An Interpretation of the Competitive Yardstick Model Using Critical Discourse Analysis

Agribusiness,

How Culture Drives Economic Behavior in Cooperatives

The core cognitive foundation of cooperative values, norms and beliefs can need updating and refurbishing just like the hard economic assets of plant and equipment that maintain their visible, outward structure. Import competition, agricultural industrialization, and market failure have led cooperatives to question beliefs which put the survival of the farm above the cooperative. Jeffersonian agrarian values contributed to a culture where cooperatives were run for the needs of farmers, not consumers. This led cooperatives to over-expand into commodity areas that were not economically sustainable. Or, cooperatives compensated growers for poor production decisions at a cost to other members. These values were based on a cultural model that "cooperatives were like a family." Trying to provide a small town personal ambiance and the efficiencies of large scale production within the same organization is a cultural model that cooperatives used to "be all things to all people". Farmer attrition has forced cooperatives into adopting a core business focus where co-ops shed all businesses except those they can do very well. This cultural transition has been aided by agricultural industrialization's focus on the farmer as individual "farm manager", in contrast to the idealized Jeffersonian farm family. Cooperatives are now seen as separate and independent of the farmer, not as an extension of the farm, giving co-ops greater latitude to be more market driven.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

The changing federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives

The evolution of the federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives is examined from the perspective of local cooperatives’ need for commodity-based farm supplies and regional cooperatives’ identity as food companies. Because locals want many competing bids for the supplies they purchase, they resist a strong and close affiliation with regional cooperatives, which then find themselves with excess capacity. Regionals have responded by instituting tighter bonds with selected local cooperatives operating as "internal supply networks," in exchange for certain benefits. This adaptation reduces the impact of divergent goals among regionals and locals within the federated system.Cooperatives, federation, networks, competition, regionalization., Agribusiness,

Local Cooperatives' Role in the Emerging Dairy Industry

Structural changes in the dairy industry such as the adoption of Total Mixed Rations in place of manufactured complete feeds and declines in milk production in the areas served by locals are bringing these cooperatives to a crossroads where they must decide who will be their core customer. The ramifications of this choice are increased through market segmentation which enables cooperatives to more precisely meet the needs of producer-members but simultaneously increases diversity among members and, potentially, among locals themselves. Survey results from 247 locals indicated small producers (cl00 cows) made up 80 percent of their clientele. The production practices of these producers appeared to lag significantly behind the innovators and large producers (>l 00 cows) observed by locals as well as the small producers studied on a nationwide basis by USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System. To survive themselves, locals will need to take a more aggressive and informed approach to sustaining small producers.cooperatives, local cooperatives, dairy production, feed, Livestock Production/Industries,

Local Cooperatives' Role in the Identity-Preserved Grain Industry

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 by differences in priorities among grain, feed, and general managers.cooperatives, grain, identity-preserved grain, specialty grain, innovation, Crop Production/Industries,

Cooperative Wool Marketing Pools and Warehouses: Industry Update, Issues and Options

In 1981, there were 158 cooperative wool marketing pools and 9 cooperative warehouses. Pools operate a few days each year to assemble and sell wool. Warehouses operate daily and also grade, store, and blend wool to buyer specifications. Pools frequently sell without knowledge of grade and clean fiber content. Producer bargaining power is also limited by declining wool production, large variation in pool membership and volume, and overlapping marketing territories among warehouses. Processing, consolidating pool and warehouse marketing, and changing pool pricing to reflect clean fiber content are options to lower marketing costs and better market power.Wool, cooperative, pool, Agribusiness,

A Guide to Survey Research for Local Cooperative Management

Report Introduction: Cooperatives cannot be successfully operated unless managers recognize the concerns which are uppermost in the minds of patrons. Knowledge of their preferences, perceptions, and expected behavior can reduce uncertainty for both the manager and the board of directors. This information can help identify operations of the cooperative which are successful and merit expansion, as well as those which need to be corrected or curtailed. A cooperative may need to relocate, add new facilities such as a feed mill, or do bulk spreading of lime. In each of these situations, questionnaires and interviews, the tools of survey research, can provide information to ease decisionmaking. This pamphlet is intended to aid cooperative managers who want to survey patrons or other groups on these and other issues facing a cooperative

Managing uncertainty and expectations: The strategic response of U.S. agricultural cooperatives to agricultural industrialization

The 20th century industrialization of agriculture confronted U.S. agricultural cooperatives with responding to an event they neither initiated nor drove. Agrarian-influenced cooperatives used two metaphors, ‘‘serfdom’’ and ‘‘cooperatives are like a family’’ to manage uncertainty and influence producer expectations by predicting industrialization’s eventual outcome and cooperatives’ producer driven compensation. The serfdom metaphor alluded to industrialization’s potential to either bypass family farmers, the cornerstone of the economy according to agrarian ideology, or to transform them into the equivalent of piece-wage labor as contract growers. The ‘‘family’’ metaphor reflects how cooperatives personalized the connection between cooperative and farmer-member to position themselves as the exact opposite of serfdom. Hypotheses advanced by Roessl (2005) and Goel (2013) suggest that intrinsic characteristics of family businesses such as a resistance to change and operating according to a myth of unlimited choice and independence reinforced the risk of institutional lock-in posed by agrarian ideology. To determine whether lock-in occurred, Woerdman’s (2004) neo-institutional model of lock-in was examined in the context of late 20th century cooperative grain and livestock marketing. Increasingly ineffective open markets prompted three regional cooperatives to develop their own models of industrialized pork production. Direct experience with producer contracting allowed cooperatives to evade institutional and ideological lock-in

Local Cooperatives' Role in the Emerging Dairy Industry

Structural changes in the dairy industry such as the adoption of Total Mixed Rations in place of manufactured complete feeds and declines in milk production in the areas served by locals are bringing these cooperatives to a crossroads where they must decide who will be their core customer. The ramifications of this choice are increased through market segmentation which enables cooperatives to more precisely meet the needs of producer-members but simultaneously increases diversity among members and, potentially, among locals themselves. Survey results from 247 locals indicated small producers (cl00 cows) made up 80 percent of their clientele. The production practices of these producers appeared to lag significantly behind the innovators and large producers (>l 00 cows) observed by locals as well as the small producers studied on a nationwide basis by USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System. To survive themselves, locals will need to take a more aggressive and informed approach to sustaining small producers

The Future Role of Livestock Cooperatives

In 1985, a total of 17 regional cooperatives marketed livestock. These cooperatives were created to provide greater competition, bargaining power, and market access for producers. Growth in direct marketing, bypassing the services of cooperatives, has occurred because the number of buyers has decreased and producers want to improve marketing efficiency or lower explicit costs. Less emphasis on providing convenient markets, more competitive service charges, supplementing buy-sell operations with advisory services to help members manage risk, and increasing coordination are options that might enable cooperatives to continue to meet their original Objectives