MANAGEMENT TIP


How Does Your Local Farm Supply Cooperative Rate?


By Beverly L. Rotan
Economist
USDA Rural Development
Rural Business-Cooperative Service

ith farm commodity prices severely depressed and thousands of producers all across the nation struggling for their economic survival, most farmers could improve their odds by belonging to financially strong marketing and supply cooperatives to add some certainty to an uncertain world. But a cooperative is not a panacea, and managers and directors need to constantly monitor all aspects of the cooperative operation to make certain it is returning a good value to its members. One way to measure the success of your farm supply cooperative is to compare it with the performance of cooperatives with similar functions during the past year. Was its performance higher, lower or about the same as the average of a cross section of local farm cooperatives with similar factors? The two tables below contain average financial data compiled from a survey. of 329 cooperatives for 1997 and 1998. These include trend and industry norm comparisons. Fill in the blanks and compare these benchmarks with your cooperative's financial data. So how is your cooperative doing?



























































































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