Cooperatives
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l a r u R CCJuly/AOuOgust 201OO7 PPEE RRAATTIIVVEESS CO-OPS AS JOB GENERATORS The Buck Stops Here The Circle of Responsibilities for Co-op Boards Increased scrutiny of board actions is not always accompanied by better information about exactly how directors should perform their many duties. This series of articles provides a practical guide and underlying principles for actions board members can take to improve their service to cooperatives. By James Baarda; 16 pages. n For free hard copies, e-mail: [email protected], or call (202) 720-7395, or write: USDA Co-op Info., Stop 3254, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250. Indicate title and number of copies needed. USDA Cooperative Information Report (CIR) 61 n To download: www.rd.usda.gov/publications/publications-cooperative. Volume 84, Number 4 July/August 2017 Features Rural Cooperatives (1088-8845) is published bimonthly by USDA Rural Development, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop 3254, Washington, DC. 20250-0705. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of public business required by law of the Department. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC. and additional mailing offices. Copies may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402, at $23 per year. Postmaster: send address change to: p. 4 p. 10 p. 36 Rural Cooperatives, USDA/RBS, Stop 3254, Wash., DC 20250-3255. Job Generators Mention in Rural Cooperatives of company and brand 04 names does not signify endorsement over other Number of ag co-op workers continues to rise, despite dip in co-op numbers companies’ products and services. By James Wadsworth Unless otherwise stated, articles in this publication are not copyrighted and may be reprinted freely. Any From Rivals to Cooperators opinions expressed are those of the writers, and do not 14 necessarily reflect those of USDA or its employees. Cattle co-op gains market power by uniting once ‘fierce competitors’ By Dan Campbell In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, Top 10 Traits of a Successful Grazing Land Manager offices, and employees, and institutions participating in 18 or administering USDA programs are prohibited from By Jeff Goodwin discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital 20 Learning from Food Hub Closures, Pt. II status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal Kentucky food hub suffered when it emphasized social mission over financial viability or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any By Lilian Brislen, James Barham and Sasha Feldstein program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 24 Farmers using co-ops to handle ‘big data’ Persons with disabilities who require alternative By Alan Borst means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's Priority voting system may offer advantages for TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or 26 contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at changing co-op sector (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be By Thomas W. Gray, Ph.D. made available in languages other than English. To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD- 3027, found online at How to File a Program 28 How do we foster a new generation of cooperators? Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or By Meegan Moriarty write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632- 32 Understanding the role of values in traditional and 9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: hybrid cooperatives (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence By Julie A. Hogeland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: [email protected]. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. Departments 08 IN THE SPOTLIGHT 10 UTILITY CO-OP CONNECTION Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture 36 NEWSLINE Anne Hazlett, Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development ON THE COVER: U.S. agricultural cooperatives Dan Campbell, Editor are a major source of good jobs — 187,000 of Stephen Hall / KOTA, Design them — according to USDA’s latest survey of ag Have a cooperative-related question? Call (202) 720- co-ops. These jobs are located all across rural 6483, or email: [email protected] America and in many cities. See page 4. This publication was printed with vegetable oil-based ink. Rural Cooperatives / July/August 2017 3 Job Generators Number of ag co-op workers continues to rise, despite dip in co-op numbers By James Wadsworth, Ag Economist USDA Rural-Business Cooperative Service email: [email protected] 4 July/August 2017 / Rural Cooperatives They mix and deliver the livestock feeds that keep cattle herds and hogs thriving; they hover over computer monitors and cell phones to market their members’ crops around the nation and the globe; they run the grain elevators that store the bountiful harvest of the land, then load it onto trains and barges; they work in laboratories to develop new food products; they haul milk from farm to processing plant and deliver fuel from plant to farm — and they do it in every kind of weather on roads that others fear to tread; they provide the technical advice that helps farmers use high-tech tools to produce food and fiber while reducing the impact of farming on the land. They do these and the 1,001 other annual 2.7-percent attrition rate. The jobs required to keep their members drop in co-op numbers is the result farms and co-op facilities humming. of business consolidations, mergers They are the men and women — and dissolutions. from the manager’s office to the During the same 10-year period, cashiers working the counter of a however, the number of full-time ag farm supply store — who provide the co-op employees grew by 10,885, to muscle, skills and brains to power the a high of 136,300 people in 2015. nation’s 2,000 agricultural The total number of employees (full- cooperatives, owned by nearly 2 and part-time) was 187,300 in 2015, million producer-members. They are down slightly from 2014, when co- the critical link who “fuel” our co- ops employed 191,300 people. The ops, which in turn are a major factor decline is attributable to a dip in in the health of the nation’s economy. part-time jobs; full-time jobs in 2015 Although not always well actually increased slightly from the publicized, agricultural cooperatives previous year. are major employers all across rural The fact that fewer co-ops are and urban America. The salaries co- employing more people implies that op workers earn and spend in their the remaining cooperatives have communities are especially important grown in scale and need more in rural communities, where co-ops employees to operate. Often, a are often one of the major sources of cooperative formed through a good jobs, and they generate tax merger will still continue to operate dollars needed to maintain civic all, or most, of the branches that the services. pre-merger co-ops operated. The average number of full-time Co-op employment employees per co-op was 46.5 in trending up 2006, but rose to 66.6 workers by There were 2,698 agriculture co- 2015. During the past 10 years, ag ops in USDA’s database in 2006 co-op employment has averaged (Table 1). By 2015, the number had 184,600 people, with the lowest year dropped to 2,047, a decrease of 651 of the period being 2008, when the co-ops, or 24 percent. That’s an co-op workforce was 178,300. While The more than 187,000 people employed by agricultural cooperatives do virtually every type of work imaginable for the nation’s 2,000 ag co-ops. Despite a slight dip in employee numbers in 2015, the 10-year trend for co-op jobs is climbing. Rural Cooperatives / July/August 2017 5 these numbers include both full-time $50,097 (real terms) in 2006 to $56,777 The larger commodity sectors and part-time workers, a large majority in 2015, an increase of 13.3 percent. obviously have the highest total payroll — 73 percent — of the jobs are full- The average growth rate for personnel expenses. Thus, grain/oilseed co-ops time positions. costs per FTE was 1.3 percent a year paid the most for employees ($1.7 The average annual growth rate in over the period. billion), followed by dairy co-ops ($1.4 all co-op jobs during the past 10 years (2006 to 2015) was 0.13 percent. Full- time employment grew by 0.84 percent a year while part-time jobs declined by Ag co-op job survey highlights (2015) 1.5 percent a year over that period. Part-time employment accounted for n Total ag co-op personnel costs: $9.2 billion about 30 percent of the co-op n Total number of jobs: 187,300, or 161,800 full-time equivalents (FTE) workforce during most of the past 10 n 73 percent of jobs are full-time positions; years but had declined to 27 percent of n Average cost (salary, benefits and taxes) per FTE: $56,777 co-op employees by 2015.