The Role of Grower Cooperatives in the Marketing of Farm-Grown Timber in North Queensland

This paper examines potential opportunities for tree grower cooperatives in north Queensland. In Australia, there is strong interest in forest grower cooperatives, as evidenced for example by the National Farm Forestry Cooperative Workshop held in Brisbane in 1999. The only cooperative in north Queensland registered under the Cooperatives Act 1997 - the North Queensland Timber Cooperative (NQTC) - was established in 1998, and has attempted to focus the attention of industry participants on a cooperative approach to timber marketing. New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs) provide a model that could be adapted to the situation in north Queensland. To be a successful cooperative, the NQTC needs to attract a large number of members with a substantial timber resource base and access to value-adding infrastructure, and have substantial start-up capital or be able to enter into transactions for the marketing of large timber lots. Otherwise, it is unlikely that the cooperative will establish a satisfactory funds reserve and have influence on timber marketing and forest policy