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CoBank explores co-op consolidation
A new report from CoBank finds efficiency, management succession and employee recruitment are driving factors behind recent ag cooperative consolidations.
CoBank says co-ops are combining to create better economies of scale and remain competitive similar to trends throughout production agriculture. Since 2014, bankruptcies and dissolutions have increased as reasons to consolidate.
While farm numbers have stabilized, Cobank says the number of co-ops and their members are declining. From 1992 to 2017, farm numbers declined by 3 percent and the number of farmers increased 35 percent, while the number of co‑ops and co‑op membership fell by more than 50 percent.
The report looks at trends behind consolidations and includes industry perspectives from co-op leaders and others.
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