479

1994 408 535

1995 399 440

1996 387 505

1997 364 463

1998 292 517

1992 1,381

1993 1,286

1994 1,203

1995 1,134

1996 1,064

1997 1,022

1998 928

1992 724 482

1993 642 455

1994 610 468

1995 571 502

1996 542 523

1997 481 579

1998 528 548

NumberofGrain Cooperatives

211 114

233 131

226 138

223 174 z:

229 176 43

196 155 47

216 150 48

1,243

1,193

1,159

1,090

1,066

1,014

964

NumberofBranches

529

688

674

756

743

717

774

417 1,867

488 2,065

424 2,041

577 2,172

691 2,326

706 2,250

716 2,299

Numberol Fan Supply Cooperatives

176 45 16

183 14

199 :

211 1:: ::

213 17

232 109

277 112

Number of Branches

z: 1,363

1,320

344 1,335

460 1,396

526 1,438

576 1,576

570 1,672

1,618

1,547

1,496

1,458

1,403

1,386

1,347

2,777

2,714

2,787

2,929

3,029

3,183

3,318

23
Table I&- Memberships itI marketing, farm supply,

and service cooperatives, 1989-98

Period 1 Marketing Farm supply Service Total

1,000

1989 1,856 2,035 243 4,134

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

19972 1,498 1,743 183 3,424

1998 1,398 1,774 181 3,353

1 For years before 1989, see Cooperative Historical Statistics, CIR

1, Section 26, USDA, Revised April 1998. Cotton ginning

cooperatives, livestock shipping associations, and rice driers were

reclassified from marketing to service in 1989, 1992, and 1993,

respectively.

2 Number of memberships in farm supply cooperatives was revised.

Business Volume

Net cooperative business, unadjusted for price

change, increased from $72.1 billion in 1989 to $104.7

billion in 1998 (table 16). When adjusted,4 net business

totaled $102.1 billion in 1998 (figure 16). Consequently,

the difference between actual and real net business

volume in 1998 was $2.6 billion. The real net business

volume was near the actual value in 1998 due mainly

to a decrease in prices received for farm products from

1989-98. Prices received for all farm commodities

dropped 2.9 percent, while prices paid for production

supplies increased 21.1 percent.

Marketing sales of four major commodity

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

slightly from 83.5 percent in 1989 to 82.8 percent in

1998. In 1989 and a decade later, net volume (among

commodity groups) was highest in dairy ($18.3 billion). In net volume terms, dairy was $25.3 billion and

4 Marketing sales was deflated by the index of producer prices

received for “all farm products” (1996 = 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 (1996 = 100).

Figure 14- Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives and Branches, 1992-98

Number

6,000

Branches

3,000

Cooperatives

01 I I I I I I I

1992 93 94 95 96 97 98

24
Figure 15- Cooperatives’ Memberships by Function, 1989-98

Million

5

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Service

Farm Supply

Marketing

Table IS--- Cooperatives’ number of full-time StIIplOyeeS, 1994-98

Commodity

1994 1995

Full-time Employees

1996 1997 1998

Cotton 2,105 2,136

Dairy 31,261 29,828

Fruits & vegetables 21,201 24,944

Grains & oilseeds 24,759 24,811

Livestock, & poultry 26,408 28,635

Rice 2,796 2,785

Sugar 3,264 3,422

Other products 5,795 7,590

Number

1,787

27,621

26,456

25,981

. 28,453

2,636

3,482

7,109

1,995 1,844

28,323 27,056

22,847 23,734

23,538 23,873

26,399 28,031

2,713 2,655

3,473 4,402

9.191 8.474

Marketing 117,589 124,151 123,525 118,479 120,069

Farm supply 50,524 45,302 45,566 47,870 48,171

Service 6,906 5,946 5,704 5,850 5,551

Total 175,019 175,399 174,795 172,199 173,791

25
grains and oilseeds $21.3 billion in 1998. In 1997, increased sales of crop protectants. In 1989, they

grains and oilseeds led commodity groups due to high accounted for 8.4 percent of farm supply sales versus

grain prices (figure 17). 12.9 percent in 1998.

Milk and milk product sales showed the

strongest growth in the 1989-98 decade. Prior to 1997,

grain and oilseed sales showed a strong upward trend,

but subsequently dropped.

In the farm supply group, petroleum, feed, and

fertilizer were especially important. They accounted

for 72.9 percent of cooperatives’ total farm supply

sales in 1989 and 70 percent in 1998. The drop reflected

The trend for cooperatives’ sales of petroleum,

feed, fertilizer, and crop protectants, except for 1998,

was upward, while seed sales remained fairly stable

(figure 18). In 1998, however, feed, petroleum, and fertilizer sales dropped, due mainly to lower prices.

Net marketing of farm products totaled $53.2 billion in 1989 and increased every year except in 1991

and 1997-98. In 1998, net business volume of farm

products marketed dropped to $76.6 billion from $77.8

billion in 1997 (table 17). Aggregate farm supply sales

increased every year, from $16.9 billion in 1989 to $25.2

billion in 1997, but then dropped in 1998 to $24.6 billion. Service receipts increased from $2 billion in 1989

to $3.5 billion in 1998, after reaching a high of $3.6 billion in 1997. In 1990, service receipts were expanded to

include other income and revenue.

Gross business volume was $88.1 billion in 1989,

$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.

Table 16-- Cooperatives’ net business volume,

1989 and 19981

Function

Net Business Volume

1989 1998

Products marketed:

Beans and peas (dry edible)

Cotton

Dairy

Fruits and vegetables

Grains and oilseeds 2/

Livestock

Nuts

Poultry

Rice

Sugar

Tobacco

Wool and mohair

Other products

149.6 187.2

1,989.3 2,961 .l

18,339.O 25,329.4

7,888.0 9,391.2

14,189.2 21,290.g

4,046.2 7,418.l

834.9 900.7

1,193.g 2,i 37.3

764.8 932.0

1776.8 2,444.7

610.9 348.5

33.4 6.8

1,431.l 3 3,294.2

Total farm products 53,247.2 76,642.0

Supplies purchased:

Crop protectants

Feed

Fertilizer

Petroleum

Seed

Other supplies

Total farm supplies

1,428.1 3,165.7

4,224.l 5,405.3

3,337.2 5,170.3

4,768.7 6,616.3

573.0 731.8

2,576.0 3,462.0

16,907.2 24,551.4

Services provided:

Trucking, cotton ginning,

storage, grinding, locker

plants, mist 1,974.3 3.473.2

Total business 72,128.7 104,666.6

Million dollars

1

2

Excludes intercooperative business volume. Totals may not add

due to rounding.

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.

26

Net Income

Starting with $1.85 billion in 1989, 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 significantly dropped to $1.7 billion in 1998

(table 18 and figure 19).

Net income from own operations and other cooperatives varied, but reflected better economic times in

agriculture in the late 1990s compared with conditions

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1989, refunds from

other cooperatives totaled $344 million, or 16.6 percent

of total net income. In 1998, refunds totaled $573 million, or 32.9 percent of total net income. However,

beginning with 1998, refunds from CoBank and the St.

Paul Bank for Cooperatives were also included.

Balance Sheet

Cooperatives’ total assets grew by $16.9 billion

from $29.6 billion in 1989 to $46.6 billion in 1998 (table

19 and figure 201, reflecting added investments in their

own operations and investment in other cooperatives.

In 1989, nearly $3.3 billion (11 percent of total assets)

was investments in other cooperatives, including

CoBank and Banks for Cooperatives. In 1998, these

investments were $4.7 billion, up $1.4 billion.
Figure 16- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1989-98

Billion dollars

80

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

1 Actual sales were adjusted for price change based on 1989 = 100.

Actual

Real l

Cooperatives’ total liabilities also grew, from

$16.3 billion in 1989 (55.1 percent) to $26.6 billion, up

$10.3 billion in 10 years.

Total liabilities financed 57.1 percent of total

assets in 1998. The strength of a balance sheet, however, depends on the proportion of total assets financed

by net worth or equity capital. In 1989, cooperatives’

net worth totaled $13.3 billion and financed 44.9 percent of total assets. By 1998, total net worth reached

nearly $20 billion and financed 42.9 percent. During

the decade, the proportion of net worth used to finance

total assets dropped to 40.8 percent in 1996. Most

would say farmer cooperatives, overall, have a strong

balance sheet.

IV-Other Service Cooperatives

In 1998, service cooperatives, other than those

directly related to marketing and purchasing, included

farm credit system cooperatives, rural telephone 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 39 Federal Land

Bank Associations (FLBAs); 33 Federal Land Credit

Associations (FLCAs); 63 Production Credit

Associations (PCAs); 1 Agricultural Credit Bank

(ACB), (CoBank, ACB); 54 Agricultural Credit

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

1 Bank for Cooperatives (BC) (table 20).

The combined assets of FCS for 1998 totaled $84.1

billion-up 7.7 percent from $78.1 billion in 1997 (table

21). Net worth was $12.5 billion, up 7.1 percent from

1997, and’net income was $1.25 billion, down from

$1.27 billion, or 1.3 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.

27
Figure I 7- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 1989-98

Billion dollars

30

25 Milk & Milk Products

Grains & Oilseeds

Fruits & Vegetables

Livestock

0

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Figure 18- Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Farm Supplies, 1989-98

Billion dollars

7-

ii_

Petroleum

Feed

Fertilizer

Crop Protectants

I I Seed

I I I I I I I I I I

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

28
Table 17-Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes, 198948’

Gross volume Net volume

Farm Farm Farm Farm

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

Billion dollars

1989 60.3 25.8 2.0 88.1 53.2 16.9 2.0 72.1

1990 64.1 26.3 2.3 92.7 57.8 17.1 2.3 77.3

1991 61.4 26.8 2.5 90.8 56.2 17.9 2.5 76.6

1992 63.8 27.0 2.6 93.4 58.2 18.5 2.6 79.3

1993 66.8 28.2 2.7 97.7 60.9 19.2 2.7 82.9

1994 72.1 30.4 3.0 105.5 65.5 20.8 3.0 89.3

1995 77.9 31.0 3.3 112.2 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

19974 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

Percent

1989 68.4 29.3 2.3 100 73.8 23.4 2.8 100

1990 69.1 28.4 2.5 100 74.9 22.1 3.0 100

1991 67.7 29.5 2.8 100 73.3 23.4 3.3 100

1992 68.3 28.9 2.8 100 73.4 23.4 3.2 100

1993 68.4 28.8 2.8 100 73.5 23.2 3.3 100

1994 68.4 28.8 2.8 100 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 73.0 23.6 3.4 100

1998 69.9 27.2 2.9 100 73.2 23.5 3.3 100

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

* For years prior to 1989, 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 not included in the volumes reported for these activities. Beginning with 1990, other

income and revenue were included with service receipts.

4 Revised.

Of the 33 FLCAs operating on Jan. 1,1999,18

were in the AgriBank District and 11 in the Western

District. FLCAs were authorized by the Agricultural

Credit Act of 1987. FLCAs are former FLBAs that were

given direct-lending authority by FCBs.

PCAs provide farmers and ranchers short- and

intermediate-term loans for various purposes, such as

operating expenses, farm equipment and livestock

purchases, and farm buildings and other capital

improvements. Of the 63 PCAs, 18 were located in the

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

territory.

ACAs resulted from the merger of FLBAs or

FLCAs with PCAs. ACAs offer both long- and shortterm loans. Of the 54 ACAs operating on Jan. 1,1999,

36 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.

Combined assets of the six FCBs, one ACB, and one BC

totaled $76.6 billion in 1998, up from $71.1 billion in

1997 (table 22). Net worth in 1998 was $6.1 billion and

net loans totaled $62.6 billion. Net income dropped to

$578 million in 1998 from $692 million in 1997.

The St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives5, the sole BC,

is based in Minnesota. It offers a complete line of credit

and related financial services to agricultural cooperatives, rural utilities, and other eligible customers

nationwide.

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

long-term credit to agricultural cooperatives, rural

utility systems, and other rural businesses nationwide.

It also provides credit to the Farm Credit Associations

serving agricultural producers in the Northeast.

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

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

5 Merged with CoBank on July 1,1999.

29
Table 18- Net income of farmer cooperatives,

1989-98’

Year

From own

operations

From other

cooperatives2

Million dollars

Total

1989 1,508 343 1,851

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

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

cooperative pooling operations.

* Dividends and patronage refunds received from other marketing,

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

Banks for Cooperatives.

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 the St. Paul Bank and

CoBank increased from $21.3 billion in 1997 to $22.2

billion in 1998. Net worth totaled nearly $1.8 billion.

As of Dec. 31,1998, the two banks had net loans of

$17.5 billion and net income of $153 million, down

from $176 million in 1997 (table 23).

Rural Telephone Cooperatives

As of Dec. 31,1998, the 220 rural telephone cooperatives borrowing from the Rural Electrification

Administration (REA) had revenues of $1,271 million

and 1,419,OOO subscriber members. Iowa had the most

cooperatives, with 31 (14.1 percent of the total). North

Carolina had the most subscriber-members (10.9 percent) of any State (table 24). Texas led all States in revenue, with $134 million (10.5 percent).

Rural Electric Cooperatives

Rural electric cooperatives dropped in number to

662 from 744 in 1997, and they had 10.8 million consumer members and revenue of $14.2 billion (table 25).

Figure I 9- Cooperatives’ Net Income, 1989-98

Billion dollars

From Other

Cooperatives1

From Own

Operations

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

l Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other farmer cooperatives, CoBank, and the St. Paul Bank for

Cooperatives.

30
Table 1% Combined balance sheet data for farmer cooperatives, 1989-98

Year

Assets Investments

from own in other

operations -ps

Total Total Net

assets liabilities worth

1989 26,389 3r260 29,649 16,337 13,313

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 39,430 4,566 43,996 25,459 18,537

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

1989 89.0 11.0 100 55.1 44.9

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 .l 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 89.6 10.4 100 57.9 42.1

1998 90.0 10.0 100 57.1 42.9

Million dollars

Percent of total assets

1 Includes investments in other farmer cooperatives, CoE?ank, and Banks for Cooperatives.

Texas had the most associations, with 40 (6 percent of

the total), while Georgia had the most consumer members, with 1,034 (9.6 percent), and the largest revenue,

$1,393 million (9.8 percent).

Rural Credit Unions

The 653 rural credit unions reported 4.4 million

members and savings of nearly $19.9 billion.

Wisconsin led all States in number of associations,

with 66, or 10.1 percent of the total. California had the

most members and credit union savings, with more

than 1 million and $5.4 billion, respectively. California,

Wisconsin, and Michigan accounted for more than 2

million memberships (45.9 percent of the total) and

nearly $9.1 billion in savings, or 45.7 percent of the

total (table 26).

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA)

had 34,820 memberships in 1998 (table 27), down from

38,920 in 1997. The DHIAs tested 4.2 million cows in

1998, down from 4.5 million in 1997. Wisconsin (9,014),

Pennsylvania (4,748), Minnesota (3,986), and New York

(3,014) combined accounted for 59.6 percent of total

members, down slightly from 60 percent in 1997.

About 822,900 (19.7 percent) of the cows tested were in

California, up from 19.4 percent.

31
Figure 20- Cooperatives’ Net Worth and Liabilities, 1989-98

Billion dollars

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Liabilities

- Net Worth

Table 20-- Farm Credit Association Structure, Jan. 1, 1999’

District or bank affiliation FLBA PCA ACA FLCA ACB FCB BC

CoBank, ACB*

AgFirst FCB

AgriBank, FCB

FCB of Wichita

FCB of Texas

Western FCB

AgAmerica, FCB

St. Paul BC

Total

1

18

19 18

20 15

10

1

- -

39 63

Number

4

36

8 18

3

5 11

1 1

- -

54 33

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

- - -

1 6 1

- = No bank affiliation.

1 FLBA = Federal Land Bank Association; PCA = Production Credit Association; ACA = Agricultural Credit Association; FLCA = Federal Land

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

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

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Report on the Financial Condition and Performance of the Farm Credit System, 7999 McLean, VA, p. 3.

32
Table 2% Farm Credit SyStSt?I’S combined SSSStS, net

worth, and net income, 1994-98’

Year Assets Net worth Net income

Million dollars

1994 66,377 8,981 1,005

1995 71,439 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

1 Farm Credit System, Annual Information Statements, 1998

Federal Farm Credit Banks, Funding Corporation, Jersey City,

NJ., Feb. 24, 1999, p. F3.

Table 22- Farm Credit Banks’ combined assets, net

worth, net loans, and net income, 1994-98’

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million dollars

1994 61,305 5,377 50,763 468

1995 65,754 5,629 54,525 555

1996 68,550 5,798 56,571 622

1997 71,124 6,069 58,504 692

1998 76,582 6,122 62,552 578

r As of December 31 of each year. Consolidated financial for six

Farm Credit Banks, one Agricultural Credit Bank, and one Bank

for Cooperatives.

Source: Farm Credit Administration, Report on the Financial

Condition and Performance of the Farm Credit System, 1998,

McLean, VA, pp. 25-26.

Table 23- Combined assets, net worth, net loans, and

net income of the St. Paul Bank for

Cooperatives and CoBank, ACB, 199448’

Year Assets Net worth Net loans Net income

Million dollars

1994 18,225 1,355 14,954 142

1995 21,326 1,488 17,553 175

1996 20,837 1,571 16,871 156

1997 21,282 1,674 16,821 176

1998 22,185 1,752 17,513 153

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

1998 Annual Report Financial Information: Rural America’s

Cooperative Bank, Englewood, CO, p. 10 and St. Paul Bank,

7998 Annual Report, St. Paul, MN, p. 6.

33
Table24- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural telephonelco-ops by State, Dec. 31, 19982

State Cooperatives

Members

(subscribers) Revenue State

Members

Cooperatives (subscribers) Revenue

Number 1,000 Mil. dol.

3 2 7 20

7 66 74

1 4 7

2 9 9

Number 1,000 Mil. dol.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

5

9

22

154

55

87

Colorado

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

9 9

36 26

2 2

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

10 60 60

5 5 4

1 10 16

5 17 16

Illinois 7 25 25

Indiana 8 39 29

Iowa 3 1 64 54

Kansas 10 65 86

Kentucky 8 104 73

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota 18 83 62

South Carolina 5 105 74

South Dakota 12 47 49

Tennessee 7 141 94

Texas 16 119 134

Utah 2 18 18

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

5

2

20

4

14

4

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Wisconsin

Wyoming

11

1

47

1

35

7 48 48 3

7 59 75

5 10 9

Nevada United States 220 1,419 1,271

- = None reported in the State.

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

34
Table 25- Number, participation, and level of activity of rural electriclcooperatives by State, Dec. 31, 1998*

State Cooperatives

Members

(subscribers) Revenue State

Members

Cooperatives (subscribers) Revenue

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado 19 319 438 North Carolina 22 679 864

Delaware 1 56 62 North Dakota 19 116 200

Florida 11 442 559 Ohio 22 290 341

Georgia 36 1,034 1,393 Oklahoma 23 323 379

Idaho 4 29 34 Oregon 8 52 74

Illinois 11 78 124 Pennsylvania 11 175 178

Indiana 26 300 352 South Carolina 20 556 766

Iowa 29 143 220 South Dakota 30 124 160

Kansas 29 156 258 Tennessee 2 1 798 1,124

Kentucky 25 648 932 Texas 40 615 754

Louisiana IO 286 406 Utah 1

Maine 3 14 14 Vermont 1

Maryland 1 115 203 Virginia 12

Michigan 9 203 160 Washington 5

Minnesota 36 385 413 West Virginia 1

Mississippi 14 394 547

Missouri 37 518 573

Montana 22 96 103

Nebraska 2 9 18

Number

21

9

5

15

3

1,000 Ml/. do/

444 590

78 175

121 198

332 456

20 20

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

Wisconsin

Wyoming

United States

Number 1,000 Ml. dol.

1 5 26

1 11 12

16 176 256

4 16 13

7

9

354

31

5

130

57

10,751

8

8

515

45

5

17

9

-

662

124

119

14,221

1 Source: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

35
Table 21s Number, participation, and level of activity of rural credit unions’ by State, Dec. 31, 19982

State Cooperatives Members Savings State Cooperatives Members Savings

Alabama 10 24 85 Montana 11 54 202

Alaska 1 22 97 Nebraska 17 21 95

Arizona 4 16 50 Nevada 6 51 327

Arkansas 3 7 27 New Hampshire 2 1 1

California 57 1,034 5,398 New Jersey 6 12 20

Colorado 15 2 1 76 New Mexico 3 46 191

Connecticut 1 1 1 New York 29 160 731

Delaware 1 3 9 North Carolina 13 29 63

Florida 14 102 402 North Dakota 30 100 576

Georgia 11 34 9 1 Ohio 12 39 67

Hawaii 16 100 587 Oklahoma 4 7 30

Idaho 9 16 47 Oregon 10 81 323

Illinois 10 63 259 Pennsylvania 19 31 77

Indiana 17 74 551 Rhode Island 3 57 556

Iowa 7 7 19 South Carolina 3 9 53

Kansas 16 76 231 South Dakota 7 11 31

Kentucky 7 3 1 81 Tennessee 8 14 37

Louisiana 9 15 4 1 Texas 32 102 363

Maine 10 25 97 Utah 9 16 46

Maryland 5 56 264 Vermont 3 19 51

Massachusetts 4 16 6 1 Virginia 6 47 161

Michigan 26 406 1,271 Washington 14 156 732

Minnesota 35 206 936 West Virginia 3 4 10

Mississippi 4 14 4 1 Wisconsin 66 599 2,415

Missouri 6 19 59 Wyoming 2 3 5

Number 1,000 Mil. dol.

United States 3

1,000

653 4,439

Mil. dol.

19,870

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

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 Includes Puerto Rico with 37 cooperatives, 377,711 members, and $1.9 billion in savings.

36
Table iv- Number, participation, and hd of activity of dairy herd improvement aSSOCiatiOnS l

by State, Dec. 31, 1998*

State

Members

(herds)

cows

tested State

Members

(herds)

cows

tested

Number 1,000 Number 1.000

Alabama 72

Alaska 1

Arizona 6 1

Arkansas 90

California 1,135

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

88 37.5 New Mexico 27 36.9

129 15.4 New York 3,014 327.7

34 4.4 North Carolina 255 41.1

113 59.1 North Dakota 95 9.3

238 54.1 Ohio 1,252 104.4

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

5 2.5 Oklahoma 160 20.8

240 73.6 Oregon 278 50.7

744 57.7 Pennsylvania 4,748 321.3

581 47.7 Rhode Island 8 .5

1,501 114.5 South Carolina 89 17.2

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

369 34.9 South Dakota 327 29.7

318 27.0 Tennessee 292 35.0

156 21.5 Texas 340 130.1

178 15.8 Utah 256 46.2

460 40.1 Vermont 568 56.3

Massachusetts 137

Michigan 1,121

Minnesota 3,986

Mississippi 89

Missouri 570

11.9 Montana 60 7.2

(3) Nebraska 267 33.7

75.0 Nevada 19 9.3

6.7 New Hampshire 118 10.8

622.9 New Jersey 92 8.1

11.9 Virginia 568 72.6

143.5 Washington 288 73.9

302.2 West Virginia 75 7.8

14.4 Wisconsin 9,014 642.1

50.8 Wyoming 4 .7

United States4 34,820 4,182.2

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 Puerto Rico with 170 members and 41,840 cows tested:

37
Appendix Tables

38
L

Appendix Table I- Number of co-opsl and memberships * by major business activity and State,19973

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

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 3

Other States

-

4

United States 7

COTTON’

California 3

Mississippi 3

Texas 4

Other States 6

Foreign6

-

United States 16 42,671

DAIRY

California 10

Illinois 4

Iowa 6

Massachusetts 3

Michigan 3

Minnesota 45

Missouri 3

New York 63

North Dakota 5

Ohio 7

Oregon 3

Pennsylvania 2 1

Texas 5

Virginia 4

Wisconsin 3 1

Other States 2 1

United States 236

1,774

2,406

5,015

243

3,993

17,348

3,839

5,763

1,137

3,942

803

6,438

1,908

1,142

29,375

19.752

104,878

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 4

Arkansas 5

California 7 1

Colorado 9

Florida 27

Georgia 4

Hawaii 10

Maine 5

699

384

20,439

455

2,022

112

430

542

762

2,097

2,859

2,187

2,911

24,908

12,538

127

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES5 (Continued)

Massachusetts 4 487

Michigan 16 3,457

Minnesota 3 290

Mississippi 4 257

New Jersey 10 893

New York 9 935

North Carolina 4 115

North Dakota 3 179

Ohio 5 460

Oregon 12 1,437

Pennsylvania 6 585

Texas 5 339

Washington 2 1 5,026

Other States 22 4,328

Foreign6 104

United States 259 43,975

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED ‘1

Arkansas

Colorado

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon .

South Dakota

Texas

Washington

Other States

Foreign6

United States

3

16

5

123

22

133

124

6

107

6

21

13

73

133

42

41

3

70

38

25

10

-

1,014

1,259

8,830

1,275

101,555

31,638

94,930

115,005

2,801

69,543

2,558

23,255

9,411

69,596

61,197

31,422

29,487

3,630

51,320

18,773

10,110

3,903

3,511

745,009

Continued

39
Appendix Table I- Number of co-ops l and membership* by major business activity and State,19973 (continued)

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

LIVESTOCK5

Alabama

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

North Dakota

Ohio

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Other States

Foreign6

United States

NUTB

California

Other States

United States

POULTRY9

California

Utah

Other States

Foreign6

United States

RICES

California

Louisiana

Texas

Other States

Foreign6

United States

SUGAR0

Idaho

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign6

United States

6

4

3

3

3

4

4

6

7

8

4

5

3

5

23

-

88

5

-

12

17

3

3

14

-

20

-

18

7

9

8

3

3

4

17

-

-

5 1

5,240

10,341

4,832

40,993

2,301

671

34,969

5,112

4,805

9,548

14,483

1,311

485

3,782

96,905

233

236,011

6,771

34,884

41,655

83

108

33,724

378

34,293

1,978

208

1,100

10,682

1

13,969

2,306

529

2,797

2,225

540

586

4,840

2

13,825

TOBACCO 8

Kentucky

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Other States

78,135

24,908

67,582

1,374

948

United States

5

8

7

3

-

3

26 172,947

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho

Montana

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Utah

Virginia

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign6

1,825

872

433

1,722

1,616

420

568

185

9,007

96

United States

5

20

5

3

16

4

8

4

23

-

-

88 16,744

MISCELLANEOUS”

Alaska

California

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Maine

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

North Dakota

Oregon

Washington

Other States

9 7,469

11 952

6 315

3 295

7 806

15 918

3 128

6 1,932

3 184

7 5,440

3 333

5 749

23 9,475

United States 101 28,996

TOTAL MARKETING

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

10 14,517

9 7,675

5 2,569

14 14,205

117 37,853

28 13,331

38 6,076

12 22,128

25 11,874

24 13,114

134 145,509

26 37,048

Continued

40
Appendix Table I- Number of co-opsl and membership2 by major business activity and State,19973 (continued)

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

TOTAL MARKETING (Continued)

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign6

147

124

13

18

22

3

10

4 1

169

23

3 1

40

8 1

15

4

79

20

166

65

45

25

46

4

72

8

69

12

5

23

56

6

42

8

7

-

111,475

118,592

82,228

3,070

1,850

1,102

1,069

50,042

147,838

12,867

32,930

12,197

75,151

2,860

6,549

9,283

26,869

80,077

53,715

42,392

9,064

8,776

3,327

59,951

68,950

53,677

3,934

1,641

27,453

17,487

1,533

35,617

1,236

2,679

4,452

United States 1,941 1,497,832

FARM SUPPLY

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

48 39,097

40 47,990

20 14,958

22 20,317

6 8,952

7 2,596

16 9,965

65 87,647

32 53,766

73 74,655

> 21 16,310

FARM SUPPLY (Continued)

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign6

28 121,873

2 1 8,899

13 52,414

4 3,583

27 18,095

156 121,795

37 89,728

43 122,522

39 16,798

43 33,924

11 33,488

3 45,346

115 48,872

23 14,243

32 25,921

13 12,675

7 31,458

73 50,544

70 70,565

48 38,031

8 5,642

38 118,430

3 1 10,534

14 59,636

120 115,699

6 3,454

13 92,227

- 582

United States 1,386 1,743,231

SERVICE’*

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Hawaii .

Illinois

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Nebraska

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

5 177

4 788

6 1,047

48 3,904

5 116

4 73

3 1,728

3 105

11 1,587

5 5,643

43 26,425

23 7,342

3 472

4 1,386

6 7,598

6 120

16 496

7 7,264

24 7,118

Continued

4 1
Appendix Table l- Number of co-opsl and memberships2 by major business activity and State,19973 (continued)

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

SERVICEi (Continued)

Pennsylvania

Texas

Washington

Wisconsin

Other States

7 13,144

155 37,123

4 2,970

50 26,245

22 30,234

United States 464 183,105

TOTAL

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

63 53,791

9 7,675

10 46,757

60 63,242

185 56,715

5 1 33,648

4 3,174

3 29,685

46 27,i 24

21 25,059

32 13,397

4 1 23,079

203 233,229

60 go,91 5

223 187,858

148 135,007

42 208,606

50 13,556

24 9,214

18 54,122

14 5,050

73 73,780

368 296,058

83 109,937

75 156,093

79 28,995

127 109,547

19 7,724

9 8,311

96 50,369

29 72,335

297 129,445

TOTAL (Continued)

Ohio 95 75,222

Oklahoma 101 75,431

Oregon 40 21,747

Pennsylvania 60 53,378

South Carolina 6 3,745

South Dakota 145 110,927

Tennessee 79 141,185

Texas 272 128,831

Utah 2 1 11,550

Vermont . 5 6,340

Virginia 63 150,011

Washington 9 1 30,991

West Virginia 20 61,235

Wisconsin 212 177,561

Wyoming 14 4,690

Other States 5 2,793

Foreign6 -

5,034

United States 3,791 3,424,168

1 Includes centralized and federated cooperatives and those with

mixed organizational structures.

* Revised. 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 1997. 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 Cooperatives performing specific services related to a commodity

in this group were included. Incorporated local associations of a

federation that perform the actual marketing or processing were

counted.

B Includes memberships located in other countries.

7 Excludes soybean meal and oil.

B Membership fluctuates annually and is affected by the extent to

which producers participate in price stabilization programs.

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

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

molasses, and sorghum.

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

other farm products not separately classified.

I2 Cooperatives providing services related to marketing or

purchasing activities. Major services provided are cotton ginning,

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

42
Appendix Table 2- COOperatiVeS’ business voiume 1 by commodity and State, 1997 2

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

PRODUCTS MARKETED:

BEANS AND PEAS, DRY EDIBLE

California 89,081

Other States 99,910

United States 188,991

COTTON

California 662,564

Mississippi 384,464

Texas 940,528

Other States 1,086,781

United States 3,074,337

DAIRY

California 3,107,394

Illinois 1(195,595

Iowa 1,164,679

Massachusetts 58,125

Michigan 705,268

Minnesota 2,700,430

Missouri 1,136,673

New York 1,648,294

North Dakota 194,963

Ohio 981,016

Oregon 303,227

Pennsylvania 1 ,170,426

Texas 902,972

Virginia 121,115

Wisconsin 4,438,688

Other States 6,449,093

United States 26,277,957

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Arizona 152,410

Arkansas 1,337

California 3,673,516

Colorado 18,056

Florida 1,228,521

Georgia 16,701

Hawaii 24,190

Maine 25,400

1,000 dollars l,ooo dollars

89,081

99,910

188,991

607,335

371,889

939,974

1,084,688

3,003,886

2,945,132

975,839

1,026,053

55,772

686,999

2,281,830

967,669

1 ,171,679

163,812

930,480

258,790

976,137

851,742

112,589

3,982,844

5,986,703

23,374,069

133,225

1,337

3,367,469

18,056

1 ,190,207

12,344

24,190

25,400

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Continued)

Massachusetts 530,847 530,847

Michigan 594,750 483,638

Minnesota 3,522 3,522

Mississippi 11,926 11,478

New Jersey 204,968 204,968

New York 310,519 285,781

North Carolina 29,270 27,751

North Dakota 10,887 10,887

Ohio 6,241 6,241

Oregon 795,955 794,784

Pennsylvania 334,682 324,706

Texas 49,879 16,394

Washington 867,920 862,568

Other States 930,553 917,304

Foreign3 15,091 15,091

United States 9837,141 9,268,189

GRAINS AND OILSEEDS, EXCLUDING COTTONSEED

Arkansas 296,682 258,326

Colorado 282,053 268,666

Idaho 42,165 42,071

Illinois 2,679,085 2,516,121

Indiana 732,323 712,298

Iowa 4,808,129 4647,143

Kansas 2,055,805 1,857,357

Michigan 136,923 130,162

Minnesota 4,279,883 3,446,416

Mississippi 152,100 150,267

Missouri 978,608 811,773

Montana 392,483 262,009

Nebraska 2,369,748 2,156,557

North Dakota 1,978,377 1,635,018

Ohio - 867,857 842,806

Oklahoma 314,118 289,403

Oregon 557,137 395,410

South Dakota 1,489,032 1,250,125

Texas 1,224,510 697,949

Washington 753,804 655,433

Other States 1908,756 843,188

Foreign3 1.383.168 770,665

United States 28,782,746 24,639,161

Continued

43
Appendix Table 2- COOperatiVeS’ business Volume’ by commodity and State, 1997* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

LIVESTOCK

Alabama

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

North Dakota

Ohio

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Other States

Foreign3

United States

61,039

23,172

66,304

628,659

277,997

77,629

397,759

86,523

551,673

123,308

314,034

27,956

2,402

448,197

4,305,890

90,995

7,483,538

NUTS

California

Other States

United States

694,469 694,469

185,807 185,807

880,276 880,276

POULTRY’

California

Utah

Other States

United States

36,334 36,334

134,246 134,246

1,947,438 1,947,438

2,118,017 2,118,017

RICE

California

Louisiana

Texas

Other States

228,822

18,115

57,046

627,505

United States 931.487

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

61,039

23,172

66,304

627,249

277,869

77,629

397,759

86,523

551,673

120,214

314,034

27,956

2,402

444,975

4,290,556

90,995

7,460,349

227,488

18,115

57,046

627,505

930,154

SUGAR

Idaho

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign3

455,573 335,616

293,726 293,726

120,495 120,495

633,023 633,023

53,731 53,731

52,673 52,673

813,603 789,034

5,294 5,294

United States 2,428,119 2,283,591

TOBACCO

Kentucky

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Other States

286,023 286,023

231,176 231,176

68,695 68,695

3,406 3,406

3,575 3,575

United States 592,876 592,876

WOOL AND MOHAIR

Idaho

Montana

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Utah

Virginia

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign

50 50

680 680

60 60

8,429 804

220 220

1,776 1,776

85 85

563 563

6,772 6,772

297 297

United States 18,931 11,306

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING5

Alaska 11,583

California 46,862

Florida 39,469

Georgia 7,253

Hawaii 30,430

Maine 33,286

Michigan 73,720

Minnesota 767.117

11,583

46,862

39,469

7,253

30,430

33,286

73,720

645,972

Continued
Appendix Table 2- COOperatiVeS’ business volume 1 by commodity and State, 199T2 (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

1,000 dollars

MISCELLANEOUS MARKETINGS(Continued)

Mississippi 144,061 143,437

North Dakota 100,785 100,785

Oregon 101,860 101,860

Washington 149,787 149,787

Other States 1,716,949 1,595,347

Foreign 3 111,870 111,870

United States 3,335,031 3,091,660

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED

Alabama 820,882

Alaska 11,583

Arizona 705,295

Arkansas 1,424,071

California 8,709,783

Colorado 576,596

Florida 2,184,453

Georgia 1,064,144

Hawaii 100,080

Idaho 1,129,126

Illinois 4,558,569

Indiana 1,534,292

Iowa 8,296,195

Kansas 2,987,577

Kentucky 655,674

Louisiana 701,620

Maine 109,676

Maryland 243,747

Massachusetts 596,489

Michigan 2,079,555

Minnesota 8,732,932

Mississippi 851,757

Missouri 2,799,992

Montana 520,027

Nebraska 4,002,012

New Jersey 256,916

New Mexico 562,203

New York 2,312,397

North Carolina 615,232

North Dakota 2,760,792

Ohio 2,405,401

Oklahoma 738,379

Oregon 1,876,430

Pennsylvania 1,605,305

South Carolina 208,984

South Dakota 2,008,297

817,312

11,583

665,186

1,376,465

8,184,912

559,816

2,138,103

1,047,963

100,080

1,004,175

4,171,689

1,450,553

7,949,780

2,748,145

644,407

62 1,869

108,270

218,023

594,136

1,943,414

7,351,470

836,278

2,463,685

389,542

3,727,152

250,928

550,215

1,811,043

596,992

2,383,188

2,292,388

702,335

1,657,532

1,401,041

208,416

1,692,889

1,000 dollars

TOTAL FARM PRODUCTS MARKETED (Continued)

Tennessee 180,388 177,321

Texas 3,349,361 2,735,266

Utah 466,043 454,676

Vermont 356,839 324,532

Virginia 223,407 207,334

Washington 2,909,220 2,739,142

West Virginia 80,015 75,315

Wisconsin 5,583,838 5,085,983

Wyoming 69,606 69,500

Other States 377,552 308,267

Foreign3 1,606,715 994,212

United States 85,949,447 77642,524

FARM SUPPLIES PROVIDED:

CROP PROTECTANTS

Alabama 46,546 45,146

Arkansas 185,726 93,832

California 36,945 26,644

Colorado 41,214 29,068

Florida 17,743 15,138

Georgia 147,832 144,807

Idaho 36,551 17,468

Illinois 563,760 308,900

tndiana 264,648 175,371

Iowa 589,118 442,091

Kansas 128,587 105,675

Kentucky 57,850 49,668

Louisiana 61,324 28,434

Maryland 18,847 16,785

Massachusetts 2,448 2,448

Michigan 38,006 26,905

Minnesota 412,151 339,159

Mississippi 39,065 38,505

Missouri 119,168 89,936

Montana 51,750 33,404

Nebraska 230,430 179,219

New York 38,958 36,076

North Carolina 48,455 31,187

North Dakota 178,660 140,063

Ohio 101,787 89,950

Oklahoma 28,768 17,808

Oregon 49,122 35,178

Pennsylvania 32,577 32,577

South Dakota 183,596 145,805

Continued

45
Appendix Table 2- COOperatiVeS’ business VOhme’ by commodity and State, 1%V2 (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1.000 dollars

CROP PROTECTANTS (Continued)

Tennessee 121,576 63,593

Texas 72,520 61,396

Utah 17,115 6,815

Virginia 27,983 23,849

Washington 57,496 39,351

West Virginia 3,536 3,162

Wisconsin 185,899 134,394

Wyoming 12,998 2,943

Other States 62,632 50,741

Foreign3 37,433 1,989

United States

FEED

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

4,350,820 3,125,481

338,793 315,798

158,530 92,611

187,196 126,481

72,726 51,488

128,822 126,750

458,719 456,231

41,137 15,256

359,625 265,816

370,372 165,264

1 ,154,985 796,087

276,163 201,158

58,440 49,681

59,495 36,196

44,986 40,815

20,830 20,830

63,111 57,524

761,391 544,895

55,658 44,760

299,859 205,005

15,559 15,326

268,865 174,314

141,070 133,055

125,152 110,381

69,785 56,579

144,594 144,217

113,456 81,950

118,597 26,758

123,139 122,613

256,153 208,874

212,035 116,438

230,737 177,780

95,528 93,694

FEED (Continued)

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign3

United States

FERTILIZER

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

126,285 112,767

115,187 39,378

23,354 20,292

503,268 325,145

6,743 6,743

352,867 304,629

193,883 104,385

8,147,076 5,987,963

140,551 97,491

226,377 115,427

137,921 116,222

129,841 87,280

121,903 40,698

123,844 119,788

63,479 30,265

923,191 465,614

581,176 294,916

965,166 630,753

401,188 300,441

115,867 101,826

57,725 28,130

30,097 26,865

3,906 3,906

66,579 40,663

742,113 455,242

60,176 58,824

359,335 258,577

139,104 76,387

493,719 337,351

55,256 55,256

64,028 53,976

447,229 266,509

193,072 130,025

152,297 97,109

82,853 55,591

51,059 51,059

294,118 187,741

243,24 1 111,736

261,030 163,351

50,156 28,457

75,620 68,443

70,275 49,647

8,766 7,867

Continued

46
Appendix Table2- COOperatiVeS’ business VOiUme’ by commodity and State, 1997* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

FERTILIZER (continued)

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

Foreign3

345,208 204,306 Wisconsin 544,859 462,117

27,012 5,313 Wyoming 115,456 70,425

115,513 90,104 Other States 142,604 141,695

441,353 57,844 Foreign3 159,628 60,098

United States 8,881,348

PETROLEUM

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

40,951 4,865

203,445 96,019

6,525 6,525

359,301 195,946

11,778 9,734

81,302 15,802

147,369 85,963

677,455 478,585

517,681 298,128

1 ,018,391 644,873

1,246,265 393,733

1 go,51 4 115,747

23,793 12,729

73,838 66,808

15,964 15,964

149,385 72,226

649,378 553,430

20,348 19,171

598,669 456,450

195,483 146,099

652,116 413,551

245,760 244,944

20,714 17,753

357,469 275,332

143,449 119,272

306,110 131,932

170,484 121,359

225,325 224,828

358,376 254,895

171,580 73,270

233,786 134,318

83,524 19,389

229,668 144,610

180,282 136,616

22,966 20,885

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

5,371,OOl

PETROLEUM (continued)

United States

SEED

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

OklahomaOregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

10,591,991 6,756,086

32,394 20,878

43,703 26,839

22,195 22,195

2,540 2,540

6,302 5,650

15,592 15,433

16,787 9,497

80,013 49,319

48,825 24,130

67,446 45,695

11,371 11,371

28,322 25,363

21,296 10,172

10,584 9,431

1,339 1,339

10,165 9,951

53,603 45,510

18,708 18,655

57,319 27,945

7,189 5,621

12,807 10,251

23,328 23,328

14,668 12,363

35,156 32,755

26,245 26,245

4,200 4,200

11,508 11,470

17,520 17,520

17,815 14,932

66,640 39,971

19,079 19,026

3,072 3,072

25,757 23,260

24,248 23,252

4,032 3,648

Continued

47
Appendix Table 2- Cooperatives’ business VOlUme’ by commodity and State, 1997* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

7,000 dollars

SEED (Continued)

Wisconsin 38,583

Wyoming 752

Other States 20,425

Foreign3 3,835

United States 925,364

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES6

Alabama 177,796 78,006

Arkansas 133,948 92,393

California 125,649 96,002

Colorado 59,185 45,900

Florida 102,041 59,157

Georgia 90,330 69,199

Idaho 47,014 39,178

Illinois 144,296 86,622

Indiana 69,488 53,202

Iowa 228,635 165,002

Kansas 127,735 93,563

Kentucky 73,472 61,590

Louisiana 47,297 33,846

Maryland 37,771 33,930

Massachusetts 9,877 9,877

Michigan 107,729 93,698

Minnesota 269,417 220,755

Mississippi 60,783 60,783

Missouri 99,029 59,329

Montana 64,558 59,404

Nebraska 115,054 95,068

New York 161,401 139,200

North Carolina 48,801 36,697

North Dakota 107,468 98,070

Ohio 105,967 87,222

Oklahoma 45,369 32,198

Oregon 141,584 136,818

Pennsylvania 107,723 107,558

South Dakota 90,354 77,517

Tennessee 206,677 111,438

Texas 102,734 82,174

Utah 48,096 41,981

Virginia 172,187 136,895

Washington 127,128 95,932

West Virginia 32,559 29,509

28,478

733

19,962

349

702,351

1,000 dollars

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES” (Continued)

Wisconsin 244,176

Wyoming 39,896

Other States 168,112

Foreign357,806

United States 4,199,141

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES

228,306

37,643

139,319

12,766

3,237,745

Alabama 777,030 562,184

Arkansas 951,729 517,121

California 516,431 394,068

Colorado 664,808 412,221

Florida 388,589 257,128

Georgia 917,619 821,261

Idaho 352,337 197,628

Illinois 2,748,339 1,654,856

Indiana 1,852,190 1,011,011

Iowa 4,023,742 2,724,501

Kansas 2,191,310 1 ,105,942

Kentucky 524,467 403,875

Louisiana 270,930 149,507

Maryland 216,103 194,635

Massachusetts 54,364 54,364

Michigan 434,975 300,967

Minnesota 2,888,053 2,158,991

Mississippi 254,737 240,698

Missouri 1,533,379 1,097,241

Montana 473,643 336,242

Nebraska 1,772,992 1,209,755

New York 665,772 631,857

North Carolina 321,818 262,356

North Dakota 1 ,195,766 869,309

Ohio 715,115 596,930

Oklahoma- 650,201 365,199

Oregon 574,149 387,174

Pennsylvania 557,344 556,156

South Dakota 1,200,412 889,764

Tennessee 1,021,748 516,447

Texas 919,886 638,045

Utah 297,492 193,408

Virginia 657,499 509,823

Washington 574,617 384,177

Continued

48
Appendix Table 2- Cooperatives’ business VOIUIW by commodity and State, 1997* (continued)

State

Business volume

Gross Net

State

Business volume

Gross Net

1,000 dollars 1,000 dollars

TOTAL FARM SUPPLIES (Continued)

West Virginia 95,213

Wisconsin 1,861,993

Wyoming 202,858

Other States 862,152

Foreign3 893,937

United States 37,075,740

SERVICES PROVIDED:’

Alabama 23,784 23,784

Arizona 26,320 26,320

Arkansas 89,100 89,100

California 529,691 529,691

Hawaii 8,354 8,354

Illinois 207,262 207,262

Iowa 266,655 266,655

Kansas 115,498 115,498

Louisiana 20,141 20,141

Michigan 73,527 73,527

Minnesota 260,313 260,313

Mississippi 97,423 97,423

Nebraska 136,561 136,561

New Mexico 6,015 6,015

New York 152,576 152,576

North Carolina 25,966 25,966

North Dakota 48,603 48,603

Ohio 108,826 108,826

Oklahoma 35,753 35,753

Pennsylvania 26,177 26,177

Texas 295,661 295,661

Washington 162,380 162,380

Wisconsin 80,522 80,522

Other States 850,227 850,227

United States 3,647,334 3,647,334

TOTAL:

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

1,621,696 1,403,279

124,698 64,651

786,643 737,821

2,464,900 1,982,686

9,755,905 9,108,671

1,273,093 1,003,727

266,727 205,367

108,920 98,417

2,663,194 2,485,382

2,012$45 1,899,906

85,364

1,382,745

123,799

746,450

237,431

25,180,628

Foreign3

TOTAL: (Continued)

Hawaii

U.S.

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia _ Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other States

130,603

2,500,652

1,492,150

7,514,170

126,672,521

3,464,785

12,586,592

5,294,385

1,210,076

992,690

218,117

463,990

657,492

2,588,057

11,881,299

1,203,917

4,490,879

1,002,676

5,911,565

356,512

62 1,939

3,130,745

963,015

4,005,161

3,229,342

1,424,333

2,496,615

2,188,827

387,962

3,451,889

1,230,059

4,564,908

806,244

429,234

905,881

3,646,217

176,530

7,526,352

274,702

173,738

114,572

1,212,490

6,033,807

2,539,867

10,940,936

3,969,584

1,078,217

791,516

216,711

416,798

655,138

2,317,907

9,770,774

1 ,174,399

3,718,435

734,790

5,073,468

345,035

608,117

2,595,476

885,314

3,301 ,100

2,998,144

1 ,103,286

2,090,742

1,983,374

377,563

2,825,833

721,691

3,668,972

690,794

396,927

742,131

3,285,700

161,980

6,549,250

195,538

162,559

1,231,643

106,670,486

See footnotes next page

49
Footnotes to Appendix Table 2.

1 Data covering operations of cooperatives whose business years ended during calendar 1997. Includes independent local cooperatives,

federations, centralized regional cooperatives, and cooperatives with mixed organizational structures. The volume of products marketed was

allocated to the State in which they were originated and the volume of farm supplies was allocated to the State in which they were sold;

service volume and other income was allocated to the State of origin when services related to farm products marketed or to the State of

destination when related to farm supplies soM.

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

cooperatives handtiig 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, but not included in the volumes reported for these activities.

50
Appendix Figures

51
Appendix Figure I- Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1974-98

Billion dollars

120

Total l

80

Marketing

60

Farm Supply

o-““““““““““““’

1974 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98

1 Total includes value of related services and other income.

Appendix Figure 2- Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1974-98

Billion dollars

140

120 Gross l

Net*

011 ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”

1974 76 78 ‘80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98

1 Includes intercooperative business. 2 Excludes intercooperative business.

52
Appendix Figure 3- U.S. Farms and Farmer Cooperative Memberships, 1974-98

Million

7

3

2

1

011 “““““““““““”

1974 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98

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

Memberships’

Farms

Appendix Figure 4- Distribution of Farmer Cooperatives by Type, 1998

Cotton 0.4% -

Service 12.1%.

Farm Supply 36.9%

Grain & Oilseed 26.4%

Dairy 6.2%

Livestock & Poultry 2.7%

Fruit & Vegetable 6.6%

Other Marketing l 6.5%

Percent based on 3,651 cooperatives.

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

53
Appendix Figure 5- Distribution of Total Net Income by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Other Marketing I 3.0%

Grain & Oilseed 25.3%

Service 8.4%

Dairy 25.7%

Fruit & Vegetable 4.4%

Farm Supply 33.2%

Percent based on net income of $1.74 billion.

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

Appendix Figure 6- Distribution of Total Losses by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Livestoc:k& I‘oultry 39.0% -

Dairy 1 .O% -

-

Other Marketing I 16.7%

Farm Supply 5.69 6

Service 5.4%

Sugar 4.4%

Grain & Oilseed 3

Fruit & Vegetable

Cotton 1.9% -

Percent based on losses of $379.9 million.

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

‘4%

22.2%

54
Appendix Figure 7- Distribution of Total Net Worth by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Grain & Oilseed 19.6%

Service 2.7%

Farm Supply 33.9%

Rice 1.2%

Dairy 14.7%

-Sugar 3.1%

-Fruit & Vegetable 62%

-Livestock & Poultry 7.1%

Other Marketing 7.7%

Cotton 1.8%

Percent based on net worth of $20 billion.

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

Appendix Figure 8- Distribution of Total Full-Time Employees by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Sugar 2.5%

Grain & Oilseed 13.7%

Dairy 15.6%

Rice 1.5%

Cotton 1 .l%

Service 3.2%

Fruit & Vegetable 13.7%

Livestock & Poultry 16.1%

Other Marketing ‘4.9%

Farm Supply 27.7%

Percent based on 173,791 full-time employees.

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

55
Appendix Figure 9- Assets Per Full-Time Employee by Type of Cooperative, 1998

Service

Livestock & Poultry

Rice

Fruit & Vegetable

Dairy

Farm Supply

Grain & Oilseed

Other Marketing l

Cotton

Sugar

I I I I

0 100 200 300

Total assets (thousand dollars)

400 500

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

and other miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.

Appendix Figure lo- Cooperatives’ Investments in and Patronage Refunds Received From Other

Cooperatives,’ 1989-98

Million dollars

investments

I I I I I I I I I I I

1989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

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

56
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Business-cooperative Service

Stop 3250

Washington, D.C. 20260-3250

Rural Businestiooperative 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 ( 11 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; (21 advises rural residents on developing existing

resources through cooperative action to enhance rural living;

(31 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 (51 encourages international

cooperative programs. RBS also publishes research and

educational materials and issues Rum1 Cooperatives magazine.

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

discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of

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

political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family

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

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for

communication of program information (braille, large print,

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

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

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

G&e of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and

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

call (2021720-6964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal

opportunity provider and employer.