AM*Uncaster Farming, Saturday, October 1, 1988
PA Farmer Cooperatives
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
attending the annual meeting of the
Pennsylvania Association of Far
mer Cooperatives, held Tuesday
and Wednesday at the Sheraton
West. Theme for the meeting was,
'Cooperation in a Changing
Environment.”
Keynote speaker was Dr. Bruce
Anderson, associate professor in
the department of agricultural eco
nomics at Cornell University, and
a specialist in ag cooperative
research and extension. Dr. Ander
son has also taught and conducted
related research at the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sci
ences, working with Swedish and
Finnish agricultural cooperatives.
“Cooperatives have great poten
tial; they should be a dominant
agricultural force. But we must
appreciate them for today, not for
what they’ve done in the past,” Dr.
Anderson emphasized.
He recommended that ag
cooperatives include non-member
directors on their boards for spe
cialized expertise, form mutually
useful partnerships with non
cooperative entities and offer dif
ferential pricing as justified.
Prime responsibility of any
cooperative, says the Cornell spe
cialist, is to expand the market for
the member-owners products and
ultimately earn financial returns.
Too many farmers, he adds, do not
really want their cooperatives to
make money.
Member-owners must likewise
accept their foremost responsibili
ty in the democratic structure of
cooperative principles-to express
their opinions on the operations
and direction of their cooperative.
Changes challenging coopera
tive leadership are in the markets,
economic factors and numbers of
members. Cooperatives are deal
ing with excess plant capacity,
foreign ownership, corporate buy
outs of traditional family business,
heavy competition and over
investment in costly member
services.
Other factors of change include
decreasing membership and
diminishing loyalty to coopera
tives. Producers and their coopera
tives are often unable to exert real
market power due to disunity
(Turn to Pag* A 25)
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