Cooperative Strategy

  • Cooperative Farm Bargaining and Price Negotiation
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/BCP_cir26-main.pdf
      • This article serves as a guide to growers organizing a bargaining association and covers the need for: farm bargaining; legal background; history; how they work; types of bargaining associations; how they are organized, managed and operated; planning, strategy, and tactics; and the future of farm bargaining. It also provides samples of memberships and marketing agreements and a discussion of related legislation in various states.
      • CIR 26. 194 pgs. Reprinted 1988. Ralph B. Bunje.
      • Library ID Number: 2719
  • Strategic Planning Systems of Large Farmer Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr103.pdf
      • This report describes the methods, procedures, and functional relationships that make up the strategic planning systems of four large farmer cooperatives. Case study analysis of the cooperatives indicates the existence of well-developed, comprehensive, and active strategic planning systems. Strategic planning methods or components stressed by the cooperatives include: mission or vision statements; situation/environmental assessment; development of goals and/or objectives and corresponding strategies; implementation programs, projects, or action plans; and strategic planning feedback.
      • James J. Wadsworth
      • Library ID Number: 2912
  • Local Cooperatives’ Role in the Identity-Preserved Grain Industry
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/RR181.pdf
      • This study examines how locally owned cooperatives have responded to the transition from commodity to identity preserved grain marketing. Survey results showed locals’ overall commitment to identity preserved grains was determined more by a cultural receptivity to innovation than differences in priorities among grain, feed, and general managers.
      • Julie A Hogeland, 2001
      • Library ID Number: 5588
  • Strategic Planning Handbook for Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/cir48.pdf
      • This handbook discusses ways to facilitate strategic planning in a cooperative. Facilities, personnel, and equipment associated with the process are described along with rules for conducting brainstorming sessions. The five phases of strategic planning are described in detail. These include agreeing to plan, gathering and evaluating facts, defining the plan, and evaluating results.
      • CIR 48. 32 pgs. 1994. (Slightly revised 1995). Jerry Namken and Galen W. Rapp.
      • Library ID Number: 2813
  • Farmers’ Buying and Selling Patterns: Implications for Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr73.pdf
      • This research analyzes farm characteristics and other factors that affect the buying and selling behavior of farmers. Information for 1986 was obtained from 2,537 farmers in the Midwest and Southeast. The major finding is that behavior of farmers does not vary greatly by size and type of farm. However, understanding some of these differences provides the basis for better service and increased patronage.
      • Library ID Number: 2385
  • Designing Membership Structures for Large Agricultural Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr75.pdf
      • This study develops strategies that large agricultural cooperatives can use to improve their membership structures. Design principles from organizational theory are adapted to apply to the membership structures of cooperatives. Eight case studies of agricultural cooperatives illustrate the membership structures of diverse types of agricultural cooperatives. The study concludes that case cooperatives who have implemented strategies consistent with organizational design principles provide effective mechanisms for member control.
      • Research Report 73. Emerson Babb.
      • Library ID Number: 2386
  • Section 10; Strategic Planning
  • Strategic Planning: A Conceptual for Small and Midsize Farmer Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr112.pdf
      • Strategic planning, a decision-making and planning tool, can be used to enhance cooperative operations and probability of success. Basic elements and attributes are described. This report presents information on how strategic planning can be implemented as a system or process in small or midsize cooperatives. Basic elements and attributes are defined and described in the context of cooperative organizational structure.
      • Research Report 112. 19 pgs. 1993. James Wadsworth, James Staiert and Beverly Rotan.
      • Library ID Number: 2890
  • Agricultural Cooperatives in the 21stCentury
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/publications/CIR-60.pdf
      • This report identifies challenges and opportunities facing farmer cooperatives in the years ahead and offers strategies to increase their chances for success. The external forces besetting cooperatives are examined as are their internal strengths and weaknesses. Priority issues are identified that cooperative members, leaders and advisers need to address. No easy solutions are provided, because there are none. Hopefully this report will serve as a catalyst for further thought and discussion on how farmer cooperatives can enhance income and quality of life for their members.
      • Library ID Number: 6513
  • Agribusiness Cooperatives in the 21stCentury
    • http://www.agribusiness-mgmt.wsu.edu/ExtensionNewsletters/coop/AgribusCoop21stCentury.pdf
      • Most cooperatives in existence today are creatures of the 20th century. You can trace their origins to a multitude of economic factors or needs. That these organizations remain viable today is proof that they continue to fulfill such a need and perform some economically valuable function. But “times are changing” and the 21st century looms precariously near. Those economic factors, which have contributed towards cooperatives’ past and current success may or may not be evident in the next century. This paper has reviewed the historical bases for cooperative formation and existence. Each basis is then assessed in light of the changes likely to characterize the future. Cooperatives cannot remain complacent. They cannot ride calmly into the next century based solely on the proposition that functions, services, or products provided in the past will serve adequately the future needs of their member-patrons.
      • Ken D. Duft
      • Library ID Number: 7646
  • Decision-Making in Cooperatives With Diverse Member Interests
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr155.pdf
      • Agricultural cooperatives operate as competitive businesses that must maintain a general consensus among members with diverse economic interests. Operating in volatile markets and in a continuously changing economy involves complex strategic planning and decision-making in order to build member cohesiveness and support for cooperatives. This report examines member consensus and policy consistency in a strategic framework. Strategic implications and outcomes from competition with firms that can offer more individualized terms and selectivity in market transactions are analyzed by using game theory techniques. The report outlines how cooperatives can define their businesses and develop planning techniques that consider the response and impact of competition and diverse member interests.
      • Research Report 155. 18 pgs. 1997. Bruce J. Reynolds.
      • Library ID Number: 2586
  • Strategies for Survival by Cooperative Country Elevators Revisited
    • http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/20812/PDF
      • The structure and operations of local cooperative elevators were affected by excess storage capacity, modifications in Government programs, and other factors during the late 1980s and early 1990s. While the reduction in Government storage payments had the greatest impact on elevator operations, other programs such as Payment-In-Kind (PIK), Government grain sales (Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) catalog and auction sales), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) also affected cooperative elevator activities. In 1988 and 1992, 71 cooperative managers were asked to rank a number of factors that affected cooperative operations and to rank possible management strategies as a practical response. This report presents these rankings and analyzes management strategies, implemented between 1988 and 1992, their degree of success, and their importance in keeping the cooperative elevator viable.
      • Research Report 158. 21 pgs. 1997. Larry Sterns, David W. Cobia and Marc Warman.
      • Library ID Number: 2583
  • Cooperative Unification: Highlights from 1989 to Early 1999
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/rr174.pdf
      • This report describes cooperative unification activities. It discusses unification as a means of strategic positioning for cooperatives, given changing industry trends and conditions, and identifies the implications of unification and potential subsequent strategies. Highlights of unification activities, most of them among well-known cooperatives, are described for the 10-year period, January 1989 - April 1999. Selected activities are cataloged in the appendix, listed by date, naming the cooperatives involved with a brief description of what the unification entailed.
      • Research Report 174. 1999, James J. Wadsworth.
      • Library ID Number: 4595
  • Inventory Management Strategies for Local Farm Supply Cooperatives
    • http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/sr41.pdf
      • This report presents important strategies for farm supply cooperatives to use during everyday management of inventory for sale to patrons. Concepts associated with the strategies are described within the framework of a management plan. The material is intended for farm supply cooperative managers and employees.
      • Service Report 41. 22 pgs. 1994. James Wadsworth.
      • Library ID Number: 2859