COOPERATIVE 

STATISTICS

2012

COOPERATIVE 

STATISTICS

2012

Service Report 74

United States

Department of 

Agriculture

Rural Business-Cooperative Programs
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Cooperative Statistics, 2012 i

ABSTRACT

A survey of 2,238 U.S. farmer, rancher, and fishery 

cooperatives ending their business year during calendar year 2012 showed a record business volume, 

net income, and total assets. Gross business volume 

was $235 billion, while net business volume was 

$202 billion and net income totaled $6.1 billion. 

These cooperatives had more than $82 billion in 

assets, $52 billion of liabilities, and $30 billion in 

equity. Cooperatives were a major employer in rural 

areas, with 129,000 full-time workers and 56,000 

part-time or seasonal employees. Business volume 

by commodity is reported for all cooperatives. 

Number of cooperatives, cooperative memberships, 

and number of employees are classified according 

to whether the business is a marketing, supply, or 

service cooperative. Trends in cooperative numbers, memberships, employees, business size, sales 

volume, net income, assets, liabilities, and net worth 

are reported. 

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

income statement, financial ratios.

COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2012

Sarah Ali and E. Eldon Eversull

Rural Development

U.S. Department of Agriculture

STOP 3256

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250 3256

Service Report 74

November 2013
ii Cooperative Statistics, 2012

PREFACE

Cooperative statistics are collected annually to 

provide information on the progress and trends 

among the Nation’s farmer, rancher and fishery 

cooperatives. These statistics are used for research, 

technical assistance, education, planning, and public 

policy. The collection, analysis, and dissemination 

of cooperative statistics by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are authorized by 

the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926.

This report provides aggregate information on the 

number, membership, business volume, net income, 

basic balance sheet items, and full-time and parttime and seasonal employees of cooperatives for 

business years ending in calendar year 2012. Cooperatives are classified by principal product marketed 

and major function. Both gross (includes inter-cooperative business) and net (excludes inter-cooperative 

business) dollar volumes are reported.

Statistics for 2012 were compiled on a State and 

national basis. The information was collected by a 

mail survey of all organizations identified by USDA 

Rural Development’s Cooperative Programs as 

farmer, rancher, or fishery cooperatives. Information 

was requested for the 2012 business year. 

USDA’s Cooperative Programs conducts an annual census to gain accurate information for assistance purposes. Information obtained from individual cooperatives is combined with data from other 

cooperatives to maintain confidentiality. 

Statistics for all cooperatives were derived by 

estimating data for non-respondents and combining 

this information with respondent data. Data from 

respondents and other sources accounted for 92 percent of the total gross sales of farmer, rancher, and 

fishery cooperatives in 2012. 

USDA depends on the response to its annual 

survey to develop a detailed and comprehensive set 

of statistics on cooperatives. The time and effort 

taken to provide information and the timeliness with 

which it is furnished are greatly appreciated.

.

iv Cooperative Statistics, 2012

 

Number of cooperatives 

2012 

2,238 

2011 

2,299 

Change

-61

Memberships (millions) 2.1 2.3 -0.1 

Gross business volume (billion $) 

Net business volume (billion $) 

234.8 

201.6 

216.8 

187.0 

17.9 

14.63

Net income before taxes (billion $) 6.1 5.4 0.69

Total assets (billion $) 

Net worth (billion $) 

82.9 

30.0 

79.4 

28.2 

3.52

1.83

Full-time employees (thousand) 129.2 130.8 -1.63

Part-time and seasonal employees (thousand) 56.0 52.7 3.34

HIGHLIGHTS

There are 2,238 U.S. farmer, rancher, and fishery 

cooperatives, according to the 2012 survey of marketing, supply, and service cooperatives by USDA 

Rural Development’s Cooperative Programs. This 

was the highest sales, income, and asset year for 

those cooperatives, surpassing the previous records 

set in 2011. The farm economy saw sales increases 

of at least 4 percent for feed grains, oilseeds, fruits 

and nuts, tobacco, livestock, and poultry and eggs, 

while sales declined at least 5 percent for rice, cotton, vegetables, and dairy products. Farm production expenses had double-digit increases for feed 

and seed, while crop protectants, fertilizer, and fuel 

sales increased 9, 6, and 2 percent, respectively. 

o Total gross business volume (includes intercooperative business) handled by cooperatives was $235 billion; net business (excludes inter-cooperative business) was $202 

billion. Both are records exceeding 2011 by 

$18 billion and $15 billion, respectively. 

o Net income before taxes (NIBT) was $6.1 

billion, which includes inter-cooperative 

dividends and refunds of $899 million. This 

exceeds the 2011 record NIBT by $0.7 billion, while dividends and refunds trail the 

2009 record by $0.6 million.

o Cooperative memberships were 2.1 million, 

down 168,566 from 2011.

o Cooperatives employed 129,000 full-time 

and 56,000 part-time and seasonal employees. Full-time employee numbers were down 

1,600 from 2011, while part-time and seasonal employee numbers were up by 3,300.

o Gross value of products marketed by cooperatives was $138 billion, with a net value 

(after eliminating duplication from intercooperative business) of $132 billion. Both 

gross and net marketings were up over 5 

percent from 2011. Grain and oilseed marketings were up over $7 billion, while dairy 

product marketings decreased about $0.5 

billion.

o Gross value of supplies handled by cooperatives was $92 billion, with a net value of $65 

billion. Net supply sales were up $7 billion 

primarily due to rising energy prices and 

widespread drought increasing feed ingredient prices. Fertilizer, feed, and petroleum 

all had increases of at least $1 billion in net 

sales.

o Receipts for services related to marketing farm products and supplies, plus other 

income, totaled $4.7 billion, up over $200 

million from 2011.

o Cooperatives had $83 billion in combined 

assets, a record amount, exceeding the 2011 

high of $79 billion. Net assets, after eliminating inter-cooperative investments, were 

$78 billion. Inter-cooperative investments 

included those in CoBank. 

o Total liabilities increased $1.7 billion, to $53 

billion.

o Net worth, or member and patron equity, 

was $30 billion. Member and patron equity 

financed 36 percent of total assets, up from 

35 percent in 2011.

Table A: Comparison of 2012 and 2011 Cooperative Statistics
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 1

Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Sarah Ali and E. Eldon Eversull

I. DEFINITION OF A COOPERATIVE

USDA considers four major criteria in identifying 

farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives:

(1) Membership is limited to persons producing 

agricultural and aquacultural products and to 

associations of such producers; 

(2) Cooperative members are limited to one vote 

regardless of the amount of stock or membership capital owned, or the cooperative does 

not pay dividends on stock or membership 

capital in excess of 8 percent a year or the 

legal rate in the State, whichever is higher;

(3) Business conducted with non-members may 

not exceed the value of business conducted 

with members; 

(4) The cooperative operates for the mutual interest of members by providing member benefits 

on the basis of patronage.

These criteria may result in larger or smaller 

numbers of farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives than found in lists or directories of State agencies or cooperative councils. Year-to-year comparisons with specific commodity groups reflect any 

differences in lists and classifications in State and 

Federal data.

Classification of Cooperatives

Cooperative Programs classifies each cooperative 

under one of the following major functions: marketing, supply, or service. For example, fertilizer cooperatives are classified as supply cooperatives, wool 

pools are classified as marketing cooperatives, and 

transportation cooperatives are classified as service 

cooperatives.

Marketing cooperatives derive most of their total 

dollar volume from the sale of members’ products. 

Those cooperatives are further classified into 1 of 

13 commodities or commodity groups, depending 

upon which accounts for most of its business volume. Cooperative Programs may reclassify a cooperative into a different commodity category if its 

primary business volume changes significantly. 

Supply cooperatives derive most of their business volume from the sale of production supplies, 

machinery and equipment, and building materials. 

Many also handle farm, ranch, and home items, 

such as heating oil, lawn and garden supplies and 

equipment, and food. 

Service cooperatives provide specialized services 

related to the business operations of farmers, ranchers, or cooperatives, such as trucking, storing, or 

drying. 

Many cooperatives handle multiple commodities and provide marketing and supply services, as 

well as the facilities and equipment used to perform 

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

as indicated by business volume.

Prior year data has been revised in this report. 

Some revisions correct errors; others are due to new 

information. For instance, 128 cooperatives that had 

not responded in 2011 included with their 2012 surveys annual reports that also had 2011 information.

Organizational Membership Structures

Cooperative Programs further classifies marketing, 

supply, and service cooperatives into three organizational structures according to membership. The 

membership structures used are centralized, federated, and mixed.

Centralized Cooperatives

Of the 2,238 cooperatives in 2012, 2,181 were 

centralized organizations, mostly local cooperatives 

with individual farmer, rancher, or fishery 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 supply sales are at the retail 

level. A few centralized cooperatives, principally 
2 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Figure 1: Cooperatives in the United States, 2003-2012

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Marketing

Supply

Service

Number

Figure 2: Distribution of Memberships, by Type of Cooperative, 2012

Percentages are based on 2.1 million total memberships.

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

Livestock & Poultry 3.4%

Dairy 2.1%

Tobacco 0.9%

Cotton 0.9%

Cotton ginning 1.2%

Other marketing1

 2.3%

Service 1.7%

Fruit & Vegetable 1.0%

Grain & Oilseed 19.1 %

Supply 67.3%
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 3

 

Table 1: Number of cooperatives and memberships, by major business activity, 2012

Major business 

 activity Cooperatives Memberships 

Number Thousands

Bean and pea (dry edible) 5 1.9

Cotton 12 18.8

Cotton ginning 151 25.4

Dairy 133 45.1

Fish 39 5.4

Fruit and vegetable 143 21.0

Grain and oilseed1 493 403.3

Livestock 88 70.9

Nut 19 9.7

Poultry2 11 0.5

Rice 12 10.7

Sugar3 26 8.8

Tobacco 6 18.8

Wool and mohair 43 9.5

Other marketing4

Total marketing 

25 

1,206 

5.5

655.4

Artificial insemination 13 52.9

Total supplies 911 1,420.7

Other services5 98 35.8

Rice dryers 4 0.2

Storage 6 0.1

Transportation 

Total service 

Total 

13 

121 

2,238 

0.4

36.5

2,112.6

1 Cooperatives primarily handling grains and oilseeds, 

excluding cottonseed. 

2

 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, 

squab, and related products.

3

 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.

4 Cooperatives primarily handling forest products, hay, 

hops, seed marketed for growers, nursery stock, bioenergy, coffee, and other farm products not classified 

separately. Also includes manufactured food products 

and resale items marketed by cooperatives.

5

 Cooperatives primarily providing grading, testing, auctions, hulling, seed development, crop scouting, farmer 

markets, and other services.

regionals, operate over multistate areas and provide 

more vertically integrated services, such as processing products or manufacturing feed.

Bargaining associations also have centralized 

organizational structures. 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 products. Only a few 

bargain to purchase 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. Like other dairy marketing cooperatives, these cooperatives represent their 

members at Federal or State milk marketing order 

hearings.

Federated Cooperatives

The 38 federated cooperatives—two or more member associations organized to market products, 

purchase production supplies, or perform bargaining 

functions—often operate at points quite distant from 

their headquarters. Members are usually local cooperatives, although some are interregional associations with regional cooperative members.

Mixed Cooperatives

The 19 mixed cooperatives have individual farmer, 

rancher, or fishery members and autonomous 

cooperative members. These cooperatives use a 

combination of centralized and federated structures. 

They serve large geographic areas, with members 

in many States, and provide a variety of integrated 

services.

II. 2012 STATISTICS 

Cooperatives’ total gross business volume for 2012 

was $235 billion. Net business volume was $202 

billion, while net income before taxes (NIBT) was 

$6.1 billion. This was the highest sales volume and 

income for these cooperatives, exceeding records 

set in 2011. 

Cooperative sales increases were driven by increased sales in the overall farm economy. Overall, 

there were sales increases of at least 4 percent for 

feed grains, oilseeds, fruits and nuts, tobacco, livestock, and poultry and eggs, while sales declined at 
4 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

least 5 percent for rice, cotton, vegetables, and dairy 

products. Farm production expenses had doubledigit increases for feed and seed, while crop protectants, fertilizer, and fuel sales increased 9, 6, and 2 

percent, respectively. 

Cooperative marketing sales were led by a 

13-percent sales gain for grain and oilseed cooperatives, which was a $7 billion increase. Supply sales 

grew by 5 percent over 2011, with fertilizer leading 

the gain with an increase of $2 billion. Petroleum 

product sales grew more than $1.5 billion; feed, 

$0.9 billion; and crop protectants, $0.6 billion. 

In 2012, agricultural cooperatives had 2.1 million members, with a record $83 billion in assets 

and $30 billion in equity. Cooperatives remained a 

major employer in rural areas, using 129,000 fulltime workers.

Number of Cooperatives

The 2012 survey counted 2,238 marketing, supply, 

and service1

 cooperatives, compared with 2,299 in 

2011. Of the 2,238 cooperatives, 1,206 primarily 

marketed products, 911 primarily handled production supplies, and 121 provided services related to 

marketing or purchasing activities (table 1, appendix figure 1). 

The proportion of marketing, supply, and service 

cooperatives to the total number of cooperatives 

remained virtually unchanged from 2011. About 54 

percent of cooperatives are marketing cooperatives, 

41 percent are supply cooperatives, and 5 percent 

are service cooperatives (figure 1 and appendix 

table 1).

There was a net decrease of 61 associations (3 

percent) from 2011 to 2012, largely reflecting a 

continuing trend involving merger, acquisition, or 

dissolution. The largest decrease was 32 grain and 

oilseed cooperatives, while farm supply cooperatives decreased by 28. 

Cooperatives are added to the list every year, usually based on press releases from the cooperative or 

1

 Services include trucking, storage, crop drying, 

livestock shipping, and similar services affecting 

the form, quality, or location of products and supplies. They do not include credit, electric, telephone, or other such services not directly related 

to marketing or supply activities.

Table 2: Number of cooperatives, by major 

function and State, 2012

 

Function Marketing 

Supply

& service Total

State Number

Alabama 9 42 51

Arizona 8 0 8

Arkansas 11 23 34

California 80 36 116

Colorado 11 17 28

Florida 20 10 30

Georgia 

Hawaii 

7 

7 

7 

6 

14

13

Idaho 16 8 24

Illinois 76 39 115

Indiana 10 24 34

Iowa 65 30 95

Kansas 58 33 91

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

7 

10 

24 

23 

31

33

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

4 

3 

9 

5 

13

8

Michigan 

Minnesota 

22 

100 

22 

99 

44

199

Mississippi 

Missouri 

19 

19 

33 

40 

52

59

Montana 19 26 45

Nebraska 34 21 55

New York 41 13 54

North Carolina 8 4 12

North Dakota 72 78 150

Ohio 27 14 41

Oklahoma 31 24 55

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

South Dakota 

19 

24 

37 

14 

15 

35 

33

39

72

Tennessee 4 59 63

Texas 145 41 186

Utah 5 7 12

Virginia 

Washington 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

16 

35 

5 

65 

35 

23 

8 

66 

51

58

13

131

Wyoming 

Other States1

5 

52 

5 

14 

10

66

United States 1,206 1,032 2,238

1

 Includes States with fewer than three cooperatives for any 

function. States with at least three cooperatives were: Alaska, 

5; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Maine, 22; New Jersey, 11; 

New Mexico, 9; South Carolina, 3; and Vermont, 3.
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 5

 

 Head-

 

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123
6 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

 

(continued)

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123

 Head-
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 7

 

 Head-

 

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123

(continued)
8 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

 

 Head-

 

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123

(continued)
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 9

 

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123

(continued)

 Head-
10 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Table 3: Number1 of cooperatives, memberships,2 and gross and net sales by State, 20123

(continued)

 Head- HeadSUPPLY 

 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 11

news items, but this probably leads to under-counting. Some cooperatives had been dropped from the 

list earlier but were added back when USDA was 

informed that they were still in operation. Most 

drops occur when two or more cooperatives merge 

their operations. It is much easier to drop a cooperative from the list than to add one, because undelivered mail is usually returned. If a new address is not 

found, the cooperative is dropped.

Cooperative numbers based on function (marketing, supply, or service) and State are shown in table 

2. Texas had the most marketing cooperatives with 

145, while Minnesota was second with 100. Minnesota had the most supply and service cooperatives 

with 99, followed by North Dakota with 78.

Many cooperatives operate branches to better 

serve their members. Most branches are owned by 

the cooperative, but some are leased. A number of 

the branches are formerly independent cooperatives that served a local community. For economic 

or other reasons, many were acquired by, or merged 

with, other cooperatives, and are operated as 

branches that serve members and patrons at outlying locations. 

Grain and oilseed and supply cooperatives oper-

 

Table 4: Cooperatives’ number of full-time 

employees, 2012-2008 

Commodity 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 

 Thousands

Bean & pea (dry edible) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Cotton 2.3 2.2 1.8 1.4 1.7

Cotton ginning 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1

Dairy 21.0 20.8 18.9 16.1 23.8

Fish 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

Fruit and vegetable 13.2 13.5 13.3 13.6 16.1

Grain and oilseed 21.5 24.3 22.4 25.7 21.0

Livestock 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7

Nut 1.1 1.1 0.3 0.3 0.3

Poultry 1.7 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.7

Rice 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.6

Sugar 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.9

Other marketing 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 1.9

Total marketing 72.3 75.2 70.1 70.6 77.8

 

Total supplies 55.7 54.4 57.6 50.3 46.3

 

Total services 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

 

Total 129.2 130.9 129.0 122.2 125.4

Figure 3: Cooperative Memberships by Function, 2003-2012

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Million

Service

Supply

Marketing
12 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

ated over 6,000 branches—2,140 and 3,900 respectively. Both grain and oilseed and supply cooperatives averaged about 4 branches per cooperative. 

Memberships

Memberships in marketing, supply, and service 

cooperatives were an estimated 2.1 million in 2012, 

down 169,000 from 2011 (table 3). There were 

membership increases in 2011, in 2010 and in 2004, 

but generally memberships have been declining as 

has the number of U.S. farms. About 67 percent 

of the memberships were in supply cooperatives, 

while 19 percent of the memberships were in grain 

and oilseed cooperatives (appendix table 2, figure 

2). Dairy cooperative memberships were only 2 

percent of the total, but accounted for 20 percent, or 

$40 billion, of cooperatives’ net business volume in 

2012.

Memberships in cooperatives dropped from 2.8 

million in 2003 to 2.1 million in 2012 (figure 3). 

The long term decline largely 

reflects the decreasing number of farms, farmers, and 

ranchers in the United States 

(appendix figure 2). Many 

farmers and ranchers are 

members of more than one 

cooperative, and each membership is counted. Consequently, the number of memberships has long exceeded 

the number of farms, but now 

they are slightly less. Duplication in membership cannot 

be eliminated with current 

reporting methods. 

Member classification 

depends on the type of cooperative used and may not 

be related to the member’s 

product(s) marketed or supplies purchased. For example, 

a member may market only 

one of the products handled 

by the cooperative; another 

may use a cooperative classified in the marketing group 

to purchase one or more supply items. Therefore, a 

member’s business with a cooperative, may not be 

in the group that represents the cooperative’s major 

business volume (the criterion for classifying cooperatives in this report). The membership, however, 

will be included arbitrarily in that classification.

During the past decade, membership in marketing 

cooperatives declined about three times faster than 

in supply cooperatives. Memberships in marketing 

cooperatives dropped 41 percent while supply cooperatives decreased 12 percent. Service cooperatives 

increased memberships by more than 7,000 during 

the same time period.

Employees

Cooperatives had an estimated 129,000 full-time 

employees in 2012, a decrease of about 1,600 from 

2011 (table 4). With sales increasing over the last 3 

years, it appears that some cooperatives have added 

employees, especially part-time and seasonal emTable 5: Full-time and part-time and seasonal employees of 

cooperatives, by cooperative type, 2012-20111

Principal product(s) Total Part-time & 

marketed employees Full-time seasonal

or major function 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011

 

Products marketed Thousands 

Bean & pea (dry edible) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0

Cotton 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.2 0.2 0.4

Cotton ginning 3.6 3.9 1.1 1.1 2.5 2.8

Dairy 22.0 21.7 21.0 20.8 1.0 1.0

Fish 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.2 0.2

Fruit & vegetable 29.3 29.5 13.2 13.5 16.1 16.0

Grain & oilseed 32.2 31.7 21.5 24.3 10.6 7.3

Livestock and poultry 3.7 3.6 2.3 2.6 1.4 1.1

Rice 2.6 2.7 2.3 2.5 0.3 0.2

Sugar 11.0 11.3 5.8 5.7 5.2 5.6

Other marketing2 3.0 3.0 1.8 1.8 1.2 1.2

 

Total marketing 111.0 111.0 72.3 75.2 38.7 35.8

 

Total supplies 72.3 70.5 55.7 54.4 16.5 16.1

 

Total services 2.0 2.1 1.2 1.3 0.8 0.8

 

Total 185.2 183.6 129.2 130.8 56.0 52.8

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Includes nut, tobacco, wool, and other product marketing cooperatives.

 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 13

ployees as they increased by more than 3,000 from 

2011. Grain and oilseed cooperatives added more 

than 3,300 part-time and seasonal employees and 

decreased their full-time employees by about 2,800. 

In 2012, cooperatives employed an estimated 

185,000 full-time and part-time and seasonal employees (table 5), about 1,600 more employees than 

in 2011. Among marketing cooperatives, grain and 

oilseed had the most employees (32,200), followed 

by those co-ops that primarily handle fruits and 

vegetables (29,300) and dairy (22,000). 

By type, marketing cooperatives had 111,000 

full-time and part-time and seasonal employees (60 

percent of total); supply cooperatives had 72,300 

(39 percent); and service cooperatives had 2,000 (1 

percent). 

Figure 4 shows the number of full-time and parttime and seasonal employees by type of cooperative 

for 2012. Supply, grain and oilseed, fruit and vegetable, and dairy cooperatives used the most employees; fish cooperatives had the fewest. Dairy, rice, 

cotton, and fish cooperatives had the smallest proportion of part-time and seasonal employees to total 

employees. Cotton ginning and fruit and vegetable 

cooperatives had more than half of their employees 

as part-time and seasonal employees, while about 

47 percent of sugar cooperatives employees were 

part-time and seasonal. 

Cooperatives used 56,000 part-time and seasonal 

employees in 2012, up more than 3,000, or 6 percent, from 2011. Grain and oilseed cooperatives 

increased their use of part-time and seasonal employees in 2012 by an additional 3,300. 

In 2012, marketing cooperatives reported having 38,700 part-time and seasonal employees, or 

69 percent of the total for all categories. Marketing 

cooperatives averaged 32 part-time and seasonal 

employees per co-op. Fruit and vegetable cooperaFigure 4: Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, 

by Cooperative Type, 2012

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Supply

Grain and oilseed

Fruit and vegetable

Dairy

Sugar

Livestock and poultry

Cotton ginning

Rice

Cotton

Service

Fish

1,000 Employees

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

Full-time

Part-time and seasonal

Other marketing1
14 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Table 6: Cooperatives and memberships, by gross business volume, 

20121

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cooperatives Dollar volume Memberships2 

Sales volume Percent Gross3 Percent Number Percent

group (million $) Number of total (billion $) of total (1,000) of total

 

 

Less than 5.0 749 33.5 1.24 0.5 190 9.0

 5 - 9.9 276 12.3 2.03 0.9 142 6.7

 10 - 14.9 174 7.8 2.14 0.9 89 4.2

 15 - 24.9 203 9.1 4.01 1.7 144 6.8

 25 - 49.9 266 11.9 9.26 3.9 224 10.6

 50 - 99.9 197 8.8 13.76 5.9 186 8.8

 100 - 199.9 128 5.7 17.85 7.6 179 8.5

 200 - 499.9 138 6.2 32.61 13.9 325 15.4

 500 - 999.9 76 3.4 28.96 12.3 159 7.5

1,000 and more 31 1.4 122.91 52.4 476 22.5

Total4

 2,238 100.0 234.77 100.0 2,113 100.0

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 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.

3

 Includes inter-cooperative business volume. 

4

 Total may not add due to rounding

less than $25 million 

in sales, while there 

were 206 cooperatives that moved up 

into the sales group of 

more than $25 million 

in sales. The sales 

group of $200 million to $499.9 million 

had the most growth, 

increasing from 39 

cooperatives in 2003 

to 138 in 2012 (table 

6).

In 2012, 54 percent 

of all cooperatives 

reported a business 

volume of less than 

$15 million. However, they accounted for 

less than 2.5 percent 

of the total gross dollar volume (figure 6). 

About 11 percent of 

cooperatives reported 

a business volume 

of at least $200 million, but they accounted for 79 

percent of the total sales.

Business Volume

Total gross business volume of the 2,238 marketing, supply, and service cooperatives for 2012 was 

$234.8 billion (table 7), up about $18 billion from 

$216.8 billion in 2011. Historically, gross business 

volume fell from a record $128 billion in 1996 to 

$112 billion in 2002. However, this has not been a 

steady decline. Some years saw increases to $120 

billion while other years fell to $115 billion or less 

(appendix table 3, appendix figure 4). The historical 

high in 1996 was almost matched in 2006, then was 

eclipsed in 2007 through 2012. 

Grain and oilseed cooperatives had a gain of 

more than $7 billion while dairy cooperatives had 

a decrease of $0.5 billion, due mainly to $2/hundredweight lower milk prices. Higher energy costs 

and drought reduced supplies of feed grains and 

oilseeds, and their subsequent price increases were 

tives, with 16,100, accounted for about 29 percent 

of all part-time and seasonal employees used by 

cooperatives. Supply cooperatives had 16,500 parttime and seasonal employees, an average of 18 per 

cooperative.

Most types of marketing cooperatives operated 

with more employees than did supply cooperatives. 

For example, sugar cooperatives averaged 423 employees; rice, 214; cotton, 209; and supply cooperatives, 79 (figure 5).

Business Size

As measured by annual gross business volume, 

most cooperatives are relatively small and serve 

local areas. Some actively seek regional, national, 

and even international markets to increase business 

volume. Although few in number, larger cooperatives account for much of cooperatives’ business 

volume. They have grown in size partly from mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions. From 2003 

to 2012, there were 1,054 fewer cooperatives with 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 15

the main cause of supply sales increases. Petroleum 

products led the gain, with an increase of almost 

$4 billion. Fertilizer sales increased by almost $3 

billion, feed by $1.6 billion, and crop protectants by 

$1.4 billion. 

Total net business volume of cooperatives in 

2012 was up over $14 billion from 2011 (net sales 

equal gross sales minus sales between cooperatives). The net volume for 2012 was $202 billion, 

compared to $187 billion in 2011. The net sales 

breakdown was $132 billion from products marketed, $65 billion from supply sales, and $5 billion 

from services performed and other income sources. 

The $202 billion was the highest total ever (appendix table 4, appendix figure 5). There have been 

a number of fluctuations in net business volume 

during the past two decades. Net volume dropped 

to around $100 billion in 1999 and stayed there 

until the current upward trend started in 2003, then 

soared, due to increased grain and oilseed prices and 

energy costs, from 2007 through 2012. Adjusted for 

inflation2

 (where 1991 = 100), net business volume 

was $102 billion in 2003 and increased to $168 billion in 2008, before falling to $147 billion in both 

2009 and 2010. It then increased to $187 billion in 

2011 and $202 billion in 2012 (figure 7). 

The difference between actual and real net business volume in 2012 was $11 billion. The real net 

business volume was lower than the actual value 

in 2012 because prices paid for production inputs 

increased more than prices received for farm products. The index for prices received for all farm commodities from 2003 to 2012 rose 85 points, while 

the index for prices paid for farm production items 

increased 87 points. This narrowed the gap between 

actual and real cooperative net business volume 

when adjusted by prices paid and prices received for 

farm production. 

Net volume of products marketed increased 6 

percent from 2011. Net marketing business volume 

accounted for 65 percent of net cooperative sales in 

2012, a decrease of 1 percentage point from 2011.

2 Marketing sales were deflated by the index of producer prices received for “all farm products” (1991 

= 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 (1991 = 100).

 

Table 7: Cooperatives’ gross and net business volumes by commodity, 2012 & 20111

Commodity Gross volume Net volume

2012 2011 2012 2011

Products marketed Billion $ 

Bean & pea 

 (dry edible) .175 .167 .171 .164

Cotton 3.168 4.104 3.081 3.976

Dairy 41.808 42.310 40.165 40.666

Fish .189 .252 .189 .252

Fruit & vegetable 8.013 7.803 5.750 5.574

Grain & oilseed2 63.468 56.028 62.724 55.279

Livestock 4.019 4.364 4.019 4.231

Nut 1.105 .912 1.103 .909

Poultry3 1.454 1.302 1.454 1.302

Rice 1.555 1.558 1.555 1.558

Sugar 6.297 5.717 5.339 4.757

Tobacco .120 .251 .120 .251

Wool & mohair .005 .005 .005 .005

Other marketing4

 6.011 6.268 5.604 5.827

Total marketing 138.146 

 

Supplies purchased: 

Crop protectants 11.100 

Feed 15.033 

Fertilizer 17.680 

Petroleum 34.963 

Seed 5.529 

Other supplies5 7.598 

131.041 

9.704 

13.416 

14.938 

31.209 

4.860 

7.237 

132.037 124.751

7.170 6.592

11.765 10.473

14.109 11.935

22.910 20.319

3.200 2.898

5.698 5.570

Total supplies 

Services & 

 other income6 4.724 4.441 4.724 4.441

 

Total business 234.774 216.845 201.614 186.979

1 Gross includes and net excludes inter-cooperative business. 

Totals may not add due to rounding.

2

 Excludes cottonseed. Cottonseed oil is included in other mar

ketings whereas cottonseed meal is included in feed.

3

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

4

 Includes cotton ginning, coffee, forest products, hay, hops, 

seed marketed for growers, nursery stock, ethanol, other farm 

products not separately classified, and sales of products not 

received directly from member patrons. Also includes manufactured food products and resale items marketed by cooperatives.

5

 Includes artificial insemination, building materials, containers 

and packaging supplies, machinery and equipment, meats and

groceries, automotive supplies, hardware, chicks, and other 

supplies not separately classified.

6

 Includes trucking, storage, grinding, application, locker 

plants, and other related items. Services include charges 

related to marketing or purchasing, but not included in the 

volume reported for those activities, plus other income and 

extraordinary items.

91.903 

 

81.363 64.852 57.787

-
16 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Figure 5: Average Full-Time and Part-Time and Seasonal Employees, 2012

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

 Sugar 

 Rice 

 Cotton 

 Fruit and vegetable 

 Poultry 

 Dairy 

 Nut 

 Supplies 

 Grain and oilseed 

 Cotton ginning 

 Fish 

 Service 

Number

Part-time and seasonal

Full-time

Figure 6: Distribution of Cooperatives and Volume, by Size, 2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Less than 5.0 5 - 9.9 10 - 14.9 15 - 99.9 100 - 499.9 500 and more

Gross business volume (million dollars)

Percent

Cooperatives

Dollar volume
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 17

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

1

Actual sales were adjusted for price change based on 1991 = 100.

Billion dollars

Actual

Real1

Figure 7: Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, Actual and Adjusted, 2003-2012

Percentages are based on a total net marketing business volume of $132 billion.

1 Includes wool and mohair, dry beans and peas, and other product marketing. 

Grain and oilseed 47.8%

Cotton 2.3%

Fish .01%

Sugar 4.1%

Other marketing1 4.4%

Nut 0.8%

Fruit & vegetable 5.8%

Tobacco 0.1%

Poultry 1.1%

Rice 1.2%

Livestock 3.1% Dairy 30.6%

Figure 8: Relative Importance of Products Marketed by Cooperatives, 2012
18 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Figure 9: Relative Importance of Supplies Handled by Cooperatives, 2012

Percentages are based on a total net supply business volume of $65 billion.

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

other.

Seed 4.9%

Other supplies1 8.8%

Crop protectants 11.1%

Petroleum 35.3%

Feed 18.1%

Fertilizer 21.8%

Figure 10—Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Commodities, 2003-2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Grain & oilseed

Sugar

Billion dollars

Milk & milk

products

Fruit & vegetable
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 19

Figure 8 illustrates the leading products marketed 

by cooperatives based on net marketing business 

volume. Grain and oilseed led with 48 percent of 

sales, followed by dairy with 31 percent, and fruit 

and vegetable with 6 percent. 

Net supply volume of $65 billion was $7 billion 

higher than 2011 and accounted for 32 percent of 

the total net business volume. The leading production goods handled by cooperatives in terms of 

supply net business volume were petroleum at 35 

percent, fertilizer at 22 percent, and feed at 18 percent (Figure 9). Petroleum and fertilizer sales both 

increased by more than $2 billion over 2011 sales, 

while feed sales grew by $1 billion. 

Receipts for services provided by marketing, 

supply, and service cooperatives, plus other income, 

increased by about $280 million. Service receipts 

and other income represented 2 percent of total net 

business volume.

Marketing sales of four major commodity groups—grain 

and oilseed, dairy, fruit and 

vegetable, and sugar—were 

up from 76 percent of marketing sales in 2003 to 87 percent 

in 2012 (figure 10). Grain and 

oilseed sales increased by $42 

billion, mainly due to price 

increases. Dairy sales increased 

by $17 billion, while sugar 

sales grew by $2 billion. Net 

volume among commodity 

groups was highest in 2012 for 

grain and oilseed at $63 billion 

(compared to $21 billion in 

2003), followed by dairy with 

$40 billion. 

Feed and fertilizer are important farm inputs for supply 

cooperatives (figure 11), but petroleum was especially important in 2012, accounting for $8 

billion more in sales than either 

feed or fertilizer. The combination of petroleum, feed, and 

fertilizer sales accounted for 75 

percent of cooperatives’ total 

supply sales in 2012 and 71 

percent in 2003. 

Gross and net business volumes by State are 

presented in table 3. Sales are allocated to the State 

in which the product marketed was originated and 

the supplies were sold. Iowa led all States with 

$27 billion in gross business volume, and it ranked 

second for net business volume, at $23.8 billion. 

Minnesota was second, with $26 billion in gross 

business, but led the Nation with $24.7 billion in 

net cooperative business volume.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet of a cooperative states its financial position at the end of a 12-month fiscal year. It 

represents the cooperative’s assets, liabilities, member equity, and their mutual relationships. Combined assets for all cooperatives were a record $83 

billion in 2012— about $3.5 billion higher than the 

Table 8: Combined assets of cooperatives, 20121

Principal product(s) 

 

 

Assets Investments Investments in

marketed and of own in other Total other co-ops as

major function Co-ops2 operations co-ops3 assets percent of total

Products No. Billion $ Percent

 marketed

Cotton 12 1.056 .016 1.071 1.5

Cotton ginning 151 .449 .075 .524 14.3

Dairy 133 8.562 .135 8.697 1.5

Fish 39 .082 .000 .082 0.0

Fruit & vegetable 143 4.641 .096 4.738 2.0

Grain & oilseed 493 18.885 1.562 20.447 7.6

Livestock & poultry 99 .750 .013 .763 1.7

Rice 12 .985 .011 .996 1.1

Sugar 26 3.722 .032 3.754 0.9

Other marketing4

 98 1.710 .031 1.742 1.8

Total marketing 1,206 40.843 1.971 42.815 4.6

 

Total supplies 911 36.985 2.727 39.712 6.9

 

Total services 121 .382 .036 .418 8.6

 

Total 2,238 78.211 4.734 82.945 5.7

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2

 Many cooperatives have multi-product and multi-functional operations. Most 

are classified according to predominant commodity or function as indicated by 

business volume.

3

 Also includes investments in CoBank.

4

 Includes dry edible bean and pea, nuts, tobacco, wool, and other marketing.
20 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

previous record of $79.4 billion set in 2011 (table 

8). Total assets of cooperatives, excluding intercooperative investments, increased by $3 billion 

from 2011, to $78 billion. Cooperatives’ total assets 

grew from $46 billion in 2003 to $83 billion in 2012 

(appendix table 5 and figure 12). 

In 2003, 9 percent, or $4.1 billion, of total assets 

was invested in other cooperatives, including CoBank. In 2012, these investments were $4.7 billion, 

down $0.6 billion from 2003. This represented 5.7 

percent of total assets, about 3 points lower than a 

decade ago. 

Of the $83 billion in total assets, marketing cooperatives accounted for $43 billion, about the same 

as 2011. Grain and oilseed cooperatives had about 

$20 billion in assets, more than double the assets of 

dairy cooperatives ($8.7 billion) and more than four 

times the assets of fruit and vegetable cooperatives 

($4.7 billion). All three of these types of marketing 

cooperatives have less combined assets than supply 

cooperatives ($40 billion). 

Table 9 compares common-size balance sheets 

for six sizes of cooperatives (for all types and sizes, 

see appendix table 6). Common-size balance sheets 

present all accounts as a percentage of total assets, 

allowing comparison between different sizes and 

types of cooperatives. 

Current Assets

Current assets are generally comprised of cash 

and cash equivalents, accounts and notes (with 

short-term maturities) receivable, inventories, and 

prepaid expenses. Current assets were about 63 

percent for all sizes of cooperatives, down from 65 

percent in 2011. Smaller cooperatives—especially 

service, most sugar, bioenergy, and cotton ginning 

cooperatives—had smaller levels of current assets. 

Grain and oilseed, livestock, dry bean and pea, and 

larger cooperatives tended to have higher levels of 

current assets.

Investments and Other Assets

Investments were most often in other cooperatives 

and CoBank. “Other assets” is a catch-all category 

in this study and contains a wide variety of items. 

Investments ranged from 9 percent of all assets for 

small cooperatives up to 13 percent for cooperatives with sales of $5 million to $15 million. The 

Figure 11: Cooperatives’ Net Sales of Selected Supplies, 2003-2013

0

5

10

15

20

25

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fertilizer

Seed 

Billion dollars

Petroleum

Crop

protectants

Feed
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 21

1

 Property, plant, and equipment

Table 9: Common size analysis by cooperative size, 2012

Cooperative sales size All ≥ $500 From $100 to From $15 to From $5 to < $5

 sizes million $500 million $100 million $15 million million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 63.47 64.68 63.35 60.55 53.97 53.32

Other assets 8.44 10.15 7.08 3.28 7.58 7.79

Investments 5.66 3.11 8.00 11.41 13.41 8.88

PP&E1 (net) 22.43 22.05 21.57 24.76 25.04 30.01

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 46.28 46.61 48.16 44.65 34.25 28.05

Total liabilities 64.00 68.12 62.02 54.11 43.47 39.75

Allocated equity 23.11 23.14 18.81 26.80 38.18 44.16

Retained earnings 12.90 8.74 19.17 19.09 18.34 16.09

Total equity 36.00 31.88 37.98 45.89 56.53 60.25

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 91.35 91.96 90.91 89.47 86.61 85.18

Gross margin 8.65 8.04 9.09 10.53 13.39 14.82

 

Service and other income 1.47 0.85 1.92 3.01 6.44 16.05

Gross revenue 10.12 8.90 11.00 13.54 19.84 30.87

Expenses 

Wages 3.74 3.15 4.27 5.34 7.89 12.24

Depreciation 0.91 0.78 1.01 1.29 1.69 2.31

Interest 0.43 0.40 0.48 0.44 0.57 0.70

Other 2.97 2.33 3.55 4.68 7.43 13.20

Total expenses 8.05 6.67 9.31 11.74 17.58 28.44

 

Net operating margins 2.07 2.23 1.69 1.80 2.26 2.43

Patronage income 0.39 0.14 0.72 0.95 1.94 1.80

Non-operating income 0.18 0.04 0.48 0.44 0.47 0.05

Net income before taxes 2.64 2.41 2.90 3.19 4.66 4.62

Taxes 0.24 0.20 0.36 0.27 0.20 0.05

Net income 2.40 2.21 2.54 2.93 4.46 4.57

 

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.37 1.39 1.32 1.36 1.58 1.90

Debt-to-asset 0.64 0.68 0.62 0.54 0.43 0.40

Debt-to-equity 1.78 2.14 1.63 1.18 0.77 0.66

Retained-earnings-to-equity 35.82 27.43 50.47 41.60 32.45 26.70

Equity-to-assets 36.00 31.88 37.98 45.89 56.53 60.25

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 67.02 59.72 73.26 82.92 85.97 83.74

Return-on-assets 8.53 8.63 8.17 8.52 9.92 7.31

Return-on-member-equity 28.90 29.35 32.64 25.65 22.13 14.22

 

Extra value index +2 10.52 11.01 9.75 10.05 10.39 6.33

Extra value index +5 8.51 9.22 7.55 7.56 7.82 3.82

Extra value index +10 5.15 6.23 3.89 3.42 3.52 -0.37
22 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

 

largest cooperatives accounted for 3 percent of 

investments. Investments were larger for supply 

cooperatives than most marketing cooperatives. 

All but the largest intrastate supply coopera- and fresh fruit and vegetable) cooperatives all had 

tives generally purchase their inputs from regional PP&E of at least 40 percent of their assets. 

(multistate) supply cooperatives, hence the large 

investments in other cooperatives. Large dairy, Current Liabilities 

smaller fresh fruit and vegetable, service (except Current liabilities are all obligations that will be 

dairy service and fresh fruit and vegetable service) paid with the use of current assets and are usually 

cotton, fish, poultry, nut, tobacco, rice, sugar, and paid within 1 year. Current liabilities are comprised 

most livestock cooperatives all had low investmen of notes payable to banks and/or other trade credilevels—often less than 4 percent of all assets. tors, accounts payable, current maturities of longterm debt, income taxes, other accrued liabilities 

Property, Plant, and Equipment (payroll, property taxes, interest, and other), patronNet property, plant, and equipment (net PP&E) are age dividends payable, and miscellaneous or other 

tangible assets used by a cooperative’s operations. current liabilities. Current liabilities were at least 

PP&E averaged between 21 and 30 percent of tota 28 percent of total assets and grew to 48 percent for 

assets. Biofuels, medium and large sugar, smaller larger cooperatives. Product marketing cooperatives 

cotton ginning, smaller fresh fruit and vegetable, tended to have higher levels of current liabilities 

small nut, small fish, and service (except dairy than supply and service cooperatives.

, 

ts 

l 

Table 10: Combined balance sheet data of 

cooperatives, 20121

Principal product(s) 

marketed and Total Total Net 

major function Co-ops assets liabilities worth

 

Products 

marketed No. Billion dollars

Cotton 12 1.07 .66 .41

Cotton ginning 151 .52 .22 .30

Dairy 133 8.70 6.04 2.66

Fish 39 .08 .05 .03

Fruit & vegetable 143 4.74 3.30 1.44

Grain & oilseed 493 20.45 13.55 6.90

Livestock & poultry 99 .76 .49 .27

Rice 12 1.00 .67 .33

Sugar 26 3.75 2.25 1.50

Other marketing2

 98 1.74 .81 .93

Total marketing 1,206 42.81 28.04 14.78

 

Total supplies 911 39.71 24.77 14.94

 

Total services 121 .42 .16 .26

 

Total 2,238 82.94 52.97 29.98

 

1

 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2

 Includes dry edible bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool, cottonseed, and other marketing.

Table 11: Cooperatives’ net income before 

taxes, 20121

Principal product(s) 

marketed and Income Net 

major before operating 

function Co-ops taxes margins 

Products No. Million dollars

marketed

Cotton 12 48.4 46.7 

Cotton ginning 151 92.9 35.7 

Dairy 133 132.1 104.1 

Fish 39 9.6 9.6 

Fruit & vegetable 143 503.1 496.2 

Grain & oilseed 493 1,279.5 972.6 

Livestock & poultry 99 49.2 47.7 

Rice 12 20.9 19.9 

Sugar 26 295.8 294.4 

Other marketing3

 98 70.2 67.7 

Patronage

income2

1.7

57.2

28.0

.0

6.9

306.9

1.5

1.0

1.4

2.5

Total marketing 

Total supplies 

Total services 

1,206 

 

911 

 

121 

2,501.5 

3,539.8 

42.1 

2,094.5 

3,049.2 

40.8 

407.0

490.6

1.3

Total 

 

2,238 6,083.5 5,184.6 898.9

 

1

 Adjusted for losses and before taxes. Before-tax income is 

used in this table because historically, after-tax net income was 

not collected. Totals may not add due to rounding.

2

 Includes patronage refunds from CoBank.

3

 Includes dry edible bean and pea, nuts, tobacco, wool, and 

other marketing.
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 23

Total Liabilities 

Total liabilities include current liabilities plus longterm liabilities, which are primarily long-term debt. 

In the aggregate, all types and sizes of cooperatives 

had some long-term debt. Smaller cooperatives 

all had at least 9 percent of their assets financed 

through long-term debt. Generally, the largest cooperatives used the most debt, financing 21 percent 

of their assets through borrowing. Nut, large dairy, 

large fruit and vegetable, small fish, large sugar, 

large rice, storage, hulling, and farmer market cooperatives all financed about 20 percent of their assets 

with long-term debt. 

Total liabilities were $53 billion, up $2 billion 

from 2011 (table 10). Cooperatives’ total liabilities 

grew from $26 billion in 2003 to $53 billion in 

2012. Total liabilities financed 64 percent of total 

assets in 2012, about 0.5 points lower than in 2011. 

Allocated (or Member) Equities 

Allocated (or member) equities represent member 

ownership of each cooperative. Comparing allocated equities to total assets determines the percent of 

the cooperative’s assets owned by members. Allocated equity comprised just 23 percent of ownership 

of all sizes of cooperatives, the same as 2011. The 

very largest cooperatives had the smallest percentages of both retained earnings and overall equity. 

Net worth, or member and patron equity, was $30 

billion, up almost $2 billion from 2011. The proportion of total assets financed by member and patron 

equity was 36 percent, up 0.5 percentage points 

from 2011. Net worth for all marketing cooperatives 

was $15 billion, unchanged from 2011. Marketing 

cooperatives accounted for 49 percent of cooperatives’ combined net worth, down 3 points from 

2011. Net worth for supply cooperatives also totaled 

$15 billion, representing 50 percent of the total. For 

marketing cooperatives, the highest percentage of 

total assets represented by net worth (figure 13) was 

58 percent, accounted for by cotton ginning cooperatives. Fruit and vegetable cooperatives ranked 

lowest at 30 percent. 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Billion dollars

Figure 12: Cooperatives’ Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, 2003-2012

Assets

Liabilities

Net 

Worth
24 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Income Statement 

The income statement shows the net results of a 

cooperative’s operations. Because most managers’ 

performance is judged by net income, members 

attach great importance to the income statement. 

Table 9 presents a common-size income statement 

for all cooperatives, based on six sizes. Each item in 

a common-size income statement is represented as 

a percentage of total sales or service. Common-size 

income statements by cooperative type and size are 

presented in appendix table 6.

Total (Net) Sales

Total (net) sales are all sales less discounts, returns, 

and allowances from gross sales. Service cooperatives do not have a total sales value: the first income 

statement item for these cooperatives is service. 

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold (COGS) includes the beginning 

inventory plus purchases and freight costs, minus 

purchase returns and allowances, purchase discounts, and ending inventory. COGS, therefore, was 

the purchase price of the supplies sold or products 

marketed. For all sizes of cooperatives, COGS was 

91 percent of net sales. COGS can be much lower 

for cooperatives that process products or provide 

technical services. 

Artificial insemination cooperatives, processed 

and fresh fruit and vegetable cooperatives, smaller 

cotton ginning, larger fish, smaller nut, larger rice, 

and larger sugar cooperatives have a lower COGS. 

Grain and oilseed, livestock marketing, bioenergy, 

small rice, small sugar, and most dairy cooperatives have a COGS in excess of 90 percent, while 

large livestock marketing cooperatives that operate 

mainly as auctions have a COGS of 99 percent.

Gross Margins

The excess of net sales over the cost of goods sold 

is the gross margin or gross margin percentage. A 

small change in the gross margin can substantially 

impact net operating margins. A cooperative manFigure 13: Percentage of Assets Financed by Net Worth, 

by Cooperative Type, 2012

Service

Cotton ginning

Fish

Sugar

Cotton

Supply

Livestock & poultry

Grain & oilseed

Rice

Dairy

Fruit & vegetable

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

Percent

Other marketing1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 25

ager must maintain a gross margin near industry 

averages. Thus, least-cost sources of supplies need 

to be developed and marketing cooperatives need to 

pay market rates on the products they purchase.

Cooperatives are often characterized as businesses that provide goods and services “at cost.” However, a cooperative cannot operate at cost on a daily 

basis. Cooperatives need adequate gross margins 

to be profitable and to afford to finance essential 

future-directed discretionary expenditures, such as 

expansion and advertising. 

Gross margin equals net sales less cost of goods 

sold, so cooperatives with higher COGS had lower 

gross margins. The COGS was about 1 point higher 

for the very largest cooperatives than for the other 

sizes. As discussed earlier, those cooperatives with a 

low COGS would have high gross margins. 

Service and Other Operating Income

Service and other operating income is derived from 

any service cooperatives provide. Some cooperatives only provide services such as rice driers, storage, transportation, auctions, hulling, seed development, locker plants, pest management, and scouting, 

farmer markets and other miscellaneous services. 

Service income is important to marketing and supply cooperatives. They provide hauling, storage, 

grading, delivery, custom application, recordkeeping, and drying, to name some of the most common 

services. Other operating income is generated from 

sales activities and includes income from providing 

financing for sales. 

For service cooperatives, service accounts for 

100 percent of income. By cooperative size, service 

income is the most important for smaller cooperatives (16 percent of sales) and diminishes as size 

increases to cooperatives with over $500 million in 

sales (1 percent of sales). Many of the cotton ginning cooperatives have a significant amount of service income; hence service income ranges from 23 

percent to 52 percent of sales for these cooperatives. 

Operating Expenses

There are only four categories for expenses in table 

9: wages, depreciation, interest, and all other. Wages 

includes salaries and wages, payroll taxes, emFigure 14: Cooperatives’ Net Income Before Taxes, 2003-2012

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Billion dollars

1

Includes dividends and patronage refunds from other cooperatives and CoBank

Net 

operating

margins

Income

from 

other

cooperatives1

Net income

before taxes
26 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

ployee insurance, unemployment compensation, and 

pension expense. The “all other” account includes 

administrative expenses, which are overhead costs 

and indirectly related to a cooperative’s revenue. 

These include professional services, office supplies, 

telephone, meetings and travel, donations, dues 

and subscriptions, directors’ fees and expense, and 

annual meetings. The “all other” category also includes general expenses, which are directly related 

to revenue, such as advertising and promotion; auto 

and truck delivery; insurance; property, business, 

and other taxes and licenses; rent and lease expenses; plant supplies and repairs; repairs and maintenance; utilities; miscellaneous; bad debts; and other 

expenses. 

Wage expenses were the highest for smaller 

cooperatives, and fell as cooperative size increased, 

from 12 percent for the smallest cooperatives, to 3 

percent for the largest. Wage expenses were higher 

for service cooperatives because they are generally small and lack other sales to spread out wage 

costs. Artificial insemination cooperatives had wage 

expenses that were more than 43 percent of sales; 

those of smaller cotton ginning cooperatives averaged more than 31 percent of sales. Dairy, grain and 

oilseed, larger and mid-sized livestock marketing 

(auctions), bioenergy, large nut, smaller rice, and 

small sugar cooperatives had lower wage expenses 

relative to sales.

 Depreciation expenses did not change much 

with cooperative size, ranging from 2 percent for 

the smallest cooperatives to 1 percent for the largest 

cooperatives. Smaller cotton ginning cooperatives, 

small nut, and service cooperatives (except dairy, 

livestock, and fruit and vegetable) had depreciation 

expenses of at least 5 percent of sales. Most livestock cooperatives had little PP&E, so depreciation 

expenses were less than 1 percent. Large cotton, 

most dairy, small and mid-size fruit and vegetable, 

grain and oilseed, small fish, small rice, large nut, 

and small sugar cooperatives also had depreciation 

expenses of less than 1 percent.

Interest expenses were relatively minor for all 

sizes of cooperatives, comprising less than 1 percent 

of total sales. Cotton service and small nut cooperatives had interest expenses greater than 2 percent of 

sales. 

Table 12: Number, participation, and level of 

activity of dairy herd improvement 

associations by State, January 31, 2013

 

State Herds Cows DHI Cows

Number Percentage

Alabama 22 4,579 100

Arizona 22 44,558 86

Arkansas 20 3,215 98

California 744 945,217 100

Colorado 33 45,354 98

Connecticut 70 12,294 100

Delaware 27 3,685 100

Florida 31 29,883 64

Georgia 98 26,005 61

Idaho 148 221,725 97

Illinois 358 48,995 100

Indiana 295 47,434 86

Iowa 660 122,121 99

Kansas 151 17,973 82

Kentucky 223 26,175 93

Louisiana 35 4,913 76

Maine 122 12,789 81

Maryland 270 32,737 99

Massachusetts 66 5,770 96

Michigan 595 162,984 87

Minnesota 1,793 246,227 99

Mississippi 30 5,859 100

Missouri 273 34,059 100

Montana 23 4,836 78

Nebraska 94 23,486 93

Nevada 10 7,130 100

New Hampshire 73 9,478 100

New Jersey 42 3,070 89

New Mexico 16 52,790 87

New York 1,635 318,476 93

North Carolina 114 23,198 91

North Dakota 22 5,608 85

Ohio 732 112,521 96

Oklahoma 51 6,981 79

Oregon 162 50,418 100

Pennsylvania 3,761 316,516 95

Rhode Island 8 462 100

South Carolina 43 10,191 94

South Dakota 99 37,544 99

Tennessee 107 14,540 94

Texas 105 105,003 89

Utah 110 35,910 87

Vermont 326 49,842 95

Virginia 338 58,249 93

Washington 173 85,047 98

West Virginia 33 3,530 100

Wisconsin 4,331 676,226 99

Wyoming 2 831 100

United States 18,579 4,133,140 95

 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 27

Other expenses fell as cooperatives grew larger. 

This account is the difference between total expenses and the sum of wages, depreciation, and interest, 

so it can be overstated when these three accounts 

are estimated for the few cooperatives that did not 

break out individual expenses on the survey or in 

their annual report. As a result, other expenses in 

this report may be larger than expected. 

Net Operating Margins

Net operating margins is calculated by taking gross 

margins minus total expenses before taxes, and not 

counting patronage refunds from other cooperatives. So, it is income generated by a cooperative’s 

own operations. Net operating margins for all 

cooperatives in 2012 was $5.2 billion, excluding 

inter-cooperative dividends and refunds (table 11). 

Net operating margins was about $0.4 billion higher 

than in 2011.

Net operating margins as a percent of net sales 

was 2 percent for all cooperatives by size (table 9). 

Most service cooperatives (except dairy), artificial 

insemination, large processed and fresh fruit and 

vegetable, cotton ginning, small nut, large sugar, 

and dry bean and pea cooperatives had net operating 

margins of at least 3 percent. Small cotton ginning, 

dairy, small fresh fruit and vegetable, small supply, 

livestock, small fish, and small sugar marketing 

cooperatives had net operating margins of less than 

1 percent. 

Patronage Income

Patronage refunds received (usually income from 

other cooperatives) results from business activities with other cooperatives, generally regionals, or 

CoBank, a cooperative bank. The patronage refund 

from regionals was based on business volume and 

consisted of cash refunds and equity stock. Stock 

was usually revolved back to the local cooperative 

on a set schedule. Many cooperatives that borrowed 

funds from CoBank received both cash and noncash patronage income. The non-cash patronage 

from CoBank was from investment in the bank, 

which was usually required in proportion to the 

funds borrowed.

Patronage refunds received from other cooperatives, including CoBank, totaled $899 million, up 

Table 13: Number, participation, and level 

of activity of rural electric cooperatives, by 

State, December 2011

State 

 

Cooperatives Members Revenue

 Number 1,000 Million $ 

Alabama 22 541 1,242 

Alaska 21 239 709 

Arizona 14 260 509 

Arkansas 17 508 1,036 

California 5 39 69 

Colorado 22 613 1,355 

Florida 15 1,046 2,132 

Georgia 41 1,956 4,029 

Idaho 13 89 156 

Illinois 24 288 681 

Indiana 38 534 1,282 

Iowa 35 220 572 

Kansas 27 287 718 

Kentucky 23 783 1,991 

Louisiana 10 381 669 

Maine 3 15 11 

Michigan 9 320 461 

Minnesota 43 760 1,436 

Mississippi 25 726 1,859 

Missouri 40 716 1,320 

Montana 23 189 322 

Nebraska 31 238 626 

Nevada 7 49 154 

New Mexico 16 210 487 

New York 4 18 25 

North Carolina 26 989 1,885 

North Dakota 16 159 509 

Ohio 24 382 834 

Oklahoma 26 484 1,073 

Oregon 17 210 367 

Pennsylvania 13 218 312 

South Carolina 20 730 1,683 

South Dakota 27 152 353 

Tennessee 23 1,036 2,464 

Texas 61 1,954 4,515 

Utah 4 46 106 

Vermont 3 53 88 

Virginia 12 605 1,494 

Washington 19 191 321 

Wisconsin 23 263 481 

Wyoming 12 107 395 

Other States1 6 401 1,018 

United States 860 19,005 40,314

 

1

 1 Other states include Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New 

Hampshire, and West Virginia.
28 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

47 percent from $613 million in 2011 (appendix 

figure 6). In 2003, refunds from other cooperatives 

were an unusually low $92 million due to losses in 

several large cooperatives. In 2012, refunds were 15 

percent of net income before taxes.

Patronage refunds were a little less than 2 percent 

of sales for the smallest cooperatives, and fell to 0.1 

percent for the largest (table 9). All cotton ginning 

cooperatives had patronage refunds of at least 6 

percent of sales. Livestock, fish, poultry, bioenergy, 

nut, rice, tobacco, wool, most sugar, storage, and 

hulling cooperatives received virtually no patronage 

refunds (less than 0.1 percent). 

Non-Operating Income

Non-operating income is income not generated by 

sales. It could be interest from investments. It also 

could come from the sale of PP&E, rentals, and 

extraordinary items. Sometimes PP&E are sold to 

generate income, but usually these types of assets 

are fully depreciated. When sold, if the market value is greater than the book value, income is generated. In some cases, disposal of a fully depreciated 

asset may mean a loss. Rental income from unused 

facilities or equipment provides income flows. Sales 

of extraordinary items might generate either a gain 

or a loss. A gain could result from a fire loss where 

the insurance settlement was greater than the book 

value. A loss might occur from flood damage for 

which the cooperative had no coverage. For all 

sizes of cooperatives, non-operating income averaged less than 0.5 percent of sales.

Net Income Before Taxes

Net income before taxes (NIBT) was $6.1 billion, 

an increase of 13 percent from $5.4 billion in 2011. 

Net income in 2012 was over five times the NIBT 

of $1.1 billion in 2003 (appendix table 7 and figure 

14). 

Marketing cooperatives’ NIBT of $2.5 billion 

was down 3 percent from the $2.6 billion generated 

in 2011. Grain and oilseed and sugar cooperatives 

were the only major types of marketing cooperatives with an increase in net income before taxes. 

Total NIBT of supply cooperatives was $3.5 billion in 2012, $0.7 billion more than the $2.8 billion 

in 2011 (figure 15). Supply cooperatives accounted 

for 58 percent of cooperatives’ NIBT in 2012, up 

from 51 percent in 2011 (appendix figure 7). 

Losses totaled $267 million in 2012, a 114-percent increase from 2011. Dairy cooperatives accounted for 75 percent of the losses in 2012, and 48 

percent of the losses in 2011 (appendix figure 8). 

The number of cooperatives with losses declined 4 

percent from 237 to 227. 

Income Taxes

Cooperatives paid income taxes on earnings not 

allocated to members (retained earnings) and on 

dividend payments. The board of each cooperative 

determined what amounts of income were allocated 

to retained earnings and to members. Non-member 

business has an impact on retained earnings because 

cooperatives can allocate the earnings to non-members or retain the income. Cooperatives paid $547 

million in income taxes. 

Net Income

Net income after taxes (net operating margins plus 

patronage refunds and non-operating income, minus 

taxes) was the highest for smaller cooperatives 

(4.6 percent) and fell to 2.2 percent for the largest 

cooperatives. The following co-op sectors had net 

incomes of greater than 5 percent: cotton service, 

most cotton ginning, larger processed and fresh fruit 

and vegetable, large fish, small nut, large sugar, 

rice drier, small transportation, storage, hulling, and 

fresh fruit and vegetable service cooperatives. 

Small cotton ginning, larger dairy, small supply, 

small grain and oilseed, most livestock, smaller 

fish, large rice, wool, and small sugar cooperatives had net income relative to sales of less than 1 

percent. 

Selected Financial Ratios

Financial ratios express relationships between items 

in the balance sheet and income statements of a 

business operation. They help in analyzing a cooperative’s economic and financial situation. Ratios 

can indicate problem areas, serve as guidelines for 

planning, and aid in formulating actions. However, 

ratio interpretation is largely subjective.

Nine financial ratios were used to measure cooperative performance or financial condition: current, 

debt-to-asset, debt-to-equity, retained earnings-to-
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 29

total-equity, equity-to-assets, adjusted equity-toassets, return-on-assets, return-on-member equity, 

and extra value index. 

The formulas for these ratios are:

Current = current assets / current liabilities;

Debt-to-asset = debt / total assets (debt = all liabilities);

Debt-to-equity = (debt / total assets) / (equity / 

total assets);

Retained earnings-to-total-equity = retained 

earnings / total equity;

Equity-to-assets ratio = total equity / total assets;

Adjusted equity-to-assets ratio = total equity / 

(total assets - current liabilities);

Return-on-assets-before-interest-and-taxes = 

(NIBT + interest expense) / total assets;

Return-on-member-equity = net income / allocated equity; 

Extra value index = net income after taxes – 

(total equity * (LIBOR 12 month maturity December average + X%)) / (total assets - current 

liabilities), where X=2 is a basic premium for 

risk; X=5 is a moderate level of risk, and X=10 

is a high level of risk.

Liquidity Ratio

The current ratio is a liquidity ratio—a measure of 

the cooperative’s ability to meet short-term obligations. It focuses on the cooperative’s ability to remain solvent. However, this ratio does not consider 

the degree of liquidity of each of the current asset 

components. If the current assets of a cooperative 

were mainly cash, they would be much more liquid 

than if comprised mainly of inventory.

If the ratio is less than one, current liabilities exceed current assets and the cooperative’s liquidity is 

threatened. Improvements can be achieved by selling additional capital stock, borrowing additional 

long-term debt or disposing of unproductive fixed 

assets and retaining proceeds. Current liabilities 

may also be reduced by retaining a greater portion 

of allocated savings (reducing the cash portion). 

 A high current ratio is a favorable condition financially because it indicates the ability to pay current liabilities from the conversion of current assets 

into cash. Operationally, this same high ratio tends 

to increase operating freedom and reduce the probability of bill-paying difficulty from write-downs of 

accounts receivable or inventory. The current ratios 

of six sizes of cooperatives are shown in table 9 

(for all types and sizes, see appendix table 6). By 

size, the ratio is always less than, or equal to, 1.9, 

meaning current assets exceed current liabilities by 

1.9 times, or less. 

If necessary, these current assets could be sold 

to cover all short-term liabilities and the cooperative would still have some liquid assets left. By 

type, the current ratio exceeds 2 for small artificial 

insemination, large processed and fresh fruit and 

vegetable, small farm supply, large poultry, large 

nut, small rice, tobacco, wool, small sugar, large 

transportation, dairy service, and livestock service 

cooperatives. 

Leverage ratios

Leverage ratios look at the long-term solvency of 

the cooperative and help analyze the use of debt 

and the ability to meet obligations in times of crisis. 

Debt-to-asset ratio shows the proportion of debt 

used to finance assets. Reducing debt, increasing 

savings, or financing a greater portion of assets 

with working capital may improve this ratio. 

Generally, larger cooperatives relied on the use 

of more debt financing. Debt financing was used 

for at least 62 percent of assets owned by cooperatives with sales from $100 million to $500 million, 

and rose to 68 percent for the largest cooperatives. 

Bioenergy, small rice, large transportation, milk 

service, and livestock service cooperatives used 

debt financing for one-third or less of their assets. 

Debt-to-equity ratio shows the financial flexibility and the long-term capital structure of the cooperative. High ratios indicate inadequate borrowing 

power. A low ratio is more favorable and financially 

makes the cooperative more independent of outside 

sources of funds because owners’ equity is available. A low ratio may indicate low return on equity. 

Operationally, a low ratio tends to reduce interest 

cost. Improvement may be gained by disposing of 

unproductive assets and using proceeds to liquidate 

debt, or accelerating payments on long-term loans. 

Cooperatives may also try increasing local equity 

by generating higher levels of net operating margins, slowing down equity retirement programs, 

selling additional capital stock, or retaining more 
30 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

allocated savings.

As cooperative size increases, so does use of 

debt. The ratio was 0.7 for the smallest cooperatives, climbing to 2 for the largest cooperatives. 

Artificial insemination, cotton ginning, small dairy, 

smaller fresh fruit and vegetable, smaller processed 

and fresh fruit and vegetable, large to small supply, 

smaller mixed supply, poultry, bioenergy, small rice, 

tobacco, larger sugar, and most service cooperatives 

all had a ratio of less than 1. 

The ratio of retained-earnings-to-total-equity

shows the use of retained earnings and allocated 

equity. Net income from non-member business is 

the usual source of retained earnings (unallocated 

equity). Operationally, the ratio can be improved by 

increasing equity or holding less retained earnings. 

For all but the largest and smallest cooperatives, 

retained-earnings-to-total-equity is greater than 30, 

meaning the cooperative has about one-third of total 

equity comprised of retained earnings. This ratio 

increases as cooperative size increases for all but 

the largest cooperatives, for which the leverage ratio 

is 27 percent. The smallest cooperatives also have 

retained earnings of 27 percent relative to total equity. Small cotton, cotton ginning, large and smaller 

dairy, small processed and fresh fruit and vegetable, 

small fish, larger and small sugar, and most service 

cooperatives have retained-earnings-to-total-equity 

ratios of less than 20 percent.

Solvency Ratios 

Solvency ratios look at the long-term solvency of 

the cooperative and help analyze the use of equity 

and the ability to meet obligations in times of crisis. 

The ratio of equity-to-assets measures the use of 

equity to finance the cooperative and can be considered a measure of solvency or financial strength of 

the cooperative. The ratio is the inverse of the previously described debt-to-asset ratio (equity-to-assets 

ratio = 1 minus debt-to-asset ratio).

Smaller cooperatives are generally stronger 

financially, because they finance a larger proportion 

of their assets with their own equity. The equity-toassets ratio ranges from 60 for the smallest cooperatives to 32 for the largest. With an equity-to-assets 

ratio of 32, less than one-third of a cooperative’s assets is financed by equity, and two-thirds is financed 

by debt. Small cotton ginning, small dairy, smaller 

farm supply, bioenergy, small rice, tobacco, middle 

sugar, transportation, milk service, and livestock 

service cooperatives all have an equity-to-assets 

ratio in excess of 60. 

Another measure of solvency or financial strength 

is shown by the adjusted equity-to-assets ratio, 

where total equity is divided by total assets, minus 

current liabilities. When current liabilities are subtracted from assets, the remainder is long-term debt 

and total equity, so the ratio shows the relative use 

of long-term debt and equity to finance the cooperative. A higher ratio indicates higher solvency or 

a greater use of equity to finance operations. Operationally, reducing long-term debt or increasing 

equity strengthens this ratio.

Small cooperatives have an adjusted equity-toassets ratio of 84, but this ratio falls to 60 for the 

largest cooperatives, indicating that larger cooperatives use more long-term debt. Small cotton ginning, smaller dairy, small fresh fruit and vegetable, 

middle fresh and processed fruit and vegetable, 

most supply, smaller mixed supply, smaller grain, 

smaller livestock, small fish, small poultry, bioenergy, small rice, small sugar, transportation, milk 

service, and livestock service cooperatives have an 

adjusted equity-to-assets ratio of at least 85.

Profitability Ratios 

Profitability ratios indicate the efficiency of the 

cooperative’s operations. Because a cooperative is 

owned by its user-members, many common industry 

profitability ratios have little meaning. For instance, 

profitability ratios measuring the return on common 

or preferred stock of similar investor-oriented firms 

are not appropriate because there is seldom an open 

market for cooperative stock. 

Return-on-assets-before-interest-and-taxes measures the rate of return on total investment. This ratio is a measure of performance. It is not sensitive to 

the leverage position of the cooperative. Although 

some assets were financed through debt, the ratio 

measures return to both members and lenders. 

Operationally, a high ratio tends to reduce interest 

cost and indicates a comparatively high rate of return on assets employed. This ratio rose from 7 for 

the smallest cooperatives to almost 10 for middlesize cooperatives, falling to almost 9 for the largest 

cooperatives. It is at least 20 for smaller cotton ginning, small sugar, storage and hulling cooperatives.

Return-on-member-equity represents members’ 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 31

investment in their cooperative. It is an important 

measure of profitability. This ratio is sensitive to 

the amount of debt capital in the cooperative, and is 

best used in conjunction with other measures, such 

as the return on assets. Financially, a high ratio is 

favorable and tends to decrease financial leverage. 

However, a high ratio may also be a symptom of 

insufficient investment. A high ratio tends to reduce 

interest cost over time but may occur when both 

total debt and interest costs are high. 

By size of cooperative, the highest return-onmember-equity was over 33 percent for cooperatives with $100 million to $500 million in sales. 

The smallest cooperatives have higher proportions 

of member equity, and thus a lower ratio of 14. 

Large processed and fresh fruit and vegetable, large 

supply, middle livestock, small fish, large poultry, 

large and small sugar, storage, and hulling have 

a 45-percent or greater return-on-member-equity 

ratio. 

Extra-Value Index

The extra-value index (EVI) can help members 

evaluate their cooperative’s performance, because 

it provides a value for the opportunity cost of using 

equity capital [Liebrand]. A cooperative’s equity 

capital is not openly traded in a stock market as that 

of an investor-oriented firm, so it is hard for cooperative members to determine if management is increasing or decreasing the value of the cooperative. 

The EVI attempts to put a value on the opportunity 

cost of equity capital through the use of an interest 

charge on the equivalent to the amount the money 

(member equity capital) could have earned if used 

elsewhere. In other words, EVI evaluates cooperative performance by subtracting the opportunity 

cost of equity capital from the profitability ratio.

If the EVI index is positive, cooperative management has created value for members because the 

cooperative’s operations are covering the opportunity cost of member’s equity capital. The converse is 

true if the EVI index is negative—member’s investment in the cooperative is being diminished because 

the opportunity cost of member’s equity capital is 

not being covered. 

There are three values shown for EVI in table 9. 

The EVI+2 represents a basic rate by adding 200 

basis points to the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate 

(LIBOR) 12 month maturity December average, 

which was 0.86 for December 2012. The basic LIBOR+2 rate represented in table 9 as EVI+2 (2.86) 

reflects the rate that banks in the United States 

might make loans to firms with better-than-average 

credit ratings. EVI+5 (5.86) represents a moderate premium for risk or LIBOR rate plus 500 basis 

points, while EVI +10 (10.86) is a higher premium 

for risk as it is LIBOR rate plus 1,000 basis points.

Smaller cooperatives, which generally have a 

larger proportion of equity relative to assets, have 

a lower EVI. For EVI+2, small cooperatives generated 6.3 cents of extra value for each $1 of member 

equity investment. For the higher risk of EVI+10, 

smaller cooperatives had a negative return of 0.37 

cents.

For EVI+2, large to middle cotton ginning, 

smaller fish, small sugar, storage, and hulling 

cooperatives all had EVIs of at least 25 cents (Appendix Table 6). The EVI used in these tables was 

the same for all cooperatives. The LIBOR rate is a 

proxy for a cooperative’s cost of capital, since the 

cooperative would know this value, and it could be 

plugged into the formula to generate its individual 

EVI.

Other Service Cooperatives

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (DHIA) had 

18,579 memberships in 2012 (Table 12), down from 

19,170 in 2011. The DHIA tested nearly 4,133,140 

million cows in 2012, down from 4,133,650 million 

in 2011. Wisconsin (4,331), Pennsylvania (3,761), 

Minnesota (1,793), and New York (1,635) combined 

accounted for 62 percent of total members, the 

same as in 2011. About 945,217 (22.9 percent) of 

the cows tested were in California, down from 23.6 

percent in 2011.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ali, Sarah, Jacqueline E. Penn, and E. Eldon Eversull, Cooperative Statistics, 2011, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Rural Development, Service Report 

72, November 2012.

Liebrand, Carolyn Betts, Financial Profile of Dairy 

Cooperatives, 2007, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Research Report 219, 

April 2011.
32 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

APPENDIX TABLES

Appendix Table 1: Number of cooperatives by major business activity, 2012-2008

 

Major business activity 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 

 

Products marketed: Number

Bean and pea (dry edible) 5 5 5 6 6

Cotton 12 12 12 12 12

Cotton ginning 151 153 157 166 176

Dairy 133 131 138 140 143

Fish 39 38 37 35 39

Fruit and vegetable 143 144 138 144 154

Grain and oilseed1 493 525 514 555 591

Livestock 88 86 59 57 58

Nut 19 18 18 16 16

Poultry2 11 10 10 10 13

Rice 12 12 12 14 14

Sugar3 26 26 28 31 31

Tobacco 6 6 8 9 11

Wool and mohair 43 45 54 57 62

Other marketing 25 26 25 25 28

Total marketing

Total supplies

Total services

1,206 

911 

121 

1,237 

 

939 

 

123 

1,215 

974 

125 

1,277 

992 

121 

1,354

1,011

110

Total 2,238 2,299 2,314 2,390 2,475

1 Cooperatives primarily handling grain and oilseed, excluding cottonseed. 

2 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

3 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 33

Appendix Table 2: Cooperative memberships, by major business activity, 2012-2008

Major business activity 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008

Products marketed: Thousands

Bean and pea (dry edible) 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.5

Cotton 18.8 25.4 28.2 29.2 32.1

Cotton ginning 25.4 26.6 25.4 25.7 27.2

Dairy 45.1 48.5 44.2 45.0 61.5

Fish 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.6

Fruit and vegetable 21.0 22.0 22.2 22.3 23.8

Grain and oilseed1 403.3 586.7 416.9 486.4 460.7

Livestock 70.9 73.7 75.4 73.3 76.1

Nut 9.7 9.7 15.7 15.2 15.3

Poultry2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

Rice 10.7 10.9 11.6 11.6 11.7

Sugar3 8.8 8.7 10.0 10.9 10.8

Tobacco 18.8 11.9 65.0 65.1 65.3

Wool and mohair 9.5 9.6 9.6 9.9 10.0

Other marketing 5.5 6.5 6.4 6.5 6.7

Total marketing 655.4 847.8 738.3 808.5 808.8

 

Total supplies 1,420.7 1,397.6 1,463.2 1,392.9 1,508.8

 

Total services 36.5 35.7 37.9 37.5 36.2

Total 2,112.6 2,281.2 2,239.5 2,238.9 2,353.8

1 Cooperatives primarily handling grain and oilseed, excluding cottonseed. 

2 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

3 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.
34 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix Table 3: Cooperative’s gross business volume, by type of cooperative, 2012-

2008

 

Major business activity 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 

Products marketed: Billion $

Bean and pea (dry edible) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Cotton 3.2 4.1 2.4 2.4 2.9

Dairy 41.8 42.3 34.3 30.5 40.8

Fish 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Fruit and vegetable 8.0 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.7

Grain and oilseed1 63.5 56.0 41.0 44.3 47.7

Livestock 4.0 4.4 3.6 3.1 3.3

Nut 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8

Poultry2 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.5

Rice 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6

Sugar3 6.3 5.7 5.0 4.6 4.9

Tobacco 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1

Other marketing4 6.0 6.3 4.8 4.8 6.5

Total marketing 137.4 131.0 103.0 101.4 118.2

 

Supplies purchased: 

Crop protectants 11.1 9.7 8.1 7.7 6.7

Feed 15.0 13.4 10.8 11.1 10.9

Fertilizer 17.7 14.9 11.1 12.2 12.7

Petroleum 35.0 31.2 24.6 23.3 30.6

Seed 5.5 4.9 4.3 3.9 3.5

Other supplies 7.6 7.2 5.0 4.8 6.1

Total supplies 91.9 81.4 63.8 63.0 70.5

 

Services and other income 4.7 4.4 4.9 4.9 4.7

Total 234.0 216.8 171.8 169.3 193.5

1

 Cooperatives primarily handling grains and oilseeds, excluding cottonseed. 

2

 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

3

 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.

4

 Includes wool and mohair and other marketing.
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 35

Major business activity 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 

Products marketed: Billion dollars

Bean and pea (dry edible) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Cotton 3.1 4.0 2.3 2.2 2.9

Dairy 40.2 40.7 31.1 27.6 39.1

Fish 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Fruit and vegetable 5.8 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.4

Grain and oilseed1 62.7 55.3 40.5 43.8 46.6

Livestock 4.0 4.2 3.5 3.0 3.2

Nut 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8

Poultry2 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.5

Rice 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6

Sugar3 5.3 4.8 4.1 3.8 4.1

Tobacco 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1

Other marketing4 5.6 5.8 4.5 4.5 6.0

Total marketing 131.3 124.8 95.8 94.6 111.7

 

Supplies purchased: 

Crop protectants 7.2 6.6 5.6 5.5 4.5

Feed 11.8 10.5 8.6 8.8 9.4

Fertilizer 14.1 11.9 9.4 10.6 10.0

Petroleum 22.9 20.3 16.5 15.8 19.5

Seed 3.2 2.9 2.6 2.5 2.4

Other supplies 5.7 5.6 4.4 4.2 5.4

Total supplies 64.9 57.8 47.1 47.4 51.2

 

Services and other income 4.7 4.4 4.9 4.9 4.7

Total 200.9 187.0 147.8 146.9 167.6

1

 Cooperatives primarily handling grains and oilseeds, excluding cottonseed. 

2

 Cooperatives primarily handling eggs, turkeys, ratite, squab, and related products.

3

 Cooperatives primarily handling sugar beets, sugarcane, honey, and related products.

4

 Includes wool and mohair and other marketing.

 

Appendix Table 4: Cooperatives’ net business volume, by type of cooperative, 

2012-2008
36 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix Table 5: Combined balance sheet data for cooperatives, 2003-2012

 

 

 

Assets Investments 

 from own in other Total Total Net 

Year operations cooperatives1 assets liabilities worth 

 Billion dollars

2003 42.10 4.05 46.15 26.18 19.98

2004 39.25 4.73 43.97 25.18 18.79

2005 41.06 4.33 45.39 26.40 19.00

2006 44.36 3.66 48.02 28.17 19.85

2007 53.44 4.20 57.64 36.47 21.18

2008 65.61 4.29 69.89 46.77 23.12

2009 57.14 4.04 61.19 37.34 23.84

2010 60.66 4.39 65.04 39.06 25.98

2011 74.14 4.36 78.50 50.59 27.91

2012 78.21 4.73 82.94 52.97 29.98

 

 Percent of total assets 

2003 91.2 8.8 100.0 56.7 43.3

2004 89.2 10.8 100.0 57.3 42.7

2005 90.5 9.5 100.0 58.1 41.9

2006 92.4 7.6 100.0 58.7 41.3

2007 92.7 7.3 100.0 63.3 36.7

2008 93.9 6.1 100.0 66.9 33.1

2009 93.4 6.6 100.0 61.0 39.0

2010 93.3 6.7 100.0 60.1 39.9

2011 94.4 5.6 100.0 64.4 35.6

2012 94.3 5.7 100.0 63.9 36.1

1 Includes investments in other cooperatives and CoBank, where applicable.
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 37

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012

Type of cooperative Artificial Cotton Cotton

 insemination marketing services

Cooperative sales size ≥ $15 < $15 ≥ $100 < $100 

million million million million all sizes

Balance sheet Percent of total assets 

Current assets 54.07 68.56 71.73 71.91 53.91

Other assets 19.03 6.94 5.38 0.55 7.93

Investments 4.73 10.69 1.64 0.77 10.98

PP&E1 (net) 22.17 13.81 21.26 26.76 27.17

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 30.47 22.11 50.26 59.92 44.84

Total liabilities 44.85 41.13 59.40 71.41 54.73

Allocated equity 31.98 61.27 24.95 24.44 48.80

Retained earnings 23.17 -2.40 15.65 4.15 -3.53

Total equity 55.15 58.87 40.60 28.59 45.27

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales Percent of service

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Cost of goods sold 29.27 32.98 90.92 87.57 

Gross margin 70.73 67.02 9.08 12.43 

 

Service and other income 6.78 4.17 0.83 0.39 100.00

Gross revenue 77.51 71.20 9.91 12.82 100.00

Expenses 

Wages 43.07 46.32 3.30 3.32 28.17

Depreciation 3.38 1.91 0.58 1.51 5.69

Interest 0.37 0.00 0.97 1.53 4.46

Other 24.96 19.33 4.05 5.44 44.49

Total expenses 71.78 67.56 8.90 11.81 82.81

 

Net operating margins 5.73 3.64 1.01 1.01 17.19

Patronage income 0.21 0.11 0.04 0.19 0.82

Non-operating income -1.20 0.44 0.20 2.06 0.62

Net income before taxes 4.74 4.19 1.25 3.26 18.64

Taxes 0.71 0.46 0.03 -0.04 0.00

Net income 4.04 3.73 1.21 3.30 18.63

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.77 3.10 1.43 1.20 1.20

Debt-to-asset 0.45 0.41 0.59 0.71 0.55

Debt-to-equity 0.81 0.70 1.46 2.50 1.21

Retained-earnings-to-equity 42.01 -4.07 38.55 14.51 -7.80

Equity-to-assets 55.15 58.87 40.60 28.59 45.27

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 79.32 75.58 81.64 71.32 82.06

Return-on-assets 6.41 6.46 7.91 6.99 7.69

Return-on-member-equity 15.85 9.39 17.39 19.68 12.71

 

Extra value index +2 5.02 5.22 6.39 9.96 8.89

Extra value index +5 2.64 2.95 3.94 7.82 6.43

Extra value index +10 -1.32 -0.82 -0.14 4.25 2.33

1

(Property, plant, and equipment) (continued next page)
38 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Cotton ginning

Cooperative sales size > $10 $5 to $1 to < $1

 million $10 million $5 million million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets 

Current assets 45.81 40.42 39.71 37.09

Other assets 0.74 2.71 6.65 10.99

Investments 15.83 15.35 11.65 5.84

PP&E1 (net) 37.62 41.51 41.98 46.09

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 33.10 28.12 25.40 22.30

Total liabilities 47.45 36.99 40.55 39.70

Allocated equity 46.77 48.61 48.38 56.36

Retained earnings 5.78 14.40 11.07 3.94

Total equity 52.55 63.01 59.45 60.30

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 81.60 79.01 76.85 73.85

Gross margin 18.40 20.99 23.15 26.15

 

Service and other income 22.57 31.00 45.56 52.42

Gross revenue 40.97 51.99 68.71 78.57

Expenses 

Wages 10.64 14.95 19.96 31.45

Depreciation 3.79 5.62 6.89 9.60

Interest 1.03 0.75 1.44 1.27

Other 20.43 25.06 34.78 43.72

Total expenses 35.89 46.37 63.06 86.03

 

Net operating margins 5.08 5.62 5.65 -7.47

Patronage income 8.32 14.52 11.36 6.13

Non-operating income 1.63 1.29 -0.17 1.15

Net income before taxes 15.03 21.42 16.84 -0.19

Taxes 0.11 0.30 -0.29 -0.09

Net income 14.92 21.12 17.13 -0.10

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.38 1.44 1.56 1.66

Debt-to-asset 0.47 0.37 0.41 0.40

Debt-to-equity 0.90 0.59 0.68 0.66

Retained-earnings-to-equity 11.01 22.85 18.63 6.53

Equity-to-assets 52.55 63.01 59.45 60.30

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 78.55 87.66 79.69 77.60

Return-on-assets 19.96 22.21 13.42 0.61

Return-on-member-equity 39.64 43.53 25.98 -0.10

 

Extra value index +2 25.46 26.94 14.57 -2.29

Extra value index +5 23.11 24.31 12.18 -4.62

Extra value index +10 19.18 19.92 8.19 -8.50
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 39

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Dairy and dairy products

Cooperative sales size ≥ $1 $300 to $50 to $20 to

 billion $900 million $200 million $50 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 53.99 60.74 64.20 75.48

Other assets 21.86 4.01 1.38 3.94

Investments 0.95 1.65 8.50 10.87

PP&E1 (net) 23.20 33.59 25.92 9.72

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 49.38 38.14 55.24 61.68

Total liabilities 73.58 58.89 62.20 65.15

Allocated equity 25.53 34.43 26.97 29.28

Retained earnings 0.89 6.67 10.83 5.57

Total equity 26.42 41.11 37.80 34.85

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 94.03 90.09 95.16 94.11

Gross margin 5.97 9.91 4.84 5.89

 

Service and other income 0.18 0.38 0.69 1.09

Gross revenue 6.15 10.28 5.52 6.98

Expenses 

Wages 2.87 3.21 2.02 2.39

Depreciation 0.70 0.70 0.45 0.23

Interest 0.25 0.19 0.06 0.07

Other 1.86 5.17 2.78 3.77

Total expenses 5.68 9.26 5.31 6.46

 

Net operating margins 0.47 1.02 0.21 0.52

Patronage income 0.07 0.04 0.19 0.29

Non-operating income -0.56 0.17 0.02 0.02

Net income before taxes -0.02 1.24 0.43 0.84

Taxes -0.02 0.06 0.00 0.01

Net income 0.00 1.17 0.43 0.83

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.09 1.59 1.16 1.22

Debt-to-asset 0.74 0.59 0.62 0.65

Debt-to-equity 2.79 1.43 1.65 1.87

Retained-earnings-to-equity 3.37 16.24 28.66 15.98

Equity-to-assets 26.42 41.11 37.80 34.85

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 52.19 66.46 84.44 90.95

Return-on-assets 1.00 6.32 2.85 7.93

Return-on-member-equity -0.03 15.11 9.28 24.72

 

Extra value index +2 -1.51 6.51 3.18 16.29

Extra value index +5 -3.07 4.52 0.64 13.56

Extra value index +10 -5.68 1.20 -3.58 9.01

 (continued next page)
40 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Dairy and dairy products

Cooperative sales size $10 to $5 to $1 to Less than

 $20 million $10 million $5 million $1 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 66.05 58.71 65.67 70.76

Other assets 6.55 9.31 8.91 7.42

Investments 12.74 21.55 9.10 0.00

PP&E1 (net) 14.66 10.44 16.31 21.82

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 55.29 37.43 50.38 40.61

Total liabilities 64.15 38.95 59.36 48.76

Allocated equity 26.09 51.76 30.41 26.13

Retained earnings 9.77 9.28 10.23 25.11

Total equity 35.85 61.05 40.64 51.24

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 95.93 94.30 94.31 95.72

Gross margin 4.07 5.70 5.69 4.28

 

Service and other income 1.90 0.82 2.07 8.30

Gross revenue 5.98 6.53 7.76 12.57

Expenses 

Wages 2.53 2.63 2.60 6.24

Depreciation 0.30 0.31 0.50 1.16

Interest 0.13 0.09 0.26 0.73

Other 2.62 3.49 3.33 7.26

Total expenses 5.58 6.52 6.68 15.39

 

Net operating margins 0.40 0.01 1.08 -2.82

Patronage income 0.27 0.50 0.17 0.01

Non-operating income 0.08 0.93 0.16 0.21

Net income before taxes 0.75 1.44 1.41 -2.60

Taxes 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.00

Net income 0.74 1.41 1.38 -2.60

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.19 1.57 1.30 1.74

Debt-to-asset 0.64 0.39 0.59 0.49

Debt-to-equity 1.79 0.64 1.46 0.95

Retained-earnings-to-equity 27.24 15.21 25.17 49.00

Equity-to-assets 35.85 61.05 40.64 51.24

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 80.19 97.57 81.90 86.28

Return-on-assets 6.38 7.69 10.09 -3.31

Return-on-member-equity 20.53 13.81 27.65 -17.64

 

Extra value index +2 9.68 8.64 14.60 -10.23

Extra value index +5 7.28 5.71 12.15 -12.82

Extra value index +10 3.27 0.83 8.05 -17.13 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 41

 

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Fruit and vegetable (fresh sales only)

Cooperative sales size ≥ $50 $20 to $10 to $5 to $1 to Less than

 million $50 million $20 million $10 million $5 million $1 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 53.57 53.15 44.62 52.41 66.08 46.38

Other assets 7.35 4.91 6.79 10.35 12.12 9.15

Investments 3.05 4.61 5.62 5.39 0.01 0.00

PP&E1 (net) 36.04 37.33 42.98 31.85 21.80 44.47

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 39.76 43.49 32.97 39.39 41.90 33.06

Total liabilities 63.63 57.69 49.28 52.74 60.23 42.33

Allocated equity 19.50 24.57 35.24 32.70 26.48 15.55

Retained earnings 16.87 17.74 15.48 14.56 13.29 42.12

Total equity 36.37 42.31 50.72 47.26 39.77 57.67

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 78.34 70.90 76.89 78.04 85.98 86.98

Gross margin 21.66 29.10 23.11 21.96 14.02 13.02

 

Service and other income 2.54 4.13 4.92 5.00 22.95 16.79

Gross revenue 24.19 33.22 28.03 26.96 36.97 29.80

Expenses 

Wages 10.31 14.80 12.19 9.13 14.74 15.37

Depreciation 1.61 1.89 1.72 1.87 1.60 2.07

Interest 0.36 0.31 1.58 0.69 0.80 0.56

Other 9.52 14.69 11.59 13.20 16.53 12.49

Total expenses 21.80 31.70 27.09 24.88 33.67 30.49

 

Net operating margins 2.39 1.52 0.94 2.08 3.30 -0.69

Patronage income 0.12 0.16 1.00 0.28 0.01 0.00

Non-operating income 0.04 0.07 0.41 0.30 0.27 3.69

Net income before taxes 2.55 1.74 2.34 2.66 3.58 3.00

Taxes 0.21 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00

Net income 2.34 1.72 2.28 2.62 3.56 3.00

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.35 1.22 1.35 1.33 1.58 1.40

Debt-to-asset 0.64 0.58 0.49 0.53 0.60 0.42

Debt-to-equity 1.75 1.36 0.97 1.12 1.51 0.73

Retained-earnings-to-equity 46.38 41.92 30.52 30.82 33.41 73.03

Equity-to-assets 36.37 42.31 50.72 47.26 39.77 57.67

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 60.39 74.87 75.66 77.97 68.45 86.15

Return-on-assets 7.49 4.94 10.49 5.89 5.52 5.52

Return-on-member-equity 30.91 16.79 17.31 14.10 16.95 29.87

 

Extra value index +2 8.28 5.16 6.93 5.38 5.77 4.48

Extra value index +5 6.47 2.92 4.66 3.04 3.71 1.89

Extra value index +10 3.45 -0.83 0.88 -0.86 0.29 -2.42

 (continued next page)
42 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Fruit and vegetable (processed and fresh sales)

Cooperative sales size ≥ $500 $250 $50 $10 Less than

 million to $500 million to $200 million to $50 million $6 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 52.06 66.96 79.33 50.89 72.42

Other assets 19.42 5.23 4.12 1.84 12.44

Investments 1.17 1.20 1.46 20.90 2.43

PP&E1 (net) 27.34 26.61 15.09 26.38 12.71

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 15.56 41.34 66.28 35.67 37.36

Total liabilities 76.37 65.93 70.32 48.49 50.13

Allocated equity 24.33 24.69 19.49 36.56 40.64

Retained earnings -0.70 9.38 10.19 14.95 9.23

Total equity 23.63 34.07 29.68 51.51 49.87

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 77.55 78.23 86.43 71.48 81.84

Gross margin 22.45 21.77 13.57 28.52 18.16

 

Service and other income 4.49 1.86 1.41 1.93 4.64

Gross revenue 26.94 23.63 14.98 30.45 22.80

Expenses 

Wages 8.22 15.45 5.85 11.31 12.39

Depreciation 2.26 2.01 0.67 1.42 0.44

Interest 0.56 1.14 0.45 0.41 0.50

Other 6.22 2.75 6.78 11.12 5.12

Total expenses 17.26 21.36 13.76 24.26 18.44

 

Net operating margins 9.68 2.27 1.22 6.19 4.36

Patronage income 0.05 0.00 0.04 0.26 0.05

Non-operating income 0.48 0.11 0.16 0.14 0.00

Net income before taxes 10.21 2.39 1.42 6.60 4.41

Taxes 0.47 0.32 0.08 0.11 0.07

Net income 9.74 2.07 1.34 6.49 4.34

Ratios Percent or number

Current 3.35 1.62 1.20 1.43 1.94

Debt-to-asset 0.76 0.66 0.70 0.48 0.50

Debt-to-equity 3.23 1.94 2.37 0.94 1.01

Retained-earnings-to-equity -2.95 27.52 34.32 29.03 18.51

Equity-to-assets 23.63 34.07 29.68 51.51 49.87

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 27.99 58.08 88.02 80.07 79.62

Return-on-assets 18.12 5.41 5.39 11.45 14.61

Return-on-member-equity 67.37 12.84 19.72 29.02 31.80

 

Extra value index +2 18.61 3.74 8.88 14.20 18.36

Extra value index +5 17.77 2.00 6.24 11.80 15.97

Extra value index +10 16.37 -0.90 1.84 7.79 11.99
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 43

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Supply (with 100% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size ≥ $500 $100 to $50 to $30 to $25 to $20 to 

million $400 million $100 million $50 million $30 million $25 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 63.03 56.45 55.49 54.74 50.54 49.78

Other assets 10.08 3.90 2.49 2.12 5.14 4.75

Investments 9.46 14.03 19.15 18.80 22.04 19.16

PP&E1 (net) 17.43 25.61 22.87 24.35 22.29 26.30

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 40.82 38.82 36.10 38.60 37.10 32.18

Total liabilities 57.63 53.71 43.92 48.24 43.34 38.96

Allocated equity 19.75 24.71 30.24 30.87 35.75 33.14

Retained earnings 22.61 21.58 25.84 20.89 20.92 27.91

Total equity 42.37 46.29 56.08 51.76 56.66 61.04

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 93.83 88.70 87.25 86.44 86.14 87.69

Gross margin 6.17 11.30 12.75 13.56 13.86 12.31

 

Service and other income 0.59 1.12 2.09 1.54 1.53 5.11

Gross revenue 6.77 12.42 14.84 15.10 15.39 17.42

Expenses 

Wages 2.11 5.04 6.57 6.66 6.35 7.18

Depreciation 0.71 1.06 1.16 1.43 1.34 1.59

Interest 0.32 0.35 0.27 0.46 0.31 0.50

Other 1.12 3.46 4.65 4.95 4.74 5.13

Total expenses 4.27 9.91 12.65 13.51 12.74 14.40

 

Net operating margins 2.49 2.51 2.19 1.59 2.65 3.02

Patronage income 0.44 1.41 1.47 1.90 2.24 2.08

Non-operating income 0.43 0.42 0.61 1.29 0.47 1.21

Net income before taxes 3.35 4.34 4.26 4.78 5.36 6.32

Taxes 0.71 0.74 0.57 0.46 0.59 0.66

Net income 2.64 3.60 3.69 4.32 4.77 5.66

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.54 1.45 1.54 1.42 1.36 1.55

Debt-to-asset 0.58 0.54 0.44 0.48 0.43 0.39

Debt-to-equity 1.36 1.16 0.78 0.93 0.76 0.64

Retained-earnings-to-equity 53.37 46.62 46.08 40.36 36.91 45.71

Equity-to-assets 42.37 46.29 56.08 51.76 56.66 61.04

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 71.59 75.66 87.75 84.30 90.08 90.01

Return-on-assets 12.87 12.74 11.00 10.86 12.55 12.55

Return-on-member-equity 46.81 39.57 29.64 28.98 29.57 31.42

 

Extra value index +2 13.58 13.82 11.51 12.16 14.23 12.78

Extra value index +5 11.43 11.55 8.88 9.63 11.53 10.08

Extra value index +10 7.85 7.76 4.49 5.41 7.02 5.58

 (continued next page)
44 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Supply (with 100% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $15 to $10 to $5 to $1 to Less than

$20 million $15 million $10 million $5 million $1 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 52.99 56.73 57.00 59.23 59.81

Other assets 2.97 2.05 4.07 6.76 10.85

Investments 21.13 21.23 16.07 14.40 10.82

PP&E1 (net) 22.91 19.99 22.86 19.60 18.52

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 32.71 32.57 30.75 30.50 28.73

Total liabilities 39.29 36.81 39.04 39.82 37.15

Allocated equity 33.95 41.13 37.60 38.38 40.90

Retained earnings 26.76 22.06 23.36 21.79 21.96

Total equity 60.71 63.19 60.96 60.18 62.85

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 86.57 86.60 86.06 85.21 84.07

Gross margin 13.43 13.40 13.94 14.79 15.93

 

Service and other income 2.10 2.67 2.57 3.45 8.31

Gross revenue 15.54 16.07 16.52 18.25 24.23

Expenses 

Wages 7.34 7.88 8.45 10.00 15.60

Depreciation 1.53 1.30 1.25 1.29 1.36

Interest 0.31 0.31 0.43 0.54 0.88

Other 4.84 4.93 5.16 5.61 6.96

Total expenses 14.01 14.41 15.29 17.44 24.81

 

Net operating margins 1.52 1.66 1.23 0.81 -0.57

Patronage income 2.01 2.10 1.36 0.96 0.44

Non-operating income 0.54 0.37 0.35 0.37 0.53

Net income before taxes 4.07 4.13 2.94 2.14 0.40

Taxes 0.39 0.32 0.23 0.09 0.13

Net income 3.67 3.81 2.71 2.05 0.27

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.62 1.74 1.85 1.94 2.08

Debt-to-asset 0.39 0.37 0.39 0.40 0.37

Debt-to-equity 0.65 0.58 0.64 0.66 0.59

Retained-earnings-to-equity 44.08 34.91 38.32 36.22 34.93

Equity-to-assets 60.71 63.19 60.96 60.18 62.85

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 90.22 93.71 88.02 86.58 88.19

Return-on-assets 9.36 9.04 7.25 5.17 1.76

Return-on-member-equity 23.13 18.90 15.50 10.32 0.89

 

Extra value index +2 9.09 8.85 5.90 3.22 -2.01

Extra value index +5 6.38 6.04 3.26 0.62 -4.66

Extra value index +10 1.87 1.35 -1.14 -3.70 -9.07
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 45

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Mixed supply (with 99% to 50% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $300 to $100 to $50 to $30 to

$850 million $300 million $100 million $50 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 63.58 59.03 60.41 60.55

Other assets 1.82 3.39 2.59 2.91

Investments 13.75 18.10 13.50 15.24

PP&E1 (net) 20.85 19.48 23.50 21.30

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 44.78 41.85 43.35 42.31

Total liabilities 58.59 52.42 54.10 50.34

Allocated equity 18.15 21.43 26.21 29.28

Retained earnings 23.26 26.15 19.69 20.37

Total equity 41.41 47.58 45.90 49.66

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 90.26 89.70 88.86 89.47

Gross margin 9.74 10.30 11.14 10.53

 

Service and other income 2.37 2.30 2.82 2.33

Gross revenue 12.11 12.59 13.95 12.86

Expenses 

Wages 4.99 5.27 6.07 5.60

Depreciation 1.19 1.24 1.47 1.24

Interest 0.41 0.40 0.56 0.41

Other 3.29 4.23 4.31 3.91

Total expenses 9.88 11.14 12.41 11.15

 

Net operating margins 2.22 1.45 1.55 1.70

Patronage income 1.06 1.66 1.28 1.21

Non-operating income 0.36 0.63 0.40 0.47

Net income before taxes 3.64 3.74 3.23 3.39

Taxes 0.42 0.57 0.31 0.32

Net income 3.23 3.17 2.92 3.07

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.42 1.41 1.39 1.43

Debt-to-asset 0.59 0.52 0.54 0.50

Debt-to-equity 1.41 1.10 1.18 1.01

Retained-earnings-to-equity 56.17 54.95 42.89 41.03

Equity-to-assets 41.41 47.58 45.90 49.66

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 75.00 81.82 81.03 86.08

Return-on-assets 9.58 9.83 9.25 9.22

Return-on-member-equity 42.06 35.10 27.23 25.42

 

Extra value index +2 11.68 10.60 10.28 10.44

Extra value index +5 9.43 8.14 7.85 7.86

Extra value index +10 5.68 4.05 3.80 3.56

 (continued next page)
46 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Mixed supply (with 99% to 50% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $20 to $10 to $5 to Less than

$30 million $20 million $10 million $5 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 54.66 56.52 60.49 48.61

Other assets 2.89 4.58 4.02 13.20

Investments 20.71 14.22 16.69 10.56

PP&E1 (net) 21.74 24.68 18.80 27.63

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 37.02 34.82 34.93 34.82

Total liabilities 43.84 41.04 41.90 44.43

Allocated equity 28.82 31.39 34.28 34.60

Retained earnings 27.35 27.57 23.82 20.98

Total equity 56.16 58.96 58.10 55.57

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 90.40 89.21 89.82 85.40

Gross margin 9.60 10.79 10.18 14.60

 

Service and other income 6.32 3.61 3.69 7.83

Gross revenue 15.92 14.40 13.87 22.43

Expenses 

Wages 6.54 6.63 7.24 10.92

Depreciation 1.57 1.35 1.21 1.79

Interest 0.50 0.38 0.47 0.76

Other 5.53 4.74 5.00 7.53

Total expenses 14.15 13.10 13.91 21.01

 

Net operating margins 1.77 1.30 -0.04 1.43

Patronage income 1.42 1.27 1.51 1.01

Non-operating income 0.56 0.22 0.27 0.51

Net income before taxes 3.75 2.79 1.73 2.94

Taxes 0.26 0.26 0.18 0.18

Net income 3.50 2.53 1.56 2.76

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.48 1.62 1.73 1.40

Debt-to-asset 0.44 0.41 0.42 0.44

Debt-to-equity 0.78 0.70 0.72 0.80

Retained-earnings-to-equity 48.69 46.76 40.99 37.75

Equity-to-assets 56.16 58.96 58.10 55.57

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 89.17 90.46 89.29 85.27

Return-on-assets 8.70 7.01 5.22 5.58

Return-on-member-equity 24.80 17.80 10.77 12.00

 

Extra value index +2 8.80 5.99 3.12 3.93

Extra value index +5 6.12 3.27 0.44 1.37

Extra value index +10 1.66 -1.25 -4.02 -2.89

(continued next page)
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 47

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Mixed grain and oilseed marketing (with 49% to 25% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $200 to $100 to $50 to $30 to

 > $500 million $500 million $200 million $100 million $50 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 68.45 66.08 70.22 68.99 69.76

Other assets 2.66 5.97 1.10 1.05 3.26

Investments 8.02 9.90 8.69 9.27 8.33

PP&E1 (net) 20.87 18.05 19.99 20.70 18.65

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 49.93 53.25 56.71 53.67 56.02

Total liabilities 66.03 68.32 66.80 63.17 65.06

Allocated equity 12.64 15.64 17.57 21.55 19.24

Retained earnings 21.33 16.03 15.63 15.28 15.69

Total equity 33.97 31.68 33.20 36.83 34.94

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 93.68 94.07 92.92 92.46 93.45

Gross margin 6.32 5.93 7.08 7.54 6.55

 

Service and other income 2.98 2.80 2.81 2.66 2.82

Gross revenue 9.30 8.74 9.90 10.21 9.37

Expenses 

Wages 2.66 3.01 3.34 3.49 3.29

Depreciation 0.93 0.87 1.03 1.15 1.22

Interest 0.63 0.54 0.51 0.51 0.54

Other 3.71 2.75 2.90 3.28 2.88

Total expenses 7.93 7.18 7.79 8.42 7.93

 

Net operating margins 1.37 1.56 2.11 1.78 1.44

Patronage income 0.50 0.77 0.85 0.87 0.89

Non-operating income 0.16 0.29 0.13 0.06 0.39

Net income before taxes 2.02 2.61 3.09 2.71 2.72

Taxes 0.12 0.27 0.24 0.20 0.16

Net income 1.90 2.34 2.85 2.52 2.55

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.37 1.24 1.24 1.29 1.25

Debt-to-asset 0.66 0.68 0.67 0.63 0.65

Debt-to-equity 1.94 2.16 2.01 1.72 1.86

Retained-earnings-to-equity 62.78 50.62 47.09 41.48 44.92

Equity-to-assets 33.97 31.68 33.20 36.83 34.94

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 67.85 67.76 76.69 79.50 79.43

Return-on-assets 7.35 7.48 8.54 7.40 7.25

Return-on-member-equity 41.55 35.45 38.49 26.84 29.49

 

Extra value index +2 8.55 9.92 13.43 10.21 10.63

Extra value index +5 6.52 7.89 11.13 7.83 8.25

Extra value index +10 3.12 4.50 7.29 3.85 4.27

 (continued next page)
48 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Mixed grain and oilseed marketing (with 49% to 25% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $20 to $15 to $10 to $5 to Less than

 $30 million $20 million $15 million $10 million $5 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 65.81 68.77 63.23 64.59 61.81

Other assets 8.07 2.56 3.70 5.40 11.01

Investments 7.19 7.63 8.50 8.63 3.50

PP&E1 (net) 18.94 21.04 24.57 21.39 23.68

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 52.12 50.91 45.55 48.64 40.22

Total liabilities 60.88 56.62 55.56 54.69 50.62

Allocated equity 20.80 25.08 21.38 30.50 29.50

Retained earnings 18.31 18.30 23.06 14.81 19.88

Total equity 39.12 43.38 44.44 45.31 49.38

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 92.25 92.95 92.62 92.15 90.27

Gross margin 7.75 7.05 7.38 7.85 9.73

 

Service and other income 2.80 3.36 2.95 5.00 5.41

Gross revenue 10.55 10.40 10.33 12.85 15.14

Expenses 

Wages 3.97 4.18 4.21 4.38 6.85

Depreciation 1.24 1.14 1.28 1.23 1.33

Interest 0.52 0.39 0.47 0.56 0.53

Other 3.32 3.31 3.31 5.03 4.58

Total expenses 9.04 9.02 9.27 11.20 13.29

 

Net operating margins 1.51 1.38 1.06 1.65 1.85

Patronage income 0.61 0.50 0.58 0.31 0.23

Non-operating income 0.53 0.29 0.14 0.08 0.04

Net income before taxes 2.65 2.18 1.78 2.04 2.12

Taxes 0.18 0.06 0.05 0.07 0.02

Net income 2.47 2.12 1.73 1.97 2.10

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.26 1.35 1.39 1.33 1.54

Debt-to-asset 0.61 0.57 0.56 0.55 0.51

Debt-to-equity 1.56 1.31 1.25 1.21 1.03

Retained-earnings-to-equity 46.81 42.19 51.88 32.68 40.27

Equity-to-assets 39.12 43.38 44.44 45.31 49.38

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 81.69 88.37 81.61 88.22 82.60

Return-on-assets 6.89 7.16 6.05 6.03 5.14

Return-on-member-equity 25.81 23.59 21.69 14.98 13.79

 

Extra value index +2 8.88 9.52 6.18 6.38 4.44

Extra value index +5 6.43 6.87 3.73 3.73 1.96
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 49

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Grain and oilseed marketing (with less than 25% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size ≥$500 $200 $100 $50 $30 

million to $500 million to $200 million to $100 million to $50 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 67.87 69.71 72.16 65.64 72.32

Other assets 1.25 3.06 2.58 2.91 2.34

Investments 7.37 5.49 5.90 6.71 4.04

PP&E1 (net) 23.52 21.74 19.36 24.74 21.31

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 49.87 54.09 59.34 50.19 57.05

Total liabilities 67.30 67.36 67.87 62.06 66.43

Allocated equity 14.14 15.78 17.97 17.83 13.90

Retained earnings 18.56 16.85 14.16 20.11 19.67

Total equity 32.70 32.64 32.13 37.94 33.57

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 94.23 93.15 95.20 94.48 95.55

Gross margin 5.77 6.85 4.80 5.52 4.45

 

Service and other income 1.78 1.87 2.02 2.08 2.14

Gross revenue 7.55 8.71 6.81 7.60 6.59

Expenses 

Wages 2.29 2.96 2.17 2.13 1.93

Depreciation 0.82 0.79 0.70 0.80 0.82

Interest 0.47 0.51 0.37 0.46 0.33

Other 2.55 2.81 1.89 2.33 1.88

Total expenses 6.13 7.07 5.13 5.72 4.97

 

Net operating margins 1.42 1.64 1.68 1.88 1.62

Patronage income 0.40 0.46 0.50 0.44 0.27

Non-operating income 0.06 0.26 0.14 0.16 0.15

Net income before taxes 1.89 2.36 2.31 2.47 2.04

Taxes 0.18 0.26 0.19 0.24 0.20

Net income 1.71 2.11 2.13 2.24 1.85

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.36 1.29 1.22 1.31 1.27

Debt-to-asset 0.67 0.67 0.68 0.62 0.66

Debt-to-equity 2.06 2.06 2.11 1.64 1.98

Retained-earnings-to-equity 56.77 51.64 44.06 52.99 58.60

Equity-to-assets 32.70 32.64 32.13 37.94 33.57

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 65.22 71.10 79.03 76.16 78.16

Return-on-assets 7.68 7.91 7.01 8.98 6.86

Return-on-member-equity 39.45 36.77 30.86 38.39 38.31

 

Extra value index +2 9.26 10.61 11.38 11.56 10.16

Extra value index +5 7.30 8.48 9.01 9.28 7.82

Extra value index +10 4.04 4.92 5.06 5.47 3.91 

 (continued next page)
50 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Grain and oilseed marketing (with less than 25% supply sales)

Cooperative sales size $20 to $15 to $10 to $5 to Less than

$30 million $20 million $15 million $10 million $5 million

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 71.13 71.10 71.63 70.50 61.85

Other assets 1.67 0.78 0.40 4.91 5.98

Investments 5.73 5.31 6.60 4.22 5.53

PP&E1 (net) 21.46 22.81 21.36 20.37 26.64

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 55.74 48.58 51.12 48.25 38.35

Total liabilities 63.48 58.48 58.46 58.74 48.44

Allocated equity 18.87 17.66 22.86 21.98 40.76

Retained earnings 17.65 23.85 18.68 19.28 10.80

Total equity 36.52 41.52 41.54 41.26 51.56

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 94.59 94.87 93.69 94.03 90.53

Gross margin 5.41 5.13 6.31 5.97 9.47

 

Service and other income 2.17 2.49 2.20 2.92 6.80

Gross revenue 7.58 7.62 8.51 8.88 16.27

Expenses 

Wages 2.16 2.23 2.71 3.08 6.23

Depreciation 1.00 0.74 0.85 0.97 1.29

Interest 0.51 0.35 0.33 0.31 0.63

Other 2.21 2.38 3.14 2.85 7.66

Total expenses 5.88 5.70 7.03 7.21 15.81

 

Net operating margins 1.70 1.92 1.48 1.68 0.46

Patronage income 0.41 0.30 0.46 0.16 0.20

Non-operating income 0.28 0.06 0.63 0.08 0.02

Net income before taxes 2.40 2.28 2.57 1.91 0.68

Taxes 0.17 0.24 0.06 0.11 0.05

Net income 2.23 2.04 2.51 1.80 0.63

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.28 1.46 1.40 1.46 1.61

Debt-to-asset 0.63 0.58 0.58 0.59 0.48

Debt-to-equity 1.74 1.41 1.41 1.42 0.94

Retained-earnings-to-equity 48.34 57.45 44.98 46.73 20.96

Equity-to-assets 36.52 41.52 41.54 41.26 51.56

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 82.52 80.74 84.98 79.71 83.63

Return-on-assets 7.11 8.19 7.17 5.18 3.18

Return-on-member-equity 28.91 35.91 27.14 19.12 3.75

 

Extra value index +2 9.97 10.03 10.26 5.84 0.09

Extra value index +5 7.49 7.60 7.71 3.45 -2.42

Extra value index +10 3.36 3.57 3.46 -0.54 -6.60
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 51

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Fish marketing Poultry marketing

Cooperative sales size ≥ $10 $5 to $1 to Less than ≥ $50 < $50 

million $10 million $5 million $1 million million million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 59.09 65.23 60.00 46.64 63.23 60.80

Other assets 8.90 9.60 0.33 0.45 8.68 13.50

Investments 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.09 1.10 0.30

PP&E1 (net) 32.00 25.17 39.68 52.81 26.98 25.39

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 45.46 54.25 42.81 35.42 29.08 36.54

Total liabilities 58.43 60.16 58.29 60.56 40.91 44.90

Allocated equity 30.50 19.31 18.82 38.00 19.50 26.39

Retained earnings 11.07 20.53 22.89 1.45 39.59 28.71

Total equity 41.57 39.84 41.71 39.44 59.09 55.10

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 76.36 82.59 81.87 87.07 86.98 77.94

Gross margin 23.64 17.41 18.13 12.93 13.02 22.06

 

Service and other income 3.08 0.00 0.74 3.14 0.00 2.45

Gross revenue 26.72 17.41 18.87 16.07 13.02 24.51

Expenses 

Wages 12.32 3.20 7.27 7.04 5.77 8.26

Depreciation 1.72 0.42 0.67 0.90 1.01 1.22

Interest 0.63 0.10 0.30 0.48 0.36 0.16

Other 6.95 13.10 8.26 7.54 2.78 12.75

Total expenses 21.62 16.83 16.50 15.96 9.93 22.39

 

Net operating margins 5.10 0.59 2.37 0.11 3.09 2.12

Patronage income 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.09 0.02 0.13

Non-operating income 0.08 0.01 0.09 0.00 0.37 0.05

Net income before taxes 5.18 0.60 2.48 0.20 3.49 2.29

Taxes 0.02 0.03 0.11 0.00 -0.22 0.06

Net income 5.16 0.57 2.37 0.20 3.71 2.23

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.30 1.20 1.40 1.32 2.17 1.66

Debt-to-asset 0.58 0.60 0.58 0.61 0.41 0.45

Debt-to-equity 1.41 1.51 1.40 1.54 0.69 0.81

Retained-earnings-to-equity 26.63 51.53 54.87 3.66 66.99 52.11

Equity-to-assets 41.57 39.84 41.71 39.44 59.09 55.10

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 76.22 87.08 72.93 61.07 83.31 86.83

Return-on-assets 14.13 4.02 19.07 1.67 12.28 5.12

Return-on-member-equity 41.10 17.02 86.48 1.29 60.69 17.70

 

Extra value index +2 20.81 4.69 26.38 -0.99 14.31 4.88

Extra value index +5 18.52 2.08 24.19 -2.82 11.81 2.27

Extra value index +10 14.71 -2.27 20.54 -5.87 7.64 -2.07

 (continued next page)
52 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Livestock marketing

Cooperative sales size ≥ $250 $50 to $10 to $5 to $1 to Less than

million $110 million to $50 million to $10 million to $5 million $1 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 88.71 92.88 78.83 51.73 49.63 63.30

Other assets 0.68 1.66 8.26 17.40 23.23 14.37

Investments 4.10 0.23 0.00 1.29 2.05 0.00

PP&E1 (net) 6.50 5.23 12.91 29.59 25.09 22.34

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 74.01 75.71 70.78 40.32 46.67 50.67

Total liabilities 80.18 82.11 78.98 45.88 52.70 60.41

Allocated equity 9.02 13.29 48.77 20.15 21.73 29.78

Retained earnings 10.81 4.60 -27.75 33.97 25.56 9.81

Total equity 19.82 17.89 21.02 54.12 47.30 39.59

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 99.39 96.07 97.97 92.98 92.08 88.44

Gross margin 0.61 3.93 2.03 7.02 7.92 11.56

 

Service and other income 0.97 2.15 3.26 2.16 3.59 8.10

Gross revenue 1.58 6.08 5.29 9.18 11.51 19.66

Expenses 

Wages 0.86 1.34 2.47 3.80 3.67 10.88

Depreciation 0.05 0.24 0.50 0.89 0.81 1.11

Interest 0.10 0.39 0.55 0.26 0.38 0.51

Other 0.42 1.34 1.75 3.43 5.66 10.51

Total expenses 1.43 3.31 5.27 8.39 10.52 23.01

 

Net operating margins 0.15 2.77 0.03 0.79 0.99 -3.35

Patronage income 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Non-operating income 0.01 0.09 0.17 0.05 0.00 0.90

Net income before taxes 0.19 2.90 0.19 0.84 0.99 -2.45

Taxes 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.00 -0.12

Net income 0.18 2.89 0.17 0.83 0.99 -2.33

Ratios Percent or number

CCurrent 1.20 1.23 1.11 1.28 1.06 1.25

Debt-to-asset 0.80 0.82 0.79 0.46 0.53 0.60

Debt-to-equity 4.04 4.59 3.76 0.85 1.11 1.53

Retained-earnings-to-equity 54.52 25.70 -132.02 62.76 54.05 24.78

Equity-to-assets 19.82 17.89 21.02 54.12 47.30 39.59

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 76.27 73.65 71.94 90.68 88.68 80.26

Return-on-assets 3.86 7.26 2.32 6.96 6.85 -1.86

Return-on-member-equity 27.41 47.94 1.12 26.07 22.67 -7.49

 

Extra value index +2 7.32 24.12 -0.19 6.21 6.70 -6.82

Extra value index +5 5.04 21.91 -2.35 3.49 4.04 -9.23

Extra value index +10 1.22 18.23 -5.94 -1.04 -0.39 -13.24

 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 53

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Dry bean and Nut marketing Biofuels

 pea marketing

Cooperative sales size ≥ $10 < $10 

All sizes million million All sizes

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 81.01 58.14 30.51 39.64

Other assets 0.67 2.94 2.18 8.29

Investments 3.00 1.37 0.37 3.79

PP&E1 (net) 15.32 37.56 66.93 48.28

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 69.09 28.91 25.53 20.96

Total liabilities 73.74 69.04 58.86 32.37

Allocated equity 21.89 21.24 37.01 42.16

Retained earnings 4.37 9.72 4.13 25.46

Total equity 26.26 30.96 41.14 67.63

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 87.78 87.15 71.93 90.63

Gross margin 12.22 12.85 28.07 9.37

 

Service and other income 1.10 0.21 40.25 0.13

Gross revenue 13.32 13.06 68.32 9.50

Expenses 

Wages 4.17 2.48 19.77 1.68

Depreciation 1.18 0.77 10.98 3.45

Interest 0.48 0.57 2.63 0.24

Other 3.19 7.54 22.03 4.18

Total expenses 9.02 11.37 55.41 9.56

 

Net operating margins 4.30 1.69 12.91 -0.06

Patronage income 0.38 0.06 0.04 0.02

Non-operating income 0.23 0.01 0.32 1.52

Net income before taxes 4.92 1.75 13.27 1.49

Taxes 0.16 0.20 0.80 0.40

Net income 4.77 1.55 12.47 1.08

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.17 2.01 1.20 1.89

Debt-to-asset 0.74 0.69 0.59 0.32

Debt-to-equity 2.81 2.23 1.43 0.48

Retained-earnings-to-equity 16.65 31.39 10.05 37.65

Equity-to-assets 26.26 30.96 41.14 67.63

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 84.96 43.54 55.24 85.56

Return-on-assets 8.06 7.54 12.38 3.58

Return-on-member-equity 32.54 23.69 26.23 5.31

 

Extra value index +2 20.61 5.83 11.45 0.39

Extra value index +5 18.06 4.53 9.80 -2.18

Extra value index +10 13.81 2.35 7.03 -6.46

 (continued next page)
54 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Rice marketing Tobacco Wool marketing

 marketing

Cooperative sales size ≥ $50 < $20 

million million All sizes All sizes 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 64.65 58.62 48.63 44.04

Other assets 5.38 26.60 45.31 38.30

Investments 1.09 0.59 0.00 0.41

PP&E1 (net) 28.88 14.18 6.06 17.26

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 43.20 21.44 22.72 20.75

Total liabilities 67.18 32.75 31.95 39.82

Allocated equity 20.96 48.28 12.31 42.26

Retained earnings 11.86 18.97 55.74 17.92

Total equity 32.82 67.25 68.05 60.18

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 76.04 94.91 90.39 77.62

Gross margin 23.96 5.09 9.61 22.38

 

Service and other income 0.99 5.98 0.53 3.60

Gross revenue 24.96 11.08 10.14 25.99

Expenses 

Wages 9.24 2.91 3.39 7.54

Depreciation 1.79 0.34 0.35 0.87

Interest 0.54 0.09 0.75 0.04

Other 12.42 6.09 3.30 17.48

Total expenses 23.99 9.42 7.79 25.92

 

Net operating margins 0.96 1.65 2.35 0.06

Patronage income 0.05 0.02 0.00 0.00

Non-operating income 0.02 0.00 1.76 0.00

Net income before taxes 1.03 1.68 4.11 0.06

Taxes 0.14 0.04 0.04 0.00

Net income 0.89 1.64 4.08 0.06

Ratios Percent or number

CCurrent 1.50 2.73 2.14 2.12

Debt-to-asset 0.67 0.33 0.32 0.40

Debt-to-equity 2.05 0.49 0.47 0.66

Retained-earnings-to-equity 36.13 28.21 81.92 29.78

Equity-to-assets 32.82 67.25 68.05 60.18

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 57.78 85.60 88.05 75.94

Return-on-assets 3.11 8.97 2.65 0.07

Return-on-member-equity 8.39 17.24 18.05 0.11

 

Extra value index +2 1.44 8.15 0.36 -2.11

Extra value index +5 -0.29 5.58 -2.29 -4.39

Extra value index +10 -3.18 1.30 -6.69 -8.19
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 55

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Sugar marketing

Cooperative sales size ≥ $300 $100 to $30 to Less than 

million $300 million $100 million $20 million 

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 45.82 32.61 29.85 72.87

Other assets 14.56 43.71 2.23 10.88

Investments 0.39 1.65 4.13 0.00

PP&E1 (net) 39.23 22.03 63.79 16.25

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 41.55 28.87 22.10 35.20

Total liabilities 65.92 44.77 39.37 42.66

Allocated equity 40.58 17.85 50.42 46.92

Retained earnings -6.50 37.38 10.21 10.42

Total equity 34.08 55.23 60.63 57.34

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of total sales

Total sales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Cost of goods sold 79.93 81.74 69.16 95.69

Gross margin 20.07 18.26 30.84 4.31

 

Service and other income 0.52 0.01 0.06 2.87

Gross revenue 20.60 18.27 30.90 7.18

Expenses 

Wages 8.31 5.98 9.40 0.40

Depreciation 2.32 2.06 2.67 0.05

Interest 0.48 0.48 0.85 0.02

Other 5.96 7.76 15.47 6.01

Total expenses 17.07 16.28 28.39 6.48

 

Net operating margins 3.52 1.99 2.51 0.70

Patronage income 0.01 0.08 0.08 0.00

Non-operating income 0.05 9.18 0.68 0.03

Net income before taxes 3.58 11.25 3.27 0.73

Taxes 0.33 1.06 0.36 0.00

Net income 3.25 10.19 2.91 0.73

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.10 1.13 1.35 2.07

Debt-to-asset 0.66 0.45 0.39 0.43

Debt-to-equity 1.93 0.81 0.65 0.74

Retained-earnings-to-equity -19.06 67.68 16.85 18.17

Equity-to-assets 34.08 55.23 60.63 57.34

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 58.30 77.64 77.84 88.49

Return-on-assets 7.53 13.45 6.20 22.56

Return-on-member-equity 14.84 65.41 8.69 46.57

 

Extra value index +2 8.63 14.19 3.40 31.19

Extra value index +5 6.88 11.86 1.06 28.54

Extra value index +10 3.97 7.98 -2.83 24.11

 (continued next page)
56 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Rice drier Transportation Storage 

Cooperative sales size ≥ $1 < $ 1

All sizes million million All sizes

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 40.15 43.93 55.82 32.95

Other assets 4.57 0.63 8.43 0.02

Investments 0.26 2.25 3.45 0.00

PP&E1 (net) 55.02 53.19 32.30 67.03

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 25.95 21.68 35.60 15.51

Total liabilities 40.55 29.17 43.14 55.68

Allocated equity 54.31 57.20 43.18 36.67

Retained earnings 5.14 13.64 13.69 7.66

Total equity 59.45 70.83 56.86 44.32

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of service

Service and other income 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Gross revenue 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Expenses 

Wages 23.43 32.16 35.00 12.92

Depreciation 8.91 7.27 5.45 4.78

Interest 1.47 0.23 0.48 0.00

Other 35.80 57.36 52.90 27.26

Total expenses 69.62 97.00 93.84 44.97

 

Net operating margins 30.38 3.00 6.16 55.03

Patronage income 0.36 0.33 0.07 0.00

Non-operating income 0.12 0.48 0.04 4.75

Net income before taxes 30.85 3.80 6.27 59.79

Taxes -0.07 0.20 0.00 2.30

Net income 30.92 3.61 6.27 57.49

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.55 2.03 1.57 2.13

Debt-to-asset 0.41 0.29 0.43 0.56

Debt-to-equity 0.68 0.41 0.76 1.26

Retained-earnings-to-equity 8.64 19.25 24.07 17.28

Equity-to-assets 59.45 70.83 56.86 44.32

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 80.29 90.44 88.30 52.46

Return-on-assets 19.15 8.87 10.68 25.10

Return-on-member-equity 33.72 13.89 22.97 65.82

 

Extra value index +2 22.44 7.56 12.88 27.06

Extra value index +5 20.03 4.85 10.23 25.49

Extra value index +10 16.01 0.32 5.81 22.87
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 57

Appendix table 6: Common size analysis, by cooperative type and size, 2012, (continued)

Type of cooperative Hulling Dairy Livestock Fresh Fruit & Farmer 

 Service Service Veg. Service Markets

Cooperative sales size 

All sizes All sizes All sizes All sizes All sizes

Balance sheet Percent of total assets

Current assets 35.08 92.81 51.22 59.24 25.76

Other assets 2.85 7.19 21.81 0.87 5.85

Investments 0.02 0.00 0.00 11.34 0.03

PP&E1 (net) 62.05 0.00 26.97 28.54 68.36

Total assets 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

 

Current liabilities 22.12 25.23 20.61 39.14 17.99

Total liabilities 45.28 25.23 24.12 51.10 43.45

Allocated equity 47.91 70.13 58.31 24.57 15.22

Retained earnings 6.80 4.64 17.58 24.34 41.33

Total equity 54.72 74.77 75.88 48.90 56.55

Total equity and liabilities 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Income statement Percent of service

Service and other income 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Gross revenue 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Expenses 

Wages 11.76 34.70 18.90 34.08 27.31

Depreciation 5.56 0.00 1.80 3.15 6.14

Interest 1.14 0.22 0.53 0.28 3.98

Other 35.71 62.93 74.83 56.46 65.52

Total expenses 54.16 97.85 96.06 93.96 102.95

 

Net operating margins 45.84 2.15 3.94 6.04 4.32

Patronage income 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.85 0.80

Non-operating income 0.92 0.40 0.32 2.37 2.63

Net income before taxes 46.76 2.56 4.26 9.26 7.76

Taxes 0.10 0.93 0.01 0.13 0.77

Net income 46.66 1.63 4.25 9.13 6.99

Ratios Percent or number

Current 1.59 3.68 2.49 1.51 1.43

Debt-to-asset 0.45 0.25 0.24 0.51 0.43

Debt-to-equity 0.83 0.34 0.32 1.04 0.77

Retained-earnings-to-equity 12.44 6.21 23.16 49.76 73.09

Equity-to-assets 54.72 74.77 75.88 48.90 56.55

Adjusted-equity-to-assets 70.26 100.00 95.58 80.35 68.95

Return-on-assets 33.87 0.68 8.00 8.58 7.02

Return-on-member-equity 68.88 0.57 12.20 33.41 27.46

 

Extra value index +2 40.37 -2.33 6.22 11.19 3.12

Extra value index +5 38.26 -5.33 3.36 8.78 1.05

Extra value index +10 34.74 -10.33 -1.42 4.76 -2.39
58 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix Table 7: Cooperative net income before taxes, 2003-20121

 

 

 

 Net operating From other

Year 

 

margins cooperatives2 

 

Total

 Billion dollars

2003 0.77 0.09 0.86

2004 1.72 0.39 2.11

2005 1.91 0.40 2.31

2006 2.38 0.54 2.92

2007 3.18 0.66 3.85

2008 4.01 0.87 4.88

2009 3.24 0.90 4.14

2010 3.59 0.67 4.26

2011 4.80 0.61 5.41

2012 5.20 0.90 6.10

1

 

2

 

 

Totals may not add due to rounding. Excludes income from cooperative pooling operations.

 Dividends and patronage refunds received from other marketing, supply, and service

 cooperatives, and CoBank, where applicable. 
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 59

APPENDIX FIGURES

Appendix Figure 1: Distribution of Cooperatives by Type, 2012

Percentages are based on a total of 2,238 cooperatives.

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

Supply 40.7%

Grain & Oilseed 22.0 %

Fruit & Vegetable 6.4%

Livestock & Poultry 4.4%

Dairy 5.9%

Service 5.4%

Other marketing1

 8.4%

Cotton ginning 6.7%
60 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix Figure 2: U.S. Farms and Cooperative Memberships, 1979-2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

Million

Memberships

Farms

Appendix Figure 3: Distribution of Full-Time Employees by Cooperative Type, 2012

Percentages are based on a total of 129 thousand full-time employees.

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

Livestock & Poultry 1.8%

Dairy 16.3%

Cotton 1.8%

Other marketing1

 5.7%

Service 0.9%

Fruit & Vegetable 10.2%

Grain & Oilseed 16.7 %

Supply 43.1%

Sugar 4.5%

Rice 1.8%
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 61

 Appendix Figure 4: Cooperatives’ Gross and Net Business Volumes, 1979-2012

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

Billion dollars

Gross1

Net2

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

 Appendix Figure 5: Cooperatives’ Net Business Volume, 1979-2012

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2001 2004 2007 2010

1

 Total includes value of related services and other income.

Billion dollars

Total 1

Marketing

Supply
62 Cooperative Statistics, 2012

Appendix Figure 6: Cooperatives’ Investments in Other Cooperatives and 

Patronage Refunds Received From Other Cooperatives,1 2003-2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

1

 Includes other cooperatives and CoBank.

Billion dollars

Investments

Refunds

Appendix Figure 7: Distribution of Net Income Before Taxes, 2012

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Supply

Grain and oilseed

Fruit and vegetable 

Sugar

Dairy

Cotton ginning

Livestock and poultry

Cotton

Service

Rice

Percent of total 

Percentage based on net income before taxes of $6.1 billion. 

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

Other marketing1
Cooperative Statistics, 2012 63

Appendix Figure 8: Distribution of Losses by Cooperative Type, 2012

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Dairy

Supply

Fruit & vegetable

Livestock & poultry

Cotton ginning

Grain & oilseed

Service

Cotton

Sugar

Percent of total 

Percentage based on before taxes losses of $266.5 million. 

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

Other marketing 1