Farmers and ranchers thrive in the cooperative system
Local. It’s one of the hottest trends in recent years. But that trend was set in communities across rural America nearly 100 years ago when the first local cooperatives opened their doors to provide the services, products and markets local farmers and ranchers needed to thrive.
Local co-ops worked to fill the gaps left by private businesses that were unwilling or unable to weather the economic ups and downs of agriculture. And they sought to put farmers, as a group, on the same footing as those businesses, with the same clout in the marketplace and the same voice on Capitol Hill.
Owned and controlled by the producers who do business with it, there’s nothing more local than a local cooperative.
