Comparative financial performance of agricultural cooperatives and investor-owned firms. Paper presented at

This study researches the validity of claims that cooperatives are destroying value by comparing the financial performance of agricultural cooperatives with investor-owned firms in four sectors—dairy, farm supply, fruit and vegetable, and grain. Traditional financial ratios measuring profitability, liquidity, leverage and asset efficiency were analyzed for 1991 through 2002. Overall, the financial performances of agricultural cooperatives and their investor-owned counterparts were comparable. Consistent with theoretical expectations, cooperatives demonstrated lower rates of asset efficiency, except in the dairy sector. Cooperatives in all four sectors were less leveraged, while results regarding the relative profitability and liquidity of cooperatives were not conclusive