 | |
| No other organizations reflect the American ideals
of democracy and self-help as do cooperatives. Their success,
importance, and beneficial impact on the American economy testify to the
role they play in all of our lives.
Cooperatives incorporate the ideals which drive the most successful
economy in history. Over 100 million Americans own and control more than
47,000 cooperative businesses that provide goods and services in every
economic sector.
Cooperatives provide essential services to the American economy with
benefits for consumers, producers, and small businesses in urban and
rural America. They range in size from small buying clubs to
Fortune 500 companies.
Cooperatives are member owned and democratically controlled
enterprises created and used by their member-owners to provide goods and
services. Members unite in a cooperative to get services otherwise not
available, to get quality supplies at the right time, to have access to
markets, or for other mutually beneficial reasons.
Cooperatives exist not to generate a profit for themselves or outside
investors, as do other businesses, but rather to provide goods and
services at competitive prices. Profits--or net income--is distributed
to members (patrons, as they are called) in the form of patronage
refunds.
Cooperative Principles and Business
Characteristics
 |
A
cooperative is a user owned and controlled business in which
benefits are distributed according to a member’s use of it. Three
principles distinguish cooperatives from general corporations:
 |
user-owner |
|
user-control |
|
user-benefits |
|
|
The
user-owner principle means the people who use the cooperative own
and finance the business. Cooperatives are financed by members
purchasing stock, paying membership fees, or accepting self-imposed
assessment on products purchased and/or sold or fees for services.
In some cooperatives, members reinvest their earnings (profits) to
capitalize the business.
|
|
User-control
stems from the majority of the customers being members who are also
responsible for selecting the members of the board of directors. As
representatives of the members, the directors are responsible for
setting policy and providing oversight on all the cooperative’s
business practices.
|
|
User-benefits
provide that the cooperative’s primary purpose is to distribute
benefits to members. Distribution of these benefits is based on
members’ use of the cooperative, not on the amount of capital they
have invested.
|
Cooperatives: an Integral Part of the American Economy
[updated 4/7/11]
[facts
provided by the National Cooperative Business Association unless
indicated otherwise]
|
More
than 29,000 cooperatives operate in every sector of the economy and
in every congressional district; Americans hold over 350 million
co-op memberships. |
|
U.S.
cooperatives generate 2 million jobs and make a substantial
contribution to the U.S. economy with annual sales of $652 billion
and possessing assets of $3 trillion. |
|
The
majority of our country's 2 million farmers are members of the nearly
2,400 farmer-owned cooperatives. They provide over 123,000
jobs nationally. [USDA Rural Development Cooperative
Statistics 2009] |
|
These
farmer owned cooperatives have a net business volume of over $147
billion annually. [USDA Rural Development Cooperative
Statistics 2009] |
|
Over
7,500 credit unions provide financial services to 91 million U.S.
consumers. |
|
More
than 900 rural electric co-ops deliver electricity to more than 42
million people in 47 states. This makes up 42% of the nation's
electric distribution lines and covers 75% of our country's land
mass. |
|
Approximately 233 million people are served by insurance companies
owned by or closely affiliated with co-ops. |
|
Food
co-ops have been innovators in the areas of unit pricing, consumer
protection, organic and bulk foods and nutritional labeling. |
|
More
than 50,000 families in the U.S. use cooperative day care centers,
giving co-ops a crucial role in the care of our children. |
|
About
1.2 million rural Americans in 31 states are served by the 260
telephone cooperatives. |
|
In the
U.S., more than 1.2 million families of all income levels live in
homes owned and operated through cooperative associations.
|
Nebraska Cooperatives
 Cooperative
businesses in Nebraska operate in marketing, farm supply, and service
areas. The most common types are agricultural marketing and supply
cooperatives.
Marketing cooperatives
engage in a broad range of activities for farmer members including:
bargaining, grading, transporting, processing, distribution, research,
and product development. Marketing cooperatives derive at least half
their business volume from the sale or processing of farm products.
Supply cooperatives provide farmers with production supplies and
products such as fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, fuels and propane,
seeds, feed, and others. Supply cooperatives also provide building
supplies, packaging supplies, farm machinery and equipment, animal
health products, automotive supplies, food, and hardware.
Service cooperatives provide specialized business services related to
agricultural business operations of farmers, ranchers, or cooperatives
such as trucking, storing, drying, artificial insemination, financing,
electric and telephone services, communications, insurance, livestock
marketing, and others.
In addition to the local cooperatives in many Nebraska communities,
regional cooperatives also operate in Nebraska. They provide farm
supplies at wholesale to local cooperatives, marketing and processing
opportunities for crop and livestock production, services to local
cooperatives and direct to owner-users, and other functions. Federated
regional cooperatives are owned by the local cooperatives to which they
provide services and/or farm supplies and marketing opportunities.
Centralized regional cooperatives are owned directly by producers or
their customers, while still other regionals are owned by a combination
of individual customers and local cooperatives.
Regional cooperative members operating in Nebraska include:
|
Ag
Processing Inc. |
|
Associated
Milk Producers, Inc. |
|
CHS
Inc. |
|
CoBank |
|
Dairy
Farmers of America, Inc. |
|
Farm
Credit Services of America |
|
Four
Points Federal Credit Union |
|
Growmark,
Inc. |
|
Land
O'Lakes |
|
Producers
Livestock Marketing Association |
|
Nebraska
Rural Radio Association [KRVN/KNEB/KTIC] |
|
Nebraska Ag Facts of Interest
[updated 11/2010]
Nebraska cooperatives are a significant factor in the agricultural industry and
the economy of the state. Examples of their impact are as follows:
| As of October 2010, cooperatives are operating 413 branch locations
across the state providing much needed jobs and services in our most rural
communities. |
| As of October 2010, cooperatives employ over 5,100 individuals across
the state. |
| As of October 2010, over 64,500 farmers and ranchers are voting members
of Nebraska cooperatives |
| In 2009, ag supply and marketing cooperatives paid out a collective total
of $55 million in patronage refunds to members. In addition, over
$14 million was paid out in members equity/estate redemption. |
| Nebraska ag supply and marketing cooperatives invested over $78 million in
new facilities and equipment in 2009. |
| These cooperatives paid over $9 million in property taxes and $9 million
in income taxes in 2009. |
|
