Regional Cooperatives Handling Under $10 Million of Supplies, 1960-61

Excerpts from the report: Farmers organize cooperatives to directly provide supplies on a local community or countywide basis and on a regional or area basis. Local retail cooperatives organize regional associations to wholesale or manufacture supplies their farmers need. Cooperatives of either type may be specialized supply associations or marketing cooperatives with supply departments. A large group of these regionals do a supply business of between $100,000 and $10 million a year and are thus important in manufacturing and distributing farm production supplies in the United States. Available data indicate that 135 of these associations did an annual supply business totaling about $232 million in their fiscal years ending between July 1, 1960, and June 30, 1961. The purpose of the study is to show the number, membership, type and volume of supplies handled, services provided, financial position, and organizational characteristics of these regional cooperatives. Another objective is to determine changes that have occurred in the number and volume of such cooperatives since 1950-51.