Since 2003, direct payments have accounted for a signifi cant portion of farm program payments. If direct payments were eliminated, many agricultural producers would be affected, both through the loss of income and potential declines in land values and rental rates. This report considers the...

This report is a primer on the use of debt by U.S. farm businesses for policymakers, researchers, and others interested in the financial well-being of U.S. agriculture. It presents data on basic debt-use patterns by farm businesses (in 2011, over 900,000 farms operated as farm businesses based...

Formation of the Producers Export Company (PEC) in 1958 was a first attempt by grain cooperatives to develop an export merchandising program. PEC's nationwide membership had different export needs and financial resources which imposed constraints on PEC's strategy and operations. A lack of...

Farmers buying plant food from cooperatives paid 8 percent less per ton than those buying from other firms. On the average, farmers paid $361 per ton of nutrient from cooperatives in 1975, compared with the $392 they paid noncooperatives. This price differential of $31 a ton saved cooperative...

Turkey producers in Central Utah rely on the Moroni Feed Company, a highly integrated cooperative which replaced a declining sugar beet production of the 1930's. The cooperative's complete services now include everything from breeder flocks to processed turkey products, feed milling, field...

This study of operations and services was requested by the Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association of Baraboo, Wisconsin. It appraises nearly 20 years of operations following a transition from terminal market and private treaty selling to auction markets. Goal setting, consolidation or...

This study is the first to present a broad statistical picture of operations exporting cooperatives. Included are data pertaining to dollar volumes, destinations, and cooperative shares of total U.S. agricultural export volumes, phis information about marketing channels, foreign offices and...