What Is an Agricultural Cooperative?

Agricultural cooperatives are rural production mutual aid organizations established in the early days of the People's Republic of China to restore production and strengthen farmers' ability to resist natural disasters. It was a lower-level form of the People's Commune, which was produced at the time when human and material resources were limited. Later, the activities of agricultural cooperatives continued to expand and developed into a people's commune in 1958.

Agricultural cooperatives

The United States is an agriculturally developed country, known as the "Agricultural World Champion". American agriculture is mainly operated by family farms. So how do farmers meet market challenges, how do they interact with the government, and in what ways and ways do they advance the process of agricultural integration and modernization? It should be said that agricultural cooperatives-agricultural cooperatives play an extremely important role in it.

Agricultural cooperatives have their own organization

Agricultural cooperatives in the United States are collective organizations of agricultural workers, and their members must be closely related to agricultural activities. According to relevant laws, only people engaged in the production of agricultural products in the capacity of farmer, grower, livestock and dairy producer, and fresh fruit producer are eligible to become members of agricultural cooperatives.

Agricultural cooperatives are non-profit enterprises that do not make money. However, in order to effectively carry out various business activities in the company, they also engage in certain business activities and pursue limited capital profitability. For example, when energy is in short supply, it sells crude oil to members who need it urgently at the original price, instead of taking the opportunity to raise prices for profit. They have no obligation to the poor and remote areas. The basic principle of profit distribution is that profits are sold together and risks are shared. Cooperatives' distribution of surpluses is usually done on a patronage basis. According to regulations, members of cooperatives have the obligation to patronize their cooperatives, as long as members buy the goods they need through the cooperatives, such as fertilizers, oil and other agricultural materials; or sell their agricultural products, such as grains, beans, milk, through the cooperatives. Products, etc .; or sharing other services provided by cooperatives, are considered "patrons" of cooperatives. When the cooperative distributes a profit surplus at the end of the year (after paying dividend tax and withdrawing provident funds and public welfare funds), it can be distributed in proportion to the transaction amount of patrons and cooperatives. If there are risks and losses in the operation of the cooperative, the members should also share them reasonably.

Agricultural cooperatives serve farmers

According to the USDA classification, there are four main types of cooperatives: production, sales, purchase supply, and service cooperatives. Among them is a credit cooperative, whose function is to help farmers solve various financing and loan problems. It is equivalent to a credit association in the agricultural sector and a backbone institution in the United States' "agricultural cooperative credit system". The agricultural credit system in the United States is wholly owned by farmers and operated by farmers. The government supervises it through the Agricultural Credit Management Agency. The agricultural credit system consists of the Federal Land Bank (a bank that provides long-term real estate mortgage loans to farmers, whose loans are mainly used to purchase real estate such as farm buildings and land), the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank (a bank that provides funds to the Production Loan Association, Not directly facing the farmer) and the cooperative banking system. Among them, cooperative banks are institutions in this system that provide loans to various types of farmer cooperatives. Its 12 regional banks provide loans to farmer cooperatives in the region. However, according to the regulations of cooperative banks, only real farmer cooperatives that meet certain conditions, not individual farmers, are eligible to apply for loans from cooperative banks, and farmers need to apply for loans from their own cooperatives that have obtained loans.

The other is a rural power and telephone cooperative. According to US law, no matter it is a cooperative, or a public power network, or a telephone company, anyone who raises funds for the construction of power and telephone lines and related equipment in rural areas without electricity can get rural electrification management. Board of Loans. Currently, almost all farms in the United States use electricity, and about half of the electricity in electrified farms is provided by rural power cooperatives. Up to now, 96% of farms in the United States have modern telephone service, and 6.3% of farms have cable TV. The number of members owned by rural power and telephone cooperatives ranks first among all cooperatives, and has made a huge contribution to the progress of rural electrification.

Integration of agricultural cooperatives

The integration of agricultural industry is the abbreviation of "integrated management of agriculture, industry, commerce, production, supply and marketing". Its distinctive feature is that individual farmers have stepped out of isolated and closed production and operation circles, and individual farms have shaken off pressure on agricultural resources demand and product sales, and joined the "big agriculture" operation track. Agricultural cooperatives in the United States are mainly in the field of distribution. Through the intermediary of cooperatives, farmers have obtained channels or permits for extensive contact with the outside world and have contacted many business-related organizations. At the same time, agricultural cooperatives, as a competitive force, have the ability to bargain due to the continuous strengthening of their own strength, thereby forming a check and balance on the monopoly violations of industrial and commercial capital against farmers.

Although the United States is a highly industrialized country, modern agriculture is still the foundation of the national economy. China's agriculture is undergoing a transition from tradition to modernity. Under the pressure of market agriculture, individual farmers seek mutual assistance and cooperation in decentralized operations. Various rural economic mutual cooperation organizations have appeared throughout the country. The advanced practices and successful experiences of the American Agricultural Cooperative can provide us with some inspiration and useful lessons. ^[2]

Important economic effects of agricultural cooperatives

In the financial crisis of 2008, the European and American economies were hit hard, a large number of companies closed down, economic development stagnated, and unemployment was a serious problem. During the period of social turbulence, the agricultural cooperative economy maintained a strong and stable development trend, and the development speed and scale of development continued to increase. In terms of solving unemployment, especially the employment of young people and vulnerable groups, and promoting economic recovery and social integration , Highlighting a certain "rescue the city" role, its social effects have been increasingly concerned by the international community.

The market share of the American Agricultural Cooperative is relatively stable, and it continues to play an important role in the supply of agricultural products. In 2012, about 32% of the farmer's procurement of agricultural resources went through cooperative channels, and 35% of agricultural product sales went through cooperatives. Grain and oil cooperatives account for 40%, dairy cooperatives account for 32%, and fruits, vegetables and sugars account for the third, with less than 30% (M.Cook, 2014).