COMMENTARY
A link to the past, present and future
What came first, the chicken or the
egg? What is the meaning of life? Why,
after 75 years, is Rural Cooperatives
magazine still here?
Of these three universal questions, I
can hazard a theory only regarding the
last. The short answer is, of course, that
the magazine is still here because you
are still there.
To the surprise, and occasional
vexation, of those critics who have long
predicted the demise of the nation’s
cooperative business sector, co-ops are
not only still here, but still alive and
kicking; they are thriving and expanding
into both traditional and new market
niches. Co-ops are constantly changing
and rearranging themselves to meet the
challenges that walk hand-in-hand with
opportunity.
Whether it’s a farmer-owned co-op
finding new ways to add value to its
members’ crops, a rural utility co-op
developing renewable energy sources or
a Farm Credit System co-op working
overtime to keep the financial lifeblood
flowing to its members, co-ops are still
getting the job done.
If nothing else, it is our hope that
each issue of this journal helps to turn
the spotlight on just how innovative,
flexible and enduring the co-op business
model is. Whether the magazine has
had something to do with the continued
viability of the nation’s cooperatives, we
can only hope. We’ve certainly tried. By
“we,” I refer to all the past and present
editors, writers, ag economists and other
staff members at USDA who have
contributed to the magazine, as well as
all of those in co-op and academic
circles who have so graciously allowed
us to print their work.
It is almost startling how these skinny
little journals have piled up over 75
years. The shelf space occupied by just
the past 50 years or so of bound
volumes of the magazine is about the
same expanse of board feet needed to
house a major encyclopedia.
Most of the issues from the first four
or five years of the publication in the
1930s have been lost, and those that
remain — pulled from dusty envelopes
in the basement at USDA’s headquarters
— are yellow and brittle.
Resurrecting words and images from
so long ago, knowing that many of the
authors have long since passed away,
added a touch of melancholy to the task.
But it was also fun to give another
“ride” to Robert Amundson’s warning
from 1936 about not wasting members’
time with unnecessary meetings, and
scanning Tom Pritchard’s cover
illustration from 1952, then colorizing it
to grace our cover again a half century
later.
Skimming through random samples
to compile the retrospective that begins
on page 20, one gets a keen sense of the
struggles, hopes and commitment
poured into cooperatives by generation
after generation of members. It was also
sobering to read an article from the
1930s talking about the desperate need
for improved cooperative education, and
realizing that the same article could be
run today.
Which brings us to the moral of this
little history lesson. Rural Cooperatives
has always been geared as a “leadership”
publication, meaning it has been aimed
at a small, select target audience: the movers and shakers of the co-op world,
rather than anything remotely
approaching a mass-circulation
audience.
Much of this is due to simple
logistics: printing and mailing a copy of
the magazine to 2 million U.S. farmers
(not to mention tens of millions of rural
utility co-op members) would be cost
prohibitive. But with the advent of the
Internet, and the fact that the majority
of farmers and other rural people are
now Web savvy, there is no reason Rural
Cooperatives can’t reach a mass audience.
So, we are marking our 75th birthday
with a new campaign, asking that co-ops
and co-op associations help us tell the
co-op story by posting on their Websites
this link to our magazine Website:
www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/openmag.
htm. If you e-mail dan.campbell@wdc.
usda.gov, we’ll even send you a nifty
miniature of the magazine cover to use
as your link.
In addition to the latest issue, you can
also read the past 10 years of magazines
on our Website. We also urge you to let
your members (especially board and
committee members) and key employees
know that it only takes one minute to
sign up for a free electronic subscription
by visiting: www.rdlist.sc. egov.usda.gov.
Again, special thanks on this
anniversary to all of you in the co-op
community — both in America and
around the world — who have
contributed your words and pictures
over the years, making Rural Cooperatives
a true cooperative effort.
— By Dan Campbell, editor
