Trends in Growth of Farmer Cooperatives, 1950-60

Excerpts from the report: Are farmer cooperatives growing, standing still, or declining in their position in agriculture and in the economy as a whole? Those interested in cooperatives are constantly seeking answers to these questions. The purpose of this publication is to furnish information that we believe will be helpful. At the same time, an important objective is to set forth some of the problems confronting those who seek completely final and conclusive answers to these and related questions. On the basis of our studies, it is possible to state at the outset that cooperative marketings since 1954 have increased at a faster rate than agricultural marketings of all farmers. Farmers' acquisitions of supplies and equipment through cooperatives since 1952 also have increased at faster rates than expenditures for supplies and equipment for all farmers. Valuable as these absolute figures are as indicators of growth, they do not reveal growth trends in relation to other parts of the agricultural economy or the economy as a whole