FARMER COOPERATIVE STATISTICS, 2002

A survey of 3,140 U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives ending their business year during calendar year 2002 showed a net business volume of $96.8 billion with a net income of $1.2 billion. These cooperatives had assets totaling $47 billion, about $28 billion of liabilities, and almost $20 billion in equity. Cooperatives continued to be a major employer in rural areas, with 166,000 full-time workers. Business volume by commodity is reported for all cooperatives. Number of cooperatives, cooperative memberships, and number of employees are classified according to whether the business is a marketing, farm supply, or service cooperative. Trends in cooperative numbers, memberships, employees, business size, sales volume, net income, assets, liabilities, and net worth are reported, along with data on selected activities of other cooperative service organizations