Contact: La Jaycee Brown, (202) 720-9741
ljbrown@rdmail.rural.usda.gov
Dan Campbell, (202) 720-6483
dcampbel@rurdev.usda.gov
Business Volume, Income Decline for Farmer Co-ops in 1998
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 1999 -- Business volume of the nation’s farmer-owned cooperatives declined to $104.4 billion in 1998, down from $106.7 billion in 1997, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today. Business volume includes gross receipts from the sale of crops, livestock, farm supplies and services collected by the nation’s 3,651 farmer cooperatives.
Farmer cooperatives’ net income of $1.7 billion in 1998 was down from $2.3 billion in 1997. That’s the lowest income level since 1993 and well off the income record of $2.36 billion set in 1995, according to data compiled by USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Lower profit margins for farm supplies, poultry and sugar were major factors that caused the income decline. Losses suffered by a number of cooperatives also hurt the overall income performance.
Crop and livestock marketing receipts dropped nearly 1.5 percent, farm supply sales declined 3.8 percent and service receipts and other income fell 3.5 percent in 1998. Among the major products marketed, grain and oilseed business volume dropped the most (13.6 percent), due to significantly lower prices.
The drop in farm supply sales was due mainly to lower prices for livestock feed, petroleum and fertilizer. Feed sale receipts alone dropped 10.4 percent from 1997. Farm supply cooperatives had net income of $578.8 million, down nearly 31 percent.
Farm marketing cooperatives (those that sell crops, livestock and value-added products for their members) also suffered a steep, 22.5-percent decline in net income. Fruit/vegetable, poultry and sugar cooperatives all suffered significant income drops. Bucking the trend were dairy co-ops, which posted a 21-percent income gain. Net income for grain and oilseed cooperatives increased 1 percent despite substantially smaller sales volume.
The number of U.S. agricultural cooperatives dropped to 3,651, down from 3,791 in 1997, reflecting the changing structure of agriculture. Mergers, consolidations, acquisitions and dissolutions resulted in a loss of 195 cooperatives. However, 55 cooperatives were added to the list in 1998.
Memberships in farmer cooperatives totaled 3.35 million in 1998, down 2.1 percent from 1997. The number of memberships was larger than the number of farmers in the United States because many farmers belong to more than one cooperative.
Cooperatives employed 173,782 full-time employees in 1998, up from 172,199 in 1997.
Editor's note: Three tables are included below which provide cooperative income and sales data:
Table 1--Farmer Cooperatives' Net Business Volume, 1998 and 1997
Table 2--Farmer Cooperatives' Net Income, 1998 and 1997
Table 3--Farmer Cooperative Numbers and Memberships, 1998
Table 1--FARMER COOPERATIVES' NET BUSINESS VOLUME, 1998 AND 1997(1)
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Net business volume(2)
Commodity or function ***************************
1998 1997
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Million dollars
Products marketed:
Cotton 2,961 3.004
Dairy 25,324 23,374
Fruits and vegetables 9,423 9,268
Grains and oilseeds(3) 21,295 24,639
Livestock and poultry 9,555 9,578
Rice 932 930
Sugar(4) 2,445 2,284
Other products(5) 4,737 4,765
Total 76,671 77,843
Supplies sold:
Crop protectants 3,163 3,125
Feed 5,367 5,988
Fertilizer 5,161 5,371
Petroleum 6,420 6,756
Seed 730 702
Other supplies(6) 3,384 3,238
Total farm supplies 24,226 25,181
Related-services and other income:(7) 3,520 3,647
Total 104,418 106,670
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(1) Preliminary. Totals may not add due to rounding.
(2) Excludes intercooperative business. Volume includes value of products
associated with cooperatives that operate on a commission basis or
bargain for members' products.
(3) Excludes cottonseed.
(4) Revised for 1997.
(5) Includes dry edible beans and peas, fish, nuts, tobacco, wool and other
miscellaneous products.
(6) Includes building materials, containers, hardware,
tires-batteries-accessories (TBA), farm machinery and equipment,
food and other supplies.
(7) Includes trucking, ginning, storage, artificial insemination, rice
drying and other.
Table 2--FARMER COOPERATIVES' NET INCOME, 1998 AND 1997(1)
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Total net income(2)
Cooperative type ***************************
1998 1997
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Million dollars
Marketing:
Cotton 64.0 67.7
Dairy 447.2 369.7
Fruit and vegetable 76.9 189.7
Grain and oilseed 441.4 437.0
Livestock and poultry -71.2 191.4
Rice 7.3 7.3
Sugar -12.1 -2.0
Other marketing(3) 64.0 52.5
Total 1,017.5 1,313.3
Farm supply 578.8 834.6
Related-service(4) 146.0 166.5
Total 1,742.3 2,314.4
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(1) Preliminary.
(2) Net income less losses and before income taxes.
(3) Includes dry edible bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool, fish and
miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
(4) Includes trucking, cotton gins, storage, artificial
insemination, rice driers and other service cooperatives.
Table 3--FARMER COOPERATIVE NUMBERS AND MEMBERSHIPS, 1998(1)
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Cooperative type Cooperatives(2) Memberships
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Number 1,000
Marketing:
Cotton(3) 15 41
Dairy 228 93
Fruit and vegetable 249 44
Grain and oilseed 964 729
Livestock and poultry 98 198
Rice 17 13
Sugar 52 16
Other marketing(4) 240 265
Total 1,863 1,398
Farm supply 1,347 1,774
Related-service(5) 441 181
Total 3,651 3,353
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(1) Preliminary. Totals may not add due to rounding.
(2) Operations of many cooperatives are multiproduct and multifunctional.
They are classified in most cases according to predominant commodity or
function as indicated by business volume.
(3) Cooperative cotton gins included with related-service cooperatives.
(4) Includes dry edible bean and pea, nut, tobacco, wool, fish, and
miscellaneous marketing cooperatives.
(5) Includes cooperatives that primarily provide trucking, cotton ginning,
storage, artificial insemination, rice drying and services related to
marketing of farm products and/or sale of farm supplies.
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