New Generation Cooperatives

New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs) are farmerowned cooperative organizations generally characterized by an involvement in value-added processing activities and a linkage of producer capital contributions to product delivery rights. Although the earliest NGCs were established in the North Central United States, particularly in North Dakota and Minnesota, interest in this organizational form has spread to other regions of the country because of the perceived success of many of these cooperatives. Recently, NGCs have been involved in traditional value-added activities such as corn sweetener production, sugar beet processing, pasta production and hog operations, as well as activities related to emerging niche markets such as bison processing, tilapia production, organic milling and speciality cheese processing. Producers generally form NGCs to develop new value-added products in order to access a greater share of consumer food expenditures