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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

cooperatives, commodities, market, agriculture

College

Life Sciences

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Abstract

Cooperatives can work! Among the many cooperatives that have been organized, only a handful are successful commodity marketers. These successful cooperatives provide examples of how growers can work together to market their commodities profitably. Agricultural commodities have volatile markets. Farmers compete in perfectly competitive markets. Their individual decisions will not affect the market. Growers don’t know what commodity supplies will be when they plant. The determinants of supply are set before growers know what the supply will be. Agriculture can’t turn on and off the spigot of production like other Industries. Once the factors determining supply have been established they can· not be adjusted until the next year; supply for that year is set. Growing conditions change each year, greatly affecting commodity supplies. These factors make It difficult for a producer to know how much to produce, or If he should produce at all. When a farmer plants his crop he doesn’t know if he will sell at a profit or loss. Cooperatives can stabilize a market so the grower receives equitable returns regardless of current supplies. By studyIng successful cooperatives, potato growers can formulate a new marketIng cooperative that is as successful as Sunkist, Ocean Spray, and Blue Diamond.

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