The Feasibility of Organizing a Federation of Egg Marketing Cooperatives in Eastern South Dakota

Several egg marketing groups in the Midwest have become increasingly aware of the need for greater efficiency. These marketing agencies have attempted to eliminate the several middlemen in the channel between local levels and the distant markets. Basically this development is an attempt to reduce the marketing costs and quality loss resulting from excessive handling. It has not been possible for every marketing agency to capitalize on this development. Only those agencies capable of providing large volumes of eggs and diversified marketing services have succeeded. This development has been of interest to the larger marketing agencies in South Dakota. Recently, a number of cooperative associations expressed an interest in developing more efficient egg marketing systems. Of particular interest was the possibility of organizing a cooperative egg marketing federation. It was felt that better outlets could be attained through such an organization. Experience of federations in other states would indicate that this is a realistic expectation. The purpose of this study was to test the major hypothesis that the organization of a federation of egg marketing cooperatives in eastern South Dakota is feasible. The purpose is also to test the subsidiary hypotheses that selling South Dakota eggs through a cooperative federation would improve marketing efficiency and that the managers of South Dakota egg marketing cooperatives would be interested in selling through a federated organization