NEWSLINE

Florida's Natural break sales record again!
Record sales for the 10th consecutive year have been announced by Florida's Natural Growers fruit cooperative, based at Lake Wales. Sales for fiscal 2000 were up 10 percent from 1999. The record $605 million sales included an average of 1million cases of juice, or about 3 million gallons boxed and shipped per week, and 23 million cases of citrus processed during the year. The cooperative exports to 40 countries, primarily in Europe, Japan and the Caribbean. The booming sales are related to growing popularity of not from concentrate (NFC) juice, said Steve Caruso, chief executive officer. In June, Florida's Natural completed a $7.2 million purchase of Sun Pac Foods' citrus processing plant in Barrow. It can process 5.5 million boxes of juice annually into frozen concentrate. However, the cooperative will gradually convert it to process NFC juice. The cooperative's 12 grower organizations represent 1,100 grower-owners with more than 60,000 acres of citrus.

Neb. Court backs co-ops on hedge to arrive contracts
The Nebraska Supreme Court has decided unanimously that eight Nebraska farmers who reneged on hedge-to-arrive grain marketing contracts in 1996 will have to pay a total of $2.3 million in damages to two cooperative grain elevators. When grain prices soared in 1996, the farmers sought to void the 1995 contracts they signed with Tri-Valley Cooperative and Great Plains Cooperative. The farmers alleged that the contracts outlined no definitive delivery date ' and that they had the right to defer delivery. The court disagreed, ruling that the farmers had knowingly entered into the contracts that were clear and unambiguous. The court noted the contract contained no provision for indefinitely deferring delivery. Great Plains, because of financial trouble, was forced to merge with Aurora Co-op Elevator. The settlement money will be used to pay off any outstanding debts of Great Plains. Any remaining funds will be divided among former customers. A similar case involving 10 farmers who reneged on their contracts in 1996 with North Central FS, in Hampton, Iowa, is being appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Franklin County District Court awarded the cooperative $3.18 million in damages. Both parties agreed to the amount so it could form the base of the appeal case. Claims against another farmer were dismissed after he and North Central reached a settlement.

Co-op Blend Feed Lines
In a further consolidation of their farm supply businesses, Land O'Lakes and Farmland Industries have formed a joint venture, called Land O'Lakes Farmland Feed LLC, to consolidate all aspects of their feed businesses. Annual feed production will be about 9 million tons and, based on 1999 sales, will have initial sales of about $1.6 billion. The venture will be governed by a management committee having an equal number of representatives from each cooperative. It will be managed under contract by Bob DeGregorio, vice president of the LOL feed division. The venture will create North America's largest live-stock feed company. Products sold will carry current trademarks and brand names used by each cooperative.

USDA fruit buys help TVG
California's Tri Valley Growers (TVG), currently operating under Chapter 11bankruptcy protection, got a boost in the form of $9.1million in canned fruit purchases by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The cans of mixed fruit and peaches were ear-marked for USDA's domestic food assistance programs. The cooperative is buying only 70 percent of its members pear crop, 85 percent of their peaches and 33 percent of their tomatoes due to an unexpected reduction in its operating loan. USDA also has committed to buy tomatoes from TVG to case the financial strain on the cooperative's 500 grower-owners. TVG's three tomato canneries remain shut under the bankruptcy protection program. In a related development, California Canning Peach Association's tree pulling program has removed 1,000 acres of peach trees from production. Members were paid $160 per ton for their average production, with payments capped at $3,500 per acre. The aim was to prevent a glut of peaches on the market, particularly when TVG, the intended fruit recipient, has cut production. The Federal Land Bank Association of Yosemite is providing $8 million in low-interest loans to its borrowers who also are TVG members and to other TVG members who qualify for a loan. TVG will use its $270 million finance package to cover part of the $400 million it owes to more than 1,000 creditors, with the rest used to process fruits and vegetables this season.

Glickman named 'Honored Cooperator'
National Cooperative Business Association has awarded U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman its honored cooperator award. Participating sponsors were CoBank, Land O'Lakes, Kansas Cooperative Council, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Nationwide Insurance. Glickman was cited for his work in promoting and securing resources for cooperative development. Under his leadership, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has increased funding for the Rural Cooperative Development Grants program, thus providing critical help to groups to promote and support new and existing cooperatives.

Southern States expands aquaculture business with NMFS fisheries loan
With an eye toward a greater presence in the food industry, Southern States Cooperative (SSC) at Richmond, Va., has received a $10 million loan to expand its presence in the aquaculture business. The loan came from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Program Director Brian Squyars said SSC "will use most of the money to help farmers finance state-of-the-art closed systems for tilapia production that we have been developing for several years. Construction of a fingerling nursery and a processing plant will account for the rest." Tilapia, also known as St. Peter's fish, is a popular, high-protein, low-fat fish known for its mild, white-meat fillets. NMFS Director Penny Dalton said the SSC program was a way to encourage environmentally sound aquaculture. "About 30 percent of the seafood the world currently consumes is produced through aquaculture. We are looking for ways to encourage U.S. production that expands sources of healthy seafood and also could help ease the strain on wild stocks." The world fish catch in oceans and inland waters has increased more than five-fold since 1950 and reached 93 million tons by the mid-1990s. That demand will rise to an estimated 115 million tons annually by 2010. However, only a small increase in the wild harvest is predicted because many of the world's major fishing grounds are stressed and stocks of fish are over harvested. Aquaculture the controlled
cultivation of finfish, shellfish and aquatic plants will have to take on an expanded role if demand is going to be met in the next decade. SSC currently has 28 independent tilapia grow-out facilities in operation, under construction or on the drawing board in southeast Virginia, northeast North Carolina and southern Georgia. SSC's goal is to expand the program's availability beyond the initial locations as business conditions permit. Though its Farmer's Catch Division, SSC completed the development work Aquaculture can help protect farm income through crop diversification and can supplement incomes threatened by low commodity prices, plummeting demand for tobacco and weather-devastated crop yields. Participating farmers will purchase a 6,000-square-foot production facility that is constructed on a five-acre farm plot. Producers supply labor (about two hours per day) and utilities and are paid part of the wholesale farm-gate price, based on individual contract terms. SSC provides the fingerlings, feed, technical expertise, training, grow-out facilities, insurance and financing plus transportation, harvesting and marketing.

N.Y. grape co-op enters marketing pact
Westfield Maid Grape Cooperative has signed a 25-year marketing agreement with Cliffstar Corporation. All Concord grapes contracted with Westfield will be delivered to Cliffstar, which dominates the private-brand segment of the market. Its sales have almost doubled in the past five years. The president of the 60-year-old cooperative said the corporation's "willingness to commit to both the 25 year contract and to annual price negotiations will be important in stabilizing the Concord grape market." The Westfield cooperative is one of the oldest in the Lake Erie grape belt.

Select Sire Power formed
Higher member returns brought on by reduced duplication and improved markets are expected from the merger of a pair of artificial insemination (AI) cooperatives. Sire Power Inc., Tunkhannock,Pa... has merged with Virginia-North Carolina Select Sires to become Select Sire Power, part of the Select Sires federation based at Plaines, Ohio. The merged cooperative serves producers from New England and New York and along the east coast to Florida. Merger talks began five years ago. "With the fiscal efficiencies we gain, Select Sires will be the most price-competitive A.I. organization," said David Thorgan, Select Sires general manager. "We will be able to lower our collective costs and, in turn, increase returns to our member patrons." The Select Sires federation will offer a 40 percent expansion in sampling capacity, using 360 bulls per year, believed to be the pool largest in the United States.

Lamb co-op conducts equity drive
Having completed a business plan markets for premium and natural lamb, Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative embarked on an equity drive in three states in September. The cooperative will hire a chief executive officer and begin selling lamb products in niche markets. The cooperative attracted 126 grower-members from North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana when it formed in April of 1999. Each initially invested $100 to become members. North Dakota's Agricultural Products Utilization Commission, area banks and other organizations also have made contributions.

NorthStar expands services
NorthStar (dairy herd improvement) Cooperative Inc., at Lansing, Mich., will expand services to new Wisconsin members following a favorable merger vote by the Fox Valley DHI Co-op, Appleton, Wis. Mike Bills, NorthStar general manager, said the majority vote "showed their strong support in these organizations becoming more value-driven. We feel this continues to build on our long-term strategic vision of being a total service provider to our owners." Fox Valley had about 300 members and Operated a milk analysis lab which will now serve NorthStar customers. Fox Valley customers will be issued one share of voting , common stock or 20 shares of non-voting preferred stock To be eligible for either stock offering, a Fox Valley member must use the association's services,, including DIE testing, for another year. Those qualifying will be issued stock on June 1, 2001. Meanwhile, BioStar Research, a subsidiary of NorthStar, is working to develop a complete animal health testing program. NorthStar is one of 10 regional cooperative members of the Select Sires federation. In another development, North Star has been approved by the American Embryo Transfer Association to export embryos internationally, with no restrictions.

Frozen dough co-op boosts production
An industrial line of equipment installed at Value-Added Products, Iva, Okla., has increased its production capacity from 3,000 pizza crusts per day to 4,400 per hour. Plans are being made to add a third shift by the end of the year and to increase employment to 70 people. The agribusiness is owned by 750 wheat producers and investors and uses wheat for the pizza crusts.

Pasta plant lender named
Farm Credit Services (FCS) of North Dakota has been named as lead lender for Semolina Specialties, a cooperative planning to buy a pasta plant at Crosby, N.D. The cooperative will make specialty shaped and flavored pasta. FCS will disseminate information, prepare papers and maintain open lines of communication between the company and lending agency. FCS has been a lender for other value-added cooperatives throughout its operating territory. Half of the needed funds will come from member stock purchases and the rest from local lenders, with help from state and federal government agencies. USDA Rural Development is providing an 80-percent loan guarantee.

Caspers named interim leader at Minn-Dak
Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative has appointed Steve Caspers as interim president following the retirement of Larry Steward, the cooperative's president and chief executive officer since 1990. Caspers has been executive vice president and chief financial officer since 1985. He joined Minn-Dak in 1974 as an accounting supervisor. He is also president of Minn-Dak Yeast Co. and serves on the boards of United Sugars Corporation and Midwest Agri-Cooperatives. The two marketing cooperatives are owned by Minn-Dak and other cooperatives. Krabbenhoft has appointed a committee of directors to search for permanent president candidates.

Glenn Webb (left) receives Cooperative Hall of Fame Award from Growmark CEO Bill Davisson at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.







Diamond of California walnut products were a popular item on the athletes' menu at the Sydney Olympics and will also be featured in foods served at the upcoming winter games in Salt Lake City.






Diamond buys Berner nut
Diamond of California, the Stockton-based walnut marketing cooperative, has purchased Berner Nut Co. of Illinois. The purchase is expected to add $50 million to the cooperative's fiscal 2001sales. The pact makes Diamond the nation's leader for in-shell nut sales to consumers. Meanwhile, plenty of Diamond's walnuts were present at the summer Olympic games in Australia, just as there will be at future Olympic games through 2004. A spokesman for the Salt Lake Olympics Committee, hosting the 2002 winter Olympic games, said Diamond products would figure prominently in the recipes five dozen chefs will use in preparing meals for the athletes, sponsors and spectators.

Kelley succeeds Webb as Growmark president
Glenn Webb, chairman of the board and president of Growmark Inc., Bloomington, Ill., and a strong advocate of cooperative education, has retired, ending his nearly 20-year tenure as a Grow-mark officer. He will continue to remain active on the boards of CoBank and Archer Daniels Midland. In April, Webb was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. Dan Kelley, a grain farmer from Normal, Ill., was elected to succeed Webb as chairman and president for a one-year term. Kelly has been on the board since 1995 and was one of two vice chairmen for the past two years. He earlier served as a director of Evergreen FS Inc., a Growmark member company, and as a director at First Farm Credit Services of Bloomington, and as chairman of Agribank FCB at St Paul, Minn. He has also been active in the Ag Guild of Illinois, a group of farmers seeking ways to capture added value from the commodities they produce. Kelley farms 2,080 acres. Growmark showed a dramatic business turnaround during fiscal 2000. It will pay $10 million in cash and stock patronage to its member co-ops. Estimated after-tax earnings were $10 million, a major improvement on the 1999 loss of $9.9 million, caused by the depressed farm economy and the lowest commodity prices in 20 to 30 years. The change was attributed to cutting overhead costs by $13.8 million since 1998, as well as to operating improvements and increased sales of $180 million to reach $1.3 billion. The cooperative's business strategy is to increase sales $500 million over the next five years. Toward that goal, Grow-mark has expanded with agronomy and energy sales beyond its traditional territory of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ontario into Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Grain division volume was up 5.6 percent, focusing on specialty programs aimed as both processing and export markets. For the 14th consecutive year, MIDCO Commodities, a hedging and market advisory service for member companies, will pay $625,000 in patronage refunds based on increased earnings of $974,000.

Riceland completes trade with Iraq
Riceland Foods Inc., at Stuttgaart, Ark., sold 1 million bushels of rice valued at $5 million to Iraq in a food-for-crude exchange. It was the first American rice sent to Iraq since international sanctions were imposed a decade ago. The cooperative recently shipped 20 tons of rice to Guantanamo, Cuba, to help residents suffering from a drought. Dick Bell, Riceland's president and chief executive officer, said that in addition to helping people with a food shortage, the shipment will help the cooperative if trade restrictions against Cuba are lifted. In other Riceland news, K. Daniel Kennedy has been named the new executive vice president and chief operating officer. He will focus on the day-to-day operations of the cooperative. Most recently he was vice president of North American markets at Monsanto Co.

LOL, DFA join Dairy.Com
Two major dairy marketing cooperatives, Dairy Farmers of America and Land O'Lakes Inc., are among initial investors in the new Internet website called Dairy.com, to be used for trading milk within the dairy industry. The business-to-business exchange is expected to lower costs by bringing widespread buyers and sellers together and reducing paper-work. The exchange is slated to open April 1, 2001, with live trading of milk, cream and other commodities. Although the founding members are financing the startup, the exchange will be open to any producer or dairy industry company. The group is looking for a chief executive officer for the business. A headquar-ters site has yet to be selected.

Blue Anchor closing operations
One of California's oldest fresh fruit cooperatives, Blue Anchor Inc. at Sacramento, is closing its operations. It cited a declining grower base, dwindling fruit volume and continued consolidation pressure on the retail and supply side of the produce industry. Blue Anchor, which will shut down within a few months, was formed in 1901 as the California Fruit Exchange by several Sacramento tree fruit growers. The closure will not affect Mayflower TCLA, of Exeter, Calif., a fruit marketing cooperative that had an alliance with Blue Anchor.


California co-op/community parley slated
The University of California's Center for Cooperatives will sponsor its annual cooperative and communities conferences Nov. 17-18 at Preservation Park in Oakland. The program is aimed at both experienced and new cooperators who will share cooperative success stories. Conference topics will cover director education, accredited legal courses and innovations in cooperative development. For further information, check the center's web site: http://cooperatives.ucdavis.edu.

DFA returns $20 million in equity
A $20 million equity-retirement package including $10 million to fully retire the equities of 9,300 inactive members of predecessor cooperatives has been announced by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the nation's largest dairy cooperative. Those equities covered marketing with the cooperatives before 1991. DFA created by the consolidation of four regional dairy marketing cooperatives began operating on Jan.1,1998. Charles Beckendorf, chairman of the DFA finance committee and a dairyman from Tomball, Texas, said the new cooperative wanted to return equity of former members in a timely manner so that present equity is supplied by active members. The board's modified equity plan calls, for all inactive accounts to be paid in the 10th year following last activity in the account. Those who last shipped milk in 1991 can expect full payment of equity accounts by next August. Those with accounts less than 10 years old may apply for early redemption at a discounted rate. Last year, DFA's 24,000 dairy farmer-members in 45 states marketed 43 billion pounds of milk which generated sales totaling $7.5 billion.

Ocean Spray gets boost from USDA
In an effort to bolster a cranberry industry sagging under crop surpluses and falling prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has purchased 5.5 million pounds of cranberry sauce from Ocean Spray Cranberries cooperative at a cost of $2 million. The cranberry sauce will be distributed to the nation's schools, food banks and other programs that feed the poor. In the face of over-production, USDA has ordered growers to cut production or dump 15 percent of the crop this fall to stabilize prices. A spokesman for the 804-member Ocean Spray cooperative said the real pressure will be on the cooperative to increase demand through its own efforts. Prices paid to growers have plummeted to $11 per barrel from $60 two years ago.

Sunkist sells Argentine lemons
Sunkist Growers has agreed to market about 400,000 cartons of Argentine lemons in the United States this year. The fruit is coming from two principal growers who have given Sunkist exclusive marketing rights in the United States, said Sunkist President Victor Lupinacci. Al Williams, chairman of the 6,500-member cooperative, said the purchase was essential for Sunkist to continue meeting challenges and opportunities in the global market. The California-Arizona citrus industry will produce an estimated 20 million cartons of lemons in the U.S. this year.

Allied Seed buys Agribiotech
Future supplies of legumes, forages and turfgrasses for cooperative members of Southern States, Tennessee Farmers and Agway Inc., have been assured by the purchase of certain assets of a bankrupt Nevada firm. The cooperatives and a group of former employees of Allied Seed Cooperative recently formed Allied Seed LLC. It purchased seed processing facilities in Idaho and Wyoming owned by Agribiotech Inc. of Henderson, Nev. These facilities can handle about 230 million pounds of product annually. Allied Seed President Dave McWilliams says research is constantly, developing new varieties of forages and turf seeds. Although new equipment will be installed in the Idaho plant, Allied Seed is already operating.

A Creed for Cooperative Members
Editor's note: This set of guidelines outlines how members should react to their cooperatives. It was popularized by the late Dr. Joseph Knapp in 1963 while administrator of USDA's Farmer Cooperative Service. It is appropriate to review them again during this year's National Co-op Month observance. Consider sharing this creed with members in your cooperative's publication:
Potato growers OK dividend
The board of directors of Maine Potato Growers (MPG) Inc., has approved a patronage dividend payment of $200,000 to its members. They will receive a dividend equal to 1.4 percent of their purchases from MPG during fiscal 2000. The dividend will be made in a combination of cash and Class A stock. Dividend payments of $300,000 will be paid to shareholders and grower-members. Formed in 1932, the cooperative serves the needs of Maine potato and blueberrv growers.

Catfish processors merge
Two catfish processors looking for more market power have merged to form Fresh Aquaculture LLC, to be headquartered in Hollandale, Miss. Farm Fresh Catfish Inc. merged with Farmland Catfish Processing Inc. John Gentry, Farm Fresh chief executive, will be president of the new company. The company may also consider raising other species of farm-raised fish or shrimp. The Farmland Catfish cooperative serves catfish growers in the Mississippi Delta. The joint venture will operate out of a Farmland Catfish plant at Hollandale. Farm Fresh has four other plants in the Delta.

Consolidated Beef forming
Feedlots and individual producers from Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico have agreed to join the new Consolidated Beef Producers, a marketing cooperative based at Amarillo, Texas. Chairman Paul Hitch, Guymmon, Okla., said the group seeks to match the market clout of the four major meatpackers by securing rights to market about one-fourth of the fed cattle sold in Texas each year. Facing an Oct.1 deadline, the cooperative planned to have 1.5 million head of cattle enrolled and to begin marketing soon thereafter. Organizers recently discussed their marketing plans to gain higher prices with the Nebraska Cattlemen's Feedlot Council. Traditional cattle sales have only generated average prices, Hitch said, even for quality beef cattle. He said the cooperative seeks to enroll members to improve their bargaining power by selling more cattle instead of smaller lots. He said the cooperative wanted to get the best price by matching cattle to specifications meatpackers prefer.


AGP is the largest farmer-owned soybean processing cooperative in the world. AGP is also one of the four largest U.S. soybean crushing systems and one of the three largest vegetable oil refiners. AGP buys soybeans from its owners over 280 cooperatives and it processes over 15,000 acres of soybeans every day. AGP markets soybean meal, soy oil, value-added products, and grains domestically and internationally. AGP also is a leading advocate of renewable fuels, producing and marketing both ethanol and biodiesel. Ask your local cooperative about AGP or visit us at www.agp.com.

AGP ad wins Plaudits: This advertisement developed by Ag Processing Inc, an Omaha-based soybean processing cooperative, won first place honors from the Cooperative Communicators Association for the Powerful, succinct message it relates regarding the "cooperative difference" of member-owned businesses.

Correction:
The article on the 65th anniversary of the Rural Electrification Administration in the July/August issue said that the REA was initially part of USDA. Actually, the executive order, signed on May 11, 1935, created REA as an independent agency. When the permanent legislation was passed into law May 23, 1936, it continued the REA as an independent agency of the federal government. REA was placed under USDA in 1939 as a result of the Government Reorganization Act of 1939. With the advent of World War II, REA headquarters was moved to St. Louis in 1942.




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