National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Sample Bylaws Project Volume I Overview of Cooperative Articles of Incorporation Sample Bylaws Commentary www.ncfc.org This publication is the product of a special Working Group of the Legal, Tax and Accounting (LTA) Committee of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC). The Working Group solicits comments and additional input on the publication from readers by contacting NCFC at
[email protected] or 202-626-8700. COPYRIGHT © 2017 NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Address inquiries to Reference Permissions, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, 50 F Street, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, DC 20001. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES ACKNOWLEDGMENT This publication is a product of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC), a trade association established in 1929 to represent the interests of America’s farmer-owned cooperatives. Farmer-owned cooperatives are central to America’s abundant, safe, and affordable food, feed, fiber, and fuel supply. Through cooperatives, farmers can better manage risk, strengthen bargaining power, and improve their income from the marketplace, allowing individual producers to compete globally in a way that would be impossible as individual producers. Cooperatives share the financial value they create with their farmer-owners. They also create and sustain quality jobs, businesses, and consumer spending in their local communities.