Agricultural

Cb;xdve

ACS

Research

Report 129

Full-Time Employees,

Sales, and Assets

of Selected Farmer

Cooperatives:

1981 y 1986, and 1991
Full-Time Employees, Sales, and Assets of Selected Farmer

Cooperatives: 1981,1986, and 1991

Charles A. Kraenzle

Director, Statistics and Technical Services Staff

Agricultural Cooperative Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

P.O. Box 96576

Washington, DC 20090-6576

This report examines the number of full-time employees, sales, and total

assets of a selected group of 509 farmer cooperatives that had reported the

number of full-time employees, sales, and assets in 1981, 1986, and 1991 in

response to Agricultural Cooperative Service’s (ACS) annual survey. Number, sales, and assets per full-time employee and sales-to-assets ratio are

shown by asset grouping and type. Employee numbers and sales and total

assets per full-time employee varied considerably by type and size over the

years.

Keywords: cooperatives, full-time employees, sales, total assets, statistics

ACS Research Report 129

March 1994

Price: Domestic-$3.00: Foreign-$3.50
Preface

Since 1981, Agricultural Cooperative Service (ACS) has collected data

on the number of full-time employees every 5 years as part of its annual

survey of farmer cooperatives. These data were published in the agency’s

annual statistical reports. But this is the first study of trends and changes in

employee numbers.

Cooperatives were asked to report the number of full-time employees at

the end of their business year. Each cooperative used its own criteria to

identify full-time employees. There was no way to identify any differences in

hours worked by these employees. No information was collected on part-time

employees.

This report provides aggregate information on the number of full-time

employees of 509 selected cooperatives for 1981,1986, and 1991 and how

numbers of and sales and total assets per full-time employee have changed

by type of cooperative.

Segregating cooperatives by type and total assets provides a more

homogeneous grouping for comparing changes between time periods and

among types of cooperatives. It also provides information that managers,

directors, and others can use for comparing the number of full-time employees

in their organizations to the number of full-time employees used by the selected cooperatives of the same type and total asset category.

Data were collected by ACS’s Statistics and Technical Services StaffCelestine C. Adams, Katherine C. DeVille, Jacqueline E. Penn, Ralph M.

Richardson, and John W. Stutzman.

. . .

III
Contents

Highlights ................................................................................................................ vi

Overview .................................................................................................................. 1

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

Employees of Selected Cooperatives .................................................................... 2

Sales and Assets Per Employee ............................................................................... 4

Cotton Cooperatives.. ............................................................................................... .4

Dairy Cooperatives .................................................................................................... 5

Primarily Grain Cooperatives.................................................................................... .5

Majority Grain Cooperatives ..................................................................................... .9

Primarily Farm Supply Cooperatives ....................................................................... 10

Majority Farm Supply Cooperatives ........................................................................ 12

Fruit and Vegetable Cooperatives ........................................................................... 13

Livestock/Wool/Poultry Cooperatives ...................................................................... 15

Rice Cooperatives ................................................................................................... 15

Sugar Cooperatives ................................................................................................. 15

Tobacco Cooperatives. ........................................................................................... 17

Service Cooperatives .............................................................................................. 18

Nut Cooperatives.. ................................................................................................... 19

Dry Bean and Pea Cooperatives ............................................................................. 19

Miscellaneous Marketing Cooperatives ................................................................... 19

Cotton Ginning Cooperatives ................................................................................. .20

Some Selected Cooperative Comparisons .............................................................. 20

Some Implications ................................................................................................. 22

Appendix ................................................................................................................ 23

V
Highlights

Full-time employees of the 509 selected farmer cooperatives totaled

86,777 in 1981 compared with 80,873 in 1986 and 86,258 in 1991, reflecting a

business upturn after the agricultural recession of the mid-l 980s. In 1991,

these cooperatives accounted for 50.1 percent of all farmer cooperatives’ fulltime employees, 52.7 percent of all cooperatives’ sales, and 49.8 percent of

all cooperatives’ assets.

The number of full-time employees and the sales and total assets per

full-time employee varied considerably by type and size during this time.

The higher number from 1986 to 1991 was due to fruit and vegetable

cooperatives adding 6,843 employees. Conversely, dairy cooperatives cut

1,785 employees in the same period.

Sugar cooperatives had the most full-time employees per cooperative in

1981 and 1986, but by 1991 individual dairy cooperatives had the most with

117.

Employee numbers for dairy and smaller cotton cooperatives decreased

while larger cotton cooperatives showed increases. Primarily grain, primarily

farm supply, and majority farm supply significantly reduced their full-time

employees in 1981-86’. In majority grain cooperatives, however, employee

numbers grew both in 1986 and 1991. While small fruit and vegetable cooperatives added employees from 1981 to 1986, larger ones cut their labor

force. From 1986 to 1991, however, the largest fruit and vegetable cooperatives added 6,895 employees.

Many cooperatives with total assets of $1 million to $4.9 million operated

with three-to-four times more employees than cooperatives with assets below

$1 million. In the category of employees per cooperative with assets from $1

million to $4.9 million, primarily farm supply cooperatives were more labor

intensive, averaging 20.9 employees, compared with grain and fruit and

vegetable cooperatives, which averaged 10.6 employees.

In cooperatives with assets less than $10 million, there appeared to be

little difference in employee numbers per cooperative between primarily and

majority farm supply cooperatives. Primarily farm supply cooperatives with

assets from $10 million to $50 million averaged at least 50 full-time employees

more than the majority farm supply cooperatives. Data were not available to

compare employee numbers in the largest cooperatives.

In most cases, sales per full-time employee for all selected cooperatives

decreased as cooperative size increased. Sales per employee in small

cooperatives were higher compared with large cooperatives. Many small

‘Cooperatives with more than 75 percent of their combined grains and farm supply sales volume from

grains were called “primarily” grain. Those with 50 to 75 percent of their sales volume from grains were

“majority” grain cooperatives. Farm supply cooperatives were similarly classified.
cooperatives performed bargaining functions or operated on a commission or

brokerage basis with minimal assets and few full-time employees. The value

of the product bargained for or handled on a commission basis was included

in each cooperative’s sales.

Except for sugar cooperatives, sales per full-time employee were down in

1986 compared with 1981 due to the agricultural recession of the mid-l 980s.

Assets per full-time employee, however, increased in 1986, but not as much

as they did from 1986 to 1991.

Total assets per employee for all selected cooperatives generally increased as cooperative size increased. Consequently, the sales-to-assets

ratio generally declines as cooperatives grow. Basically, this reflects the

additional assets the larger cooperatives use in processing and other valueadded activities.

vii
Full-Time Employees, Sales, and Assets of Selected Farmer

Cooperatives: 1981,1986, and 1991

Charles A. Kraenzle, Director

ACS Statistics and Technical Services Staff

OVERVIEW

This study analyzes and compares the

changes and trends in number of full-time employees in 509 farmer cooperatives. They were

segregated by type and total assets to compare

use of full-time employees during three time

periods-1981,1986, and 1991. Only five asset

categories were used due to limited cooperative

numbers in some classifications. Data from 1991

were used to place cooperatives in total asset

categories, which in order to avoid disclosure

were collapsed where there were fewer than three

cooperatives.

Segregating cooperatives by type and total

assets provided a more homogeneous grouping

for comparing changes between time periods and

among types of cooperatives. It also provided

information that managers, directors, and others

can use for comparing their full-time employee

numbers with those in selected cooperatives of

the same type and total-asset category.

The number of full-time employees a cooperative needs depends on the products and

services provided to its members. Some cooperatives-those ginning cotton or handling fresh

fruits or fresh vegetables-may only operate at

full capacity during harvest. Others involved in

value-added activities need more employees

because they frequently operate at or near full

capacity throughout the year. Many cooperatives

may make significant use of part-time employees,

but no data were available on them.

CLASSIFICATION OF COOPERATIVES

Data on full-time employees are presented

according to a cooperative’s major function or

classification: marketing, farm supply, and service.

Marketing cooperatives-More than 50

percent of total business volume is derived from

the sale of members’ farm products. These cooperatives are further classified according to which

of 13 commodity categories predominates in

terms of business volume. A cooperative consistently handling a larger dollar volume of a commodity other than the one originally handled is

reclassified to represent that commodity.

Farm supply cooperatives-More than half

their business volume is derived from farm

supply sales including farm equipment and

building materials. Some also handle farm and

home items such as heating oil, lawn and garden

supplies and equipment, pet food, and convenience foods.

Service cooperatives-They provide specialized services to agricultural producers or cooperatives such as trucking, storing, drying, and

artificial insemination. Many cooperatives handle

multiple commodities and provide both marketing and farm supply services, as well as facilities

and equipment, to perform related services. These

associations are classified according to the predominant commodity or function, as indicated by

their dollar business volumes.

Other types of service cooperatives such as

those in the Farm Credit System, rural credit

unions, rural electric cooperatives, and dairy herd

improvement associations are not included in this

study.
EMPLOYEES OF SELECTED COOPERATIVES

Complete data were not available to calculate sales per employee for all cooperatives, so a

selected group of 509 farmer cooperatives that

reported sales, assets, and number of full-time

employees for 1981,1986, and 1991 was studied.

Their distribution versus that of all farmer cooperatives in 1991 is shown in table 1.

In 1981, employees’ of the selected cooperatives accounted for 42.6 percent of all cooperatives’ employees compared with 46.4 percent in

1986 and 50.1 percent in 1991. This group included many of the larger farmer cooperatives, as

indicated by the fact that they accounted for only

11.3 percent of all farmer cooperatives.

Among the 509 cooperatives, dairy, fruit and

vegetable, and farm supply cooperatives accounted for more than 64 percent of all employees

each year.

These selected cooperatives had 86,777

.employees in 1981; 80,873 in 1986; and 86,258 in

1991 (table 2). The 1981-86 decrease was greatest

among farm supply cooperatives (4,130), followed

by a net decrease for all marketing cooperatives

(1,743). The latter mainly resulted from declining

‘The term “employees” throughout this report will refer to full-time

employees unless otherwise stated.

employee numbers in grain, fruit and vegetable,

and livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives.

The net increase (5,385) in total number of

employees from 1986 to 1991 was largely centered

in fruit and vegetable cooperatives (fig. 1). In

total, marketing cooperative employees increased

by 4,277. The largest decrease (1,785) was among

dairy cooperatives.

For this study, grain and farm supply cooperatives were each classified into two subgroups:

“primarily” or “majority.” These classifications

were made to better analyze differences in the use

of employees in grain and farm supply cooperatives. Those with more than 75 percent of their

combined grain and farm supply sales from grain

were called “primarily grain.” Those in the 50 to

75 percent range were identified as “majority

grain.”

Supply cooperatives with more than 75

percent of their combined grain and farm supply

sales from farm supplies were designated “primarily farm supply.” Those in the 50 to 75 percent

range were classified as “majority farm supply.”

By total asset grouping, cooperatives with

1991 assets of $50 million or more accounted for

more than 75 percent of all selected cooperatives’

Table 1 -Number of selected and all cooperatives, 1991

Principal product(s)

marketed or

major function

Selected Percent All Percent

co-ops of total co-ops of total

Cotton

Dairy

Grains and oilseeds l

Fruits and vegetables

Livestock/wool/poultry

Nuts

Tobacco

Dry beans and peas

Rice

Sugar

Miscellaneous marketing

All marketing

Farm supply

Service 2

Number Percent Number Percent

9

66

159

52

29

3

7

3

6

9

3

346

141

22

1.8

12.9

31.2

10.2

5.7

.6

1.4

.6

1.2

1.8

L6

68.0

27.7

4.3

19 .4

265 5.9

1,286 28.6

299 6.6

327 7.3

14 .3

26 .6

10 .2

42 .9

48 1.1

48 1.1

2,384 53.0

1,689 37.6

421 9.4

Total

1 Excludes cottonseed.

* Includes cotton ginning cooperatives.

509 100.0 4,494 100.0

2
Table 2-Number of full-time employees of selected cooperatives

Principal product(s)

marketed or

major function

1981 1986 1991

Cotton

Dairy

Primarily grain l

Majority grain *

Fruits and vegetables

Livestock/wool/poultry

Nuts

Tobacco

Dry beans and peas

Rice

Sugar

Miscellaneous marketing

All marketing

Primarily farm supply 3

Majority farm supply 4

Service 5

1,730

28,551

6,488

3,116

13,304

11,367

788

102

8::

4,457

98

70,934

11,447

4,022

374

Number

1,638

28,671

5,379

3,125

12,424

10,735

1,941

84

8;:

4,177

99

69,191

8,355

2,984

343

1,758

26,886

5,253

3,748

19,267

10,563

1,753

74

160

625

3,282

99

73,468

9,341

3,118

331

Total 6 86,777 80,873 86,258

1 More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of grains and oilseeds excluding cottonseed.

2 More than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of grains and oilseeds excluding

cottonseed.

3 More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales came from supply sales.

4 More than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of farm supplies.

5 Includes cotton ginning cooperatives.

6 Full-time employees in all farmer cooperatives numbered 203,558 in 1981, 174,188 in 1986, and 172,062 in 1991. In 1957, fufl-time employees

&rmer Coooer&i!#& Gen. Rpt. 73, FCS, USDA, Wash., DC, January 1960. No other data were found on totaxber of coof

in farmer cooperatives totaled 140,764. For information on cooperative employees in 1957, see Nelda Griffin, er of Full-Tune Fmnlnvees of

Erative employees for other years.

Figure l-Number of Full-Time Empolyees of Selected Cooperatives, by Type

Type of Cooperative

Dairy

Fruit &

Vegetables

Primarily Farm

SUPPlY

Livestock/

Wool/Poultry

Primarily Grain

Sugar

Majority

Farm Supply

Ma’ority

Grain

Cotton

All Other

-1981 ml996

1991

10 15 20

Full-Time Employees (thousands)
total assets (fig. 2). From 1981 to 1991, cooperatives with assets of less than $1 million reduced

their employee numbers. Those with assets of $10

million to $250 million showed increases while

employees in the other total asset groupings

decreased in 1986, but increased in 1991.

While 47 of the selected cooperatives had

fewer than 5 employees in 1981, this increased in

1986 and 1991 (table 3). Employee numbers

declined in at least 10 cooperatives during this

time period. Many cooperatives bargain for their

members or operate on a commission or brokerage basis with little or no physical handling of a

product. Fifty percent or more in each of the 3

years had fewer than 30 employees, while 19 to 22

percent had at least 100.

Sales and Assets Per Employee

Total sales of these selected cooperatives in

relation to all cooperatives increased during 1981-

91 from 42 percent to nearly 53 percent. Sales,

however, decreased from 1981 to 1986 for all

types of selected cooperatives, except for fruit and

vegetable and nut cooperatives (table 4 and fig. 3).

Marketing cooperatives’ sales grew from 80.2

percent of the total in 1981, to 86.1 percent in

1986, and to 86.9 percent in 1991. Of the total

marketing sales, dairy cooperatives accounted for

more than 41 percent in each year.

Total assets of the selected cooperatives

ranged from $12.2 billion in 1981 to $15.6 billion

in 1991 (table 5). Assets of the selected cooperatives accounted for 42.2 percent, 48.3 percent, and

49.8 percent of all cooperatives’ assets in 1981,

1986, and 1991, respectively. Assets of dairy, fruit

and vegetable, and “all other” cooperatives

increased in 1986 and 1991 (fig. 4).

Cotton Cooperatives

Of the nine cooperatives primarily marketing cotton, only one had total assets of less than

$1 million in 1991. Five had total assets in the $10

million-$50 million range and three had assets of

$50 million or more. Consequently, they were

grouped into cooperatives with assets less than

$50 million and those with assets of $50 million or

more (table 6).

Figure 2-Number of Full-Time Employees of Selected Cooperatives by Asset Grouping’

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 1

250 or more

-1981 wl986

1991

‘Based on 1991 assets.

20

Full-Time Employees (thousands)

4
Table 3-Distribution of selected cooperatives by

number of full-time employees I

Full-time

Employees 1981

Year

1986 1991

Fewer than 5 47 54 57

5-14 120 115 106

15-29 99 103 94

30-49 80 78 75

50 - 99 58 62 67

100 - 199 42 32 36

200 - 999 45 50 52

1,000 and more 18 15 22

/Vumber of cooperatives

Total 509 509 509

‘Represents 509 cooperatives that provided information on number

of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

Table 4Total sales of selected farmer

cooperatives

Principal product(s)

marketed or

major function

1981 1986 1991

Cotton 1,885

Dairy 14,770

Primarily grain l 5,846

Majority grain 2 1,992

Fruits and vegetables 3,320

Livestock/wool/poultry 3,806

Nuts 342

Tobacco 337

Dry beans and peas 43

Rice 499

Sugar 1,496

Miscellaneous marketing 57

All marketing 3 34,393

Primarily farm supply 4 6,013

Majority farm supply 5 2,016

Service 6 442

Total 42,864 35,864 47.850

Mil. dol.

1,196 2,309

14,092 17,333

4,281 6,467

1,476 2,337

4,514 6,266

2,991 4,042

497 542

152 405

36 85

236 269

1,351 1,482

-

49 -62

30,871 41,599

3,859 4,874

1,013 1,306

121 71

‘More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales

came from sales of grains and oilseeds excluding cottonseed.

*More than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined

marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of grains and

oilseeds excluding cottonseed.

3Totals may not add due to rounding.

*More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales

came from supply sales.

SMore than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined

marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of farm supplies.

@ Includes cotton ginning cooperatives.

Smaller cooperatives reduced the number of

employees over time but increased sales per

employee *. The larger cooperatives increased the

number of employees but sales per employee

varied. Both groups showed increased assets per

employee in 1986. In 1991, however, assets per

employee 3 increased in the smaller grouping but

decreased among the largest. The sales-to-assets

ratio was consistently higher for the smaller

group.

Dairy Cooperatives

This group contained 66 dairy cooperatives

(table 7) of which 18 had assets of $50 million or

more in 1991. They accounted for 85 percent or

more of the selected cooperatives’ employees all 3

years.

Many of the these cooperatives bargain with

handlers and processors on price and other terms

of trade for their members. Consequently, the

value of the milk for which they bargain is included in sales. The effect significantly increases

the sales per employee, especially for the small,

strictly bargaining cooperatives.

In 1981 and 1986, sales per employee varied

with size. However, in 1991, sales per employee

decreased as cooperative size increased (fig. 5).

Assets per employee varied considerably with

size (fig. 6). In 1981, assets per employee was

highest for the largest cooperatives ($50 million or

more). In 1986 and 1991, assets per employee was

highest for those with assets of $5 million to $9.9

million.

The sales-to-assets ratios of dairy cooperatives, especially those with assets of less than $5

million, were highest largely because of milk

bargaining activities. In each time period, the

ratios decreased as cooperative size increased.

Primarily Grain Cooperatives

Eighty-six cooperatives were identified as

primarily grain cooperatives-more than 75

*Sales per employee was calculated by dividing the marketing and

farm supply sales plus service receipts and other income of each

cooperative by the cooperative’s number of full-time employees.

Sales per employee was then summed and divided by the number of

cooperatives in each grouping.

3 Assets per employee was calculated by dividing total assets of each

cooperative by the cooperative’s number of employees. Assets per

employee was then summed and divided by the number of

cooperatives in each grouping.

5
Figure 3-Sales of Selected Cooperatives by Type

Type of Cooperative

Dairy

Fruit &

Vegetables

Primarily Farm

SUPPlY

Livestock/

Wool/Poultry

Primarily Grain

Sugar

Majority

Farm Supply

Ma’ority

Arain

Cotton

All Other

-1981

1988

1991

10

Sales (million dol.)

Figure 4-Assets of Selected Cooperatives by Type

Type of Cooperative

Dairy

Fruit &

Vegetables

Primarily Farm

SUPPlY

Livestock/

Wool/Poultry

Primarily Grain

Sugar

Majority

Farm Supply

Ma’ority

&rain

Cotton

All Other

2

Assets (million dol.)

-1981

ml986

1991

6
Table 5-Assets of selected farmer cooperatives Table 6-Selected cotton cooperatives by size of

Principal product(s)

marketed or

major function

1981 1986 1991

Cotton 455

Dairy 2,709

Primarily grain l 1,263

Majority grain * 604

Fruits and vegetables 1,756

Livestock/wool/poultry 687

Nuts 170

Tobacco 50

Dry beans and peas 13

Rice 137

Sugar 783

Miscellaneous marketing 19

All marketing 3 8,645

Primarily farm supply 4 2,918

Majority farm supply 5 575

Service 6 41

Total 12,179

Mil. dol.

763 557

3,230 3,799

1,213 1,501

604 880

2,451 3,144

594 896

210 332

66 207

17 27

149 110

718 759

16 21

10,031 12,235

2,266 2,718

442 571

51 54

12,790 15,579

1 More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales

came from sales of grains and oilseeds excluding cottonseed.

2 More than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined

marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of grains and

oilseeds excluding cottonseed.

3Totals may not add due to rounding.

4 More than 75 percent of combined marketing and farm supply sales

came from supply sales.

5 More than 50 percent but less than 76 percent of combined

marketing and farm supply sales came from sales of farm supplies.

GlncIudes cotton ginning cooperatives.

percent of their combined grain and farm supply

sales came from grain (table 8). The two which

reported assets of $50 million or more in 1991

were combined with those with assets of $10

million or more. As a result, the number of employees and the sales and assets per employee are

larger than would be expected for cooperatives in

this grouping.

In each time period, more than 83 percent of

employees in the primarily grain cooperatives

were accounted for by the largest cooperativesassets of $10 million or more. However, these

cooperatives reduced employees by 1,116 by 1986

and 132 by 1991. In 1981, each of the largest

cooperatives averaged 194 employees, by 1991

they averaged only 151. The reduction in employees in the mid-1980s partly reflects the agricultural recession.

total assets I

Total assets (Million $3) *

Year Total

Less than 50 50 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981, 1986,

and 1991 6 3 9

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 919 811 1,730

1986 779 859 1,638

1991 620 1,138 1,758

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 153.2 270.3 192.2

1986 129.8 286.3 182.0

1991 103.3 379.3 195.3

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 1,242 1,857 1,447

1986 1,921 763 1,535

1991 2,982 1,536 2,500

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 195 403 264

1986 408 718 511

1991 590 467 549

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 5.12 3.94 4.73

1986 3.56 1.49 2.87

1991 7.08 3.15 5.77

1 Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

* Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

Even with the reduction in employee numbers, sales per employee were down for all size

categories in 1986, reflecting lower sales of cooperatives that year (fig. 7). In both 1986 and 1991,

sales per employee, excluding cooperatives with

1991 assets less than $1 million, decreased as size

of cooperative increased. However, in all years,

sales per employee of the largest cooperatives

were less than those cooperatives with assets of

$1 million to less than $10 million.

Assets per employee for the primarily grain

cooperatives was $299,000 in 1981, $329,000 in

1986, and $358,000 in 1991. However, assets per

employee varied by size and year. The largest

cooperatives had lower assets per employee than

the 25 cooperatives in the next lower asset grouping. This was true each year.

7
Figure %-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Dairy Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 1

50-or more

2 4 6 8

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (million dol.)

Figure 6-Assets Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Dairy Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 1

50-or more

100 200 --- 3uu

Assets Per Full-Time Employee (thousand dol.)

8
Table 7-Selected dairy cooperatives by size of total assets I

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Less than 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9 10 - 49.9 50 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 12 14 6

Number of

1981

Full-l’rne Employees

183 223

1986 178 174

1991

::

195 233

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 13.1 37.2

1986

z.:

12.7 29.0

1991 4:3 13.9 38.8

~c&s Per Fu;;;;e Employee /y600)

1986 2:307 (706

1,768

2,157

1991 5,010 2,319 1,997

$;Tts Per Full-I-;me Employee \!$;OOO)

308

1986 87 222 400

1991 114 292 348

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 112.01 12.18 6.40

1986 57.18 11.30 5.72

1991 162.70 7.06 6.26

16 18 66

2,785 25,297 28,551

4,022 24,236 28,671

2,971 23,435 26,886

174.1 1,405.4 432.6

251.4 1,346.4 434.4

185.7 1,301.g 407.4

1,319 1,819 2,588

1,430 758 1,531

1,698 901 2,242

189 369 277

231 238 220

280 184 232

6.28 5.23 26.48

5.09 4.08 15.66

5.23 4.87 34.25

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

* Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

Most sales-to-assets ratios for the primarily

grain cooperatives also decreased as cooperative

size increased. The ratio for cooperatives in the $1

million-!@.9 million group was 6.53 compared

with 6.16 for those with less than $1 million in

total assets.

The largest majority grain cooperatives (1991

assets of $10 million or more) accounted for

nearly 64 percent of all employees in 1981. By

1991, employee numbers of these cooperatives

grew by 740. Employees in the smallest size

decreased from 292 in 1981 to 257 in 1986, and to

214 in 1991.

Majority Grain Cooperatives

There were 73 majority grain cooperatives50 to 75 percent of the combined grain and farm

supply sales from grains. The sole cooperative

with total assets of less than $1 million was

combined with those with assets of less than $5

million (table 9).

Sales per employee increased as size of the

cooperative increased, both in 1981 and 1991 (fig.

8). In 1986, sales per employee for the cooperatives in the largest asset group was lower than

those in the next lowest asset grouping-$5

million to $9.9 million. Overall, sales per employee of the majority grain cooperatives were

significantly lower in 1986 than in 1981 or 1991.

Two majority grain cooperatives had assets Without exception, assets per employee of

of $50 million or more, but fewer employees than the majority grain cooperatives increased as

the two largest primarily grain cooperatives. Data cooperative size increased. As expected, the

on both cooperatives, however, were combined largest cooperatives showed the most assets per

with the 31 cooperatives with 1991 assets of $10 employee. From 1981 to 1991, however, these

million or more. cooperatives’ assets per employee dropped from

9
Table 8-Selected primarily grain cooperatives by size of total assets l

Total assets (Million $) 2

Year

Less than 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9

Number of Cooperatives

1981, 1986,

and 1991 4 28 25

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 18 337 503

1986 18 322 525

1991 12 298 561

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 4.5 12.0 20.1

1986 4.5 11.5 21.0

1991 3.0 10.6 22.4

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 808 1,525 1,548

1986 589 1,232 953

1991 968 1,340 1,256

10 or more

29

5,630

4,514

4,382

194.1

155.7

151.1

1,308

762

1,030

Total

86

6,488

5,379

5,253

75.4

62.5

61.1

1,425

963

1,193

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 184 246 363 312

1986 169 362 347 305

1991 215 336 398 364

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 6.16 6.53 4.43 4.32

1986 5.42 4.20 2.81 2.70

1991 5.47 4.27 3.27 3.01

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

2 Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

299

329

358

5.16

3.35

3.61

$306,000 to $264,000, reflecting the increased

employee numbers.

In 1986 and 1991, the sales-to-assets ratio was

highest for those cooperatives in the $5 million to

$9.9 million asset group. The ratio usually decreases as cooperative size increases.

Compared with primarily grain cooperatives, the majority grain cooperatives had fewer

employees, much lower sales and assets per

employee, and overall lower sales-to-assets ratios.

However, information was not available to relate

what impact these variables have had on profitability.

Primarily Farm Supply Cooperatives

There were 105 cooperatives classified as

primarily farm supply-more than 75 percent of

their combined grain and farm supply sales from

farm supplies (table 10). In 1991, nearly 62 percent

10

of these cooperatives had assets of less than $5

million. Seven cooperatives had assets of $50

million or more and accounted for 68.3 percent

and 58.6 percent of the employees of primarily

farm supply cooperatives in 1981 and 1991,

respectively.

Cooperatives in each asset grouping reduced

the number of employees from 1981 to 1986.

Overall, total number of employees declined 27

percent or 3,092, again reflecting the tough economic times in agriculture. From 1986 to 1991,

primarily farm supply cooperatives with assets of

less than $1 million reduced their employee

numbers while cooperatives in each of the larger

asset groupings increased them. The greatest

increase (545) in number was by the largest

primarily farm supply cooperatives.

Sales per employee decreased from 1981 to

1986 in each asset grouping except for those

cooperatives with assets of $1 million to $4.9
Figure 7-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Primarily Grain Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Lessthan 1

lo-or more

I I

400 800 1:

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (thousand dol.)

-1981 wl988

-1991

3 1'

Figure 8-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Majority Grain Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Lessthan

lo-or more

I

I I I I

0 200 400 600 800 1

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (thousand dol.)

11
Table g--Selected majority grain cooperatives by

size of total assets l

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Less 10

than or

5 5 - 9.9 more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 16 24 33 73

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 292 833 1,991 3,116

1986 257 754 2,114 3,125

1991 214 803 2,731 3,748

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 18.3 34.7 60.3 42.7

1986 16.1 31.4 64.1 42.8

1991 13.4 33.5 82.8 51.3

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 590 825 868 793

1986 431 512 505 491

1991 612 648 682 655

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 163 213 306 244

1986 185 206 220 208

1991 231 239 264 249

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 3.72 3.70 3.25 3.50

1986 2.45 2.76 2.43 2.55

1991 2.73 2.87 2.70 2.76

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

2Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

million (fig. 9). In 1991, sales per employee was

similar to 1981, except for cooperatives in the

smallest grouping. In general, these sales varied

as cooperative size increased. Sales per employee

of the largest cooperatives, however, were significantly larger than any of the smaller cooperatives.

The seven largest cooperatives were all

regionals. Consequently, they may have hired a

number of part-time employees which would

partially explain their high sales per employee.

Examination of assets per employee of

primarily farm supply cooperatives across asset

categories tells a similar story. An exception

occurred from 1981 to 1986 when assets per

employee increased in all but one asset group.

One important aspect of the these cooperatives is the relatively low, but similar, asset

turnover rate across all size groupings. In 1981,

the sales-to-assets ratio ranged from 2.52 to 2.83,

in 1986 from 1.60 to 2.36, and in 1991 from 2.23 to

2.66.

Majority Farm Supply Cooperatives

There were only 36 majority farm supply

cooperatives (table 11). Their farm supply sales

accounted for 50 to 75 percent of their combined

grain and farm supply sales in 1991. Only one

cooperative had total assets of less than $1 million

in 1991. It was combined with those with assets of

less than $5 million.

Two regional cooperatives in 1991 reported

assets of more than $50 million and combined

with those with assets of $10 million or more.

The majority farm supply cooperatives

decreased employee numbers by 1,038 from 1981

to 1986, the largest cooperatives by 865. By 1991,

majority farm supply cooperatives in each size

grouping had increased the number of employees.

There was little difference in the number of

employees per cooperative between the majority

and primarily farm supply cooperatives with

assets below $10 million. However, the primarily

farm supply cooperatives with assets of $10

million to $49.9 million averaged more than 50

employees compared with the majority farm

supply cooperatives each year. Insufficient data

did not allow comparison of employee numbers

in the largest cooperatives.

Sales per employee of the majority farm

supply cooperatives in 1981 varied as cooperative

size increased (fig. 10). It decreased as size increased in 1986 and increased as size increased in

1991. In comparing 1981 and 1991, sales per

employee in 1991 was lower for those cooperatives in the smallest and largest groups but higher

for those cooperatives in the $5 million to $9.9

million range.

Total assets per employee were higher in

1991 for cooperatives in each asset group. Assets

per employee, however, varied as cooperative

size increased in 1981 and 1986, but increased as

size increased in 1991.

The sales-to-assets ratio decreased as size of

cooperative increased each year and in each size

grouping from 1981 to 1991. This implies that the

majority farm supply cooperatives have slipped

in maintaining efficient use of their assets.

12
Table 1 O-Selected primarily farm supply cooperatives by size of total assets I

Total assets (Million $)’

Year Total

Less than 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9 10 -49.9 50 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 14 51 21 12 7 105

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 114 1,018 1,019 1,481 7,815 11,447

1986 90 934 963 1,439 4,929 8,355

1991 80 1,066 1,142 1,579 5,474 9,341

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 8.1 20.0 48.5 123.4 1,116.4 109.0

1986 6.4 18.3 45.9 119.9 704.1 79.6

1991 5.7 20.9 54.4 131.6 782.0 89.0

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 197 350 337 375 730 355

1986 131 402 265 309 648 344

1991 271 352 341 372 711 365

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 71 131 130 130 327 136

1986 84 196 123 140 339 170

1991 108 152 138 186 379 162

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 2.83 2.52 2.56 2.86 2.83 2.63

1986 1.60 2.15 2.25 2.11 2.36 2.10

1991 2.58 2.47 2.55 2.20 2.20 2.45

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years and whose farm supply sales

were more than 75 percent of combined grain and farm supply sales.

2Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

Fruit and Vegetable Cooperatives

Among the 52 selected fruit and vegetable

cooperatives, the 13 largest cooperatives had 76.6

percent of the employees in 1981,79.9 percent in

1986, and 87.3 percent in 1991. Only the smallest

cooperatives showed an increase in employee

numbers in 1986 compared with 1981 (table 12).

Cooperatives in the three middle asset groupings

decreased employee numbers in 1986 and in 1991.

The largest ones, however, significantly increased

(6,895) their employees from 1986 to 1991.

Sales per employee decreased as cooperative

size increased both in 1986 and 1991 (fig. 11). In

1981, however, sales per employee varied as size

increased. The decreased sales per employee as

size increased reflected the processing and other

value-added activities of the larger cooperatives.

The significantly larger sales per employee for

those in the smaller asset groups reflects the

inclusion of bargaining cooperatives.

Assets per employee varied as cooperative

size increased in all years. However, the range

was significantly smaller than the sales per

employee for the given asset categories. This

would be expected because bargaining cooperatives were included. Assets per employee ranged

from $111,000 to $198,000 in 1981, !$82,000 to

$403,000 in 1986, and $107,000 to $470,000 in 1991.

The sales-to-assets ratio decreased as cooperative size increased in every year. However, the

ratio changed little by asset categories except for

the smallest cooperative group.

13
Figure g-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Primarily Farm Supply Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 1

50-or more

(

-1981 wl988

1991

3 200 400 600

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (thousand dol.)

800

Figure 1 O-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Majority Farm Supply Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 5

1 O-or more

200 400

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (thousand dol.)

600

14
Table 11 -Selected majority farm supply cooperatives by size of total assets I

Total assets (Million $3) *

Year Total

Lessthan 5 5 - 9.9 10ormore

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 10 12 14 36

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 215 625 3,182 4,022

1986 158 509 2,317 2,984

1991 184 527 2,407 3,118

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 21.5 52.1 227.3 111.7

1986 15.8 42.4 165.5 82.9

1991 18.4 43.9 171.9 86.6

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 546 409 486 477

1986 430 371 334 373

1991 357 427 460 420

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 130 126 167 143

1986 135 134 161 145

1991 134 157 193 165

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 4.10 3.47 2.97 3.45

1986 3.30 2.88 2.35 2.79

1991 2.70 2.75 2.50 2.64

1 Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years and whose farm

supply sales were from 50 to 75 percent of combined grain and farm

supply sales.

2 Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

LivestocWooI/Poultry Cooperatives

Of the 29 livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives, 20 were classified as livestock, 4 as wool,

and 5 as poultry cooperatives. They were combined to avoid disclosure of any one cooperative.

Several livestock and wool cooperatives were

small-total assets less than $1 million. The eight

largest livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives had

95 percent of the employees and 1991 assets of $10

million or more (table 13). A number of the wool

and livestock cooperatives marketed a relatively

large dollar volume with few employees as

shown by the high sales per employee. This was

especially true for livestock cooperatives in the

asset category of $5 million to $9.9 million.

Assets per employee ranged from $39,000 to

$452,000 in 1981 and from $117,000 to $271,000 in

1991. Assets of many smaller cooperatives were

relatively small, so their sales-to-assets ratios

were relatively high. Cooperatives with 1991

assets of $5 million to $9.9 million had the highest

ratios.

Rice Cooperatives

Three of the six rice cooperatives had 1991

assets of less than $1 million, one had 1991 assets

in the range of $1 million to $5 million, and two

had assets exceeding $10 million. Consequently,

two of the three cooperatives grouped with assets

of $1 million or more were fairly large (table 14).

The three largest rice cooperatives accounted

for most employees. From 1981 to 1986, employee

numbers declined in both groups. However, from

1986 to 1991, the smaller rice cooperatives increased their number of employees while larger

cooperatives reduced them. In fact, the three

largest cooperatives decreased employees by 208.

From 1981 to 1991, one of the larger cooperatives

sold off assets while another purchased additional assets.

Sales per employee were significantly larger

for the smaller cooperatives than the larger ones.

The smaller cooperatives were basically merchandisers and not involved in processing. The larger

cooperatives do market and their sales per employee were significantly lower.

Assets per employee were higher for the

larger cooperatives. From 1981-91, assets per

employee for the smallest cooperatives decreased

but varied for the largest cooperatives.

The sales-to-assets ratio was significantly

higher for smaller cooperatives because of the

nature of their business and use of relatively few

employees. The sales-to-assets ratios were the

lowest in 1986.

Sugar Cooperatives

Nine sugar cooperatives were grouped

according to whether their 1991 assets were above

or below the $50 million mark (table 15). In the

smaller grouping, two sugar bargaining cooperatives had 1991 assets of less than $1 million and

two cooperatives had 1991 assets in the range of

$10 million to $50 million.

15
Figure 1 l-Sales Per Full-Time Employee of Selected Fruit and Vegetable Cooperatives

Assets (million dol.)

Less than 1

50-or more

-1981

1988

1991

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sales Per Full-Time Employee (million dol.)

Table 12-Selected fruit and vegetable cooperatives by size of total assets l

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Lessthan 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9 10 - 49.9 50 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 11 7 5 16 13

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 2: 122 444 2,520 10,187

1986 E 103 2,251 9,929

1991 38 89 2,242 16,824

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 2.8 17.4 88.8 157.5 783.6

1986 Z:Z 11.9 20.6 140.7 763.8

1991 10.6 17.8 140.1 1,294.2

F;F Per Fu131-T&ne Employee l’$s’J&OO)

2:566 2:016

227 317 267

1986 1,063 491 397

1991 6,441 2,495 1,719 700 337

f;.s;ts Per Fu;;:ime Employee \!$2000) 182 122 198

1986 82 403 286 182 234

1991 107 326 470 263 170

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 596.22 8.23 2.81 2.52 1.63

1986 101.03 7.16 2.86 2.59 1.79

1991 44.94 7.34 2.71 2.37 1.98

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

*Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

52

13,304

12,424

19,267

255.8

238.9

370.5

1,222

1,167

2,163

153

213

235

128.68

23.85

11.98

16
Table 13-Selected livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives by size of total assets I

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Less than 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9 10 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and 1991 10 7

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 ;; 139

1986 124

1991 23 107

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 z 19.9

1986 17.7

1991 2:3 15.3

F;F Per Full-Time :n&oyee ($1,000)

1,803

1986 11749 1,887

1991 2,962 2,409

$.sds Per Full-Time EgAoyee ($1,000)

1986 129 1:;

1991 117 147

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 38.72

1986 34.71

1991 18.76

31.40 74.58 11.00 34.27

15.28 51.32 8.50 25.07

16.21 29.62 5.13 15.86

4 8 29

328 10,823 11,367

325 10,247 10,735

361 10,072 10,563

82.0 1,352.g 392.0

81.3 1,280.g 370.2

90.3 1,259.0 364.2

5,786 1,748 2,197

6,693 2,276 2,609

4,537 998 2,504

452 205 155

128 400 204

271 173 161

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

*Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

The larger group had at least 89 percent of all

employees each year. Both groups, however,

decreased employee numbers over time. The

larger group decreased its employees by 185 from

1981 to 1986 and by 894 from 1986 to 1991. The

smaller cooperatives reduced employees by 95

from 1981 to 1986 and maintained about the same

number from 1986 to 1991.

Sales per employee were significantly higher

for smaller cooperatives, partly because the dollar

volume of bargained commodities was included.

Sales per employee for the larger cooperatives

ranged from $294,000 in 1981 to $438,000 in 1986.

Sales per employee for both groups was highest

in 1986. This was unusual in comparison with the

decreased sales per employee shown by other

types of cooperatives.

The sales-to-assets ratio dropped over the

years for the smaller cooperatives, but increased

for the larger ones. However, the ratio for the

larger cooperatives was low compared with other

types of cooperatives.

Tobacco Cooperatives

Seven tobacco cooperatives were among the

selected cooperatives for 1991 (table 16). Four had

assets of less than $1 million, one was in the $1

million to $5 million range, another between $5

million and $10 million, and one had more than

$50 million. The others were grouped to avoid

disclosure.

In 1981, the larger cooperatives had more

than nine times the number of employees than the

smaller ones, declining to more than seven times

in 1991.

Sales per employee varied over the years for

cooperatives in both size groupings. The large

sales figures per employee in both groups resulted from the nature of the cooperative tobacco

business. Stabilization cooperatives borrow

money from the Federal Government to purchase

tobacco from member producers. Other cooperatives operate warehouses to store tobacco if it

doesn’t sell at or above the Federal price support.

17
Table 14-Selected rice cooperatives by size of

total assets I

Table 15-Selected sugar cooperatives by size of

total assets 1

Year

Total assets (Million $) 2

Total

Less than1 1 or more

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Lessthan 50 50 or more

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 3 3 6

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 15 833 848

1986 13 816 829

1991 17 608 625

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 5.0 277.7 141.3

1986 2.6 272.0 138.2

1991 5.7 202.7 104.2

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 5,329 754 3,042

1986 2,235 274 1,255

1991 3,268 464 1,866

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 230 370 300

1986 133 167 150

1991 84 207 145

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 108.94 2.60 55.77

1986 48.84 1.83 25.34

1991 62.22 2.25 32.23

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

*Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

Assets per employee increased in 1986 and in

1991 for both groups. Part of the assets could

include the value of tobacco in inventory, especially for 1991.

The sales-to-assets ratio was lower in 1986

than in 1981 and 1991 for cooperatives in both

groups. However, the ratio was relatively high for

both groups compared with other types of cooperatives due to the nature of the tobacco business.

Service Cooperatives

Thirteen service cooperatives, excluding

cotton gins, were included in the study. Although

ACS includes cotton gins as service cooperatives,

for this study cotton ginning cooperatives were

classified separately.

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 4 5 9

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 447 4,010 4,457

1986 352 3,825 4,177

1991 351 2,931 3,282

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 111.8 802.0 495.2

1986 88.0 765.0 464.1

1991 87.8 586.2 364.7

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 19,059 294 8,634

1986 24,965 438 11,338

1991 7,793 410 3,691

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 166 227 200

1986 141 273 214

1991 169 241 209

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 181.39 1.43 81.41

1986 166.26 1.63 74.80

1991 56.00 1.68 25.82

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

*Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

These service cooperatives were relatively

small. Seven had 1991 assets of less than $1

million. Six were in the $1 million to $5 million

range (table 17). The larger cooperatives had more

than twice as many employees per cooperative as

smaller ones. Employee numbers in the smaller

cooperatives declined from 1986 to 1991. In the

larger cooperatives, numbers were down in 1986

but up in 1991.

Sales per employee were low for smaller

cooperatives but increased in 1986 and 1991.

Among larger cooperatives in 1981 and 1986,

these sales were $8.8 million and $4.5 million,

respectively. However, assets per employee of

$160,000 in 1981 and $249,000 in 1986 were not

extremely high. Consequently, the sales-to-assets

ratio was 60.83 in 1981,12.80 in 1986, but only

3.45 in 1991.

18
Table 16-Selected tobacco cooperatives by size of

total assets I

Table 17-Selected service cooperatives by size of

assets l

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Total

Lessthan 1 1 or more

Year

Total assets (Million $) *

Lessthan 1 1 - 4.9

Total

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 4 3 7

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 10 92 102

1986 9 75 84

1991 9 65 74

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 2.5 30.7 17.9

1986 2.3 25.0 12.0

1991 2.3 21.7 10.6

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 3,289 3,348 3,314

1986 2,272 3,212 2,675

1991 3,729 5,473 4,476

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 165 400 266

1986 186 642 381

1991 209 1,811 896

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 18.29 12.87 15.96

1986 12.91 6.85 10.31

1991 17.77 7.43 13.34

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 7 6 13

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 35 67 102

1986 29 64 93

1991 25 75 100

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 5.0 11.2 7.8

1986 4.1 10.7 7.2

1991 3.6 12.5 7.7

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 86 8,813 4,114

1986 119 4,509 2,145

1991 132 155 143

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 107 186 144

1986 109 290 192

1991 98 306 194

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 1.44 70.97 33.53

1986 1.59 14.94 7.75

1991 1.64 .74 1.23

’ Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

ZBased on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

‘Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of

full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

*Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two

or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

Nut Cooperatives

Only three nut cooperatives were among the The three dry bean and pea cooperatives

509 cooperatives. Consequently, these coopera- nearly doubled their employees between 1981

tives are not shown by size category. It is interest- and 1991 (table 18). Sales per employee from 1981

ing to note, however, that the number of employ- to 1991 varied, but assets per employee increased.

ees of the three nut cooperatives increased signifi- The sales per employee and the sales-to-assets

cantly from 1981 to 1986 (table 18). ratio were both lowest in 1986.

Sales per employee increased from $928,000

in 1981 to $1.6 million in 1986 and to nearly $2.7

million in 1991. On the other hand, assets per

employee were about the same in 1986, but

increased significantly in 1991. The sales-to-assets

ratio was up in 1986, but down in 1991.

Miscellaneous Marketing Cooperatives

The three miscellaneous marketing cooperatives included in the study had 1991 assets ranging from less than $1 million to those with $10

million to $49.9 million. Although the size of

these cooperatives varied greatly, data were

combined.

Dry Bean and Pea Cooperatives

19
Table 18-Other selected cooperatives l

Type of full-time employees

co-op and

number ( ) Year Total Per co-op

Sales per Assets per Sales

full-time full-time to assets

employee employee ratio

Nut (3)

Number-- ---$1 ,ooo---

1981 788 262.7 928 752

1986 1,941 647.0 1,631 748

1991 1,753 584.3 2,655 1,868

Dry Bean and Pea (3)

1981 85 28.3 439 145

1986 89 29.7 339 175

1991 160 53.3 519 218

Miscellaneous Marketing (3)

1981 98 32.7 510 136

1986 99 33.0 452 121

1991 99 33.0 698 166

Cotton Gins (9)

1981 272 30.2 371 177

1986 250 27.8 308 208

1991 231 25.7 358 241

’ Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

Number

1.79

8.26

4.91

2.91

1.98

2.55

4.26

3.76

3.73

1.82

1.37

1.63

The employee numbers were about the same

all 3 years, but the two smaller cooperatives

decreased employees while the largest cooperative increased its number.

Sales and assets per employee were down in

1986 but higher in 1991 than they were in 1981.

Sales-to-assets ratio decreased from 4.26 in 1981 to

3.73 in 1991.

Cotton Ginning Cooperatives

Nine cotton ginning cooperatives in the

study were grouped together. One had total

assets of less than $1 million in 1991; six were in

the $1 million to $4.9 million range; another fell in

the $5 million to $9.9 million group; and one had

assets of $10 million to $49.9 million.

Employee numbers in these cotton ginning

cooperatives decreased by 41 from 1981 to 1991.

Employees per cooperative dropped from 30.2 in

1981 to 25.7 in 1991.

Sales per employee declined in 1986 but

increased in 1991. Assets per employee, however,

were up in both 1986 and 1991. This suggests

these cooperatives reduced employees through

use of more or improved technology.

Some Selected Cooperative Comparisons

Number of employees used by the selected

cooperatives depends on the size and nature of

their business and other factors. Some comparisons can be made by type of cooperative and size

(total assets) where sufficient data were available.

Cooperatives with total assets of less than $1

million in 1991 had employee numbers averaging

2.3 to 5.7 (table 19). Primarily farm supply and

rice cooperatives averaged 5.7 employees.

Sales per employee of cooperatives with

assets less than $1 million ranged from $132,000

in service cooperatives to $6.4 million in fruit and

vegetable cooperatives. Again, the high sales per

employee in selected cooperatives came from

activities associated with bargaining or other

activities that used minimal assets.

Total assets per employee ranged from

$84,000 for rice cooperatives to $215,000 for

primarily grain cooperatives. The range in assets

per employee was less extreme than for sales per

employee.

Because of the wide range in sales per employee, the sales-to-assets ratio ranged from 1.64

for “other” cooperatives to 162.7 for dairy cooperatives.

20
Table 19-Some comparisons by type of cooperative and size of assets, 1991 l

Full-time Sales per Assets per Sales

Type of cooperative employees full-time full-time to assets

per co-op employee employee ratio

Number _____-__$l ,OOO__-__ Number

Assets Less than $1 Million

Dairy 4.3 5,010 114 162.70

Primarily grain 3.0 968 215 5.47

Primarily farm supply 5.7 271 108 2.58

Fruit and vegetable 3.5 6,441 107 44.94

Livestock/wool/poultry 2.3 2,962 117 18.76

Rice 5.7 3,268 84 62.22

Tobacco 2.3 3,729 209 17.77

“Other” 3.6 132 98 1.64

Assets of $1 Million to $4.9 Million

Dairy 13.9 2,319 292 7.06

Primarily grain 10.6 1,340 336 4.27

Majority grain 13.4 612 231 2.73

Primarily farm supply 20.9 352 152 2.47

Majority farm supply 18.4 357 134 2.70

Fruit and vegetable 10.6 2,495 326 7.34

Livestock/wool/poultry 15.3 2,409 147 16.21

“Other’ 12.5 155 306 0.74

Assets of $5 Million to $9.9 Million

Dairy 38.8 1,997 348 6.26

Primarily grain 22.4 1,256 398 3.27

Majority grain 33.5 648 239 2.87

Primarily farm supply 54.4 341 138 2.55

Majority farm supply 43.9 427 157 2.75

Fruit and vegetable 17.8 1,719 470 2.71

Livestock/wool/poultry 90.3 4,537 271 29.62

’ Represents cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets for 1981, 1986, and 1991.

Many cooperatives with assets of $1 million

to $4.9 million had three to four times more

employees than those with assets of less than $1

million. The number of employees per cooperative with assets of $1 million to $4.9 million

ranged from 10.6 (primarily grain and fruit and

vegetable) to 20.9 (primarily farm supply). Farm

supply cooperatives were more labor intensive

than their grain marketing counterparts.

Average sales per employee ranged from

$155,000 for “other” cooperatives to nearly $2.5

million for fruit and vegetable cooperatives. Of

interest is the comparison of primarily grain with

majority grain cooperatives and primarily farm

supply with majority farm supply cooperatives.

Average sales per employee of the primarily grain

cooperatives were more than twice that of the

majority grain cooperatives. But there was little

difference between primarily and majority farm

supply cooperatives.

Assets per employee of cooperatives at the

$1 million to $4.9 million level ranged from

$134,000 for majority farm supply cooperatives to

$336,000 for primarily grain cooperatives. Total

assets per employee of the primarily grain cooperatives was nearly one-thud larger than the

average assets of the majority grain cooperatives.

Primarily farm supply cooperatives’ assets averaged $18,000 higher than those of majority farm

supply cooperatives.

The sales-to-assets ratios of cooperatives

with assets of $1 million to $4.9 million ranged

from 0.74 for “other” cooperatives to 16.21 for

livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives. As expected, primarily grain cooperatives had a higher

ratio than majority ones. The ratio for the majority

farm supply cooperatives was 2.70 compared

with 2.47 for the primarily farm supply cooperatives.

21
Cooperatives with assets of $5 million to $9.9

million had significantly more employees than

those with $1 million to $4.9 million in assets.

Employees ranged from 17.8 in fruit and vegetable cooperatives to 90.3 in livestock/wool/

poultry cooperatives. Primarily farm supply

cooperatives averaged 54.4 compared with 22.4

employees in primarily grain cooperatives.

Sales per employee were lowest in the

primarily farm supply cooperatives and highest

in the livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives. Sales

per employee in the primarily grain cooperatives

were nearly twice those in the majority grain

cooperatives. The majority farm supply cooperatives had higher sales per employee than those in

the primarily farm supply cooperatives.

Assets per employee of cooperatives in the

$5 million to $9.9 million category ranged from

$138,000 for primarily farm supply cooperatives

to $470,000 for fruit and vegetable cooperatives.

Grain cooperatives had higher assets per employee than farm supply cooperatives.

The sales-to-assets ratio for cooperatives

with assets of $5 million to $9.9 million ranged

from 2.55 for primarily farm supply cooperatives

to 29.62 for livestock/wool/poultry cooperatives.

Dairy cooperatives had a ratio of 6.26.

The total number of employees of farmer

cooperatives increased from the late 1950s to the

early 198Os, but has been declining since then. The

sharp decrease was directly related to the agricultural recession in the mid-1980s. Employee numbers in farmer cooperatives probably peaked in

the early 1980s.

Given the trend toward declining numbers

of cooperatives but larger surviving operations,

there will be a need for more full- and part-time

employees per cooperative plus skilled managers

to guide larger organizations.

In most cases, sales per employee as well as

the sales-to-assets ratio decreased as cooperative

size increased. Cooperative leaders need to

examine how, or if, they can improve these

measures as the size of cooperatives grows.

Cooperatives should examine how well their

cooperatives are performing in comparison with

other cooperatives of similar type and size.

Although this study did not include part-time

employees or the net income of cooperatives, it

does show some changes and trends that should

be considered in planning for the future.

22
Appendix

Appendix Table l-All selected cooperatives by size of total assets I

Total assets (Million $) 2

Year Total

Lessthan 1 1 - 4.9 5 - 9.9 10-49.9 500rmore

Number of Cooperatives

1981,1986,

and1991 72 148 100 132 57 509

Number of Full-Time Employees

1981 414 2,503 4,082 13,495 66,283 86,777

1986 356 2,246 3,430 14,252 60,589 80,873

1991 291 2,310 3,794 14,613 65,250 86,258

Number of Full-Time Employees Per Cooperative

1981 5.8 16.9 40.8 102.2 1,162.g 170.5

1986 4.9 15.2 34.3 108.0 1,063.O 158.9

1991 4.0 15.6 37.9 110.7 1,144.7 169.5

Sales Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 3,609 1,219 1,098 885 1,065 1,429

1986 2,817 1,050 948 735 623 1,150

1991 3,233 995 1,052 885 875 1,281

Assets Per Full-Time Employee ($1,000)

1981 149 172 234 227 325 212

1986 116 238 229 236 318 227

1991 128 230 271 277 398 254

Sales-to-Assets Ratio

1981 132.14 8.87 6.75 4.12 3.31 24.03

1986 42.81 5.08 4.83 3.07 2.66 9.58

1991 44.53 4.23 4.20 3.15 3.06 9.51

1 Represents 509 cooperatives that provided information on number of full-time employees, sales, and assets all 3 years.

2 Based on total assets reported for 1991. Assets in categories of two or less cooperatives were combined to avoid disclosure.

23
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Cooperative Service

P.O. Box 96576

Washington, D.C. 20090-6576

Agricultural Cooperative Service (ACS) 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 agency (1 ) helps farmers and other rural residents develop cooperatives to obtain

supplies and services at lower cost and to get better prices for products they sell; (2)

advises rural residents on developing existing resources through cooperative action to

enhance rural living; (3) helps cooperatives improve services and operating efficiency;

(4) informs members, directors, employees, and the public on how cooperatives work

and benefit their members and their communities; and (5) encourages international

cooperative programs.

ACS publishes research and educational materials and issues Farmer Cooperatives

magazine. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination

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

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

programs). Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of

program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Office

of Communications at (202) 720-7808 (TDD).

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

Washington, D.C. 20250, or call (202) 720-7327 (voice) or (202) 720-1127 (TDD). USDA

is an equal employment opportunity employer.