On the same day the world was officially proclaimed home of seven billion souls, the United Nations General Assembly officially declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives with the theme of “Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World”. “This Day of 7 Billion – is not about one newborn, or even one generation,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “This is a …
GROWMARK Among Top Ten Co-ops
Once again this year, the GROWMARK cooperative system is among the nation’s top ten co-ops. The GROWMARK System of cooperatives, headquartered in Bloomington, Ill., was ranked seventh on the NCB Co-op 100 listing of the nation’s 100 highest revenue-earning cooperative businesses. GROWMARK was ranked sixth on the 2010 list. “The boom of cooperative organizations and the key role they play …
October is National Cooperative Month
Each October since 1964, cooperatives across the United States have been celebrating the cooperative difference, business model and the contributions of cooperatives to their communities, during National Cooperative Month. One of the best examples of an agricultural cooperative that makes a difference is GROWMARK, based in Bloomington, Illinois, and chairman of the board Dan Kelley says cooperatives touch our lives …
Canadian Cooperative Thriving With Dry Beans & Edible Soybeans
Hensall District Co-operative welcomed IFAJ members last week. Here’s CEO, Earl Wagner, who gave us an overview of the various business units of the co-operative. Before we settled in for his presentation and a tour of the facilities in Hensall, ON, we were treated to a variety of foods made with their products. They are known for their dry beans …
Farmer Co-op Council Testifies on Wall Street Reform Act
Implementing legislation aimed a reforming Wall Street could have an impact on farmer cooperatives. As the Commodities Futures Trading Corporation (CFTC) implements provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act involving over the counter (OTC) derivatives, the Commission must ensure that farmer co-ops can continue to effectively manage risk and offer hedging tools to their farmer-owners, a representative of the National Council of …
CHS Growing With Renewable Fuels
Mark Fenner, CHS Energy (not pictured), was one of the people working during the NAFB Trade Talk session. He says that they market under the Cenex brand. They’ve been selling a lot of diesel fuel products and the new Tier 4 engines are a real focus for them. Trends in the renewable fuels area have a definite effect on them. …
Cooperative Communicators Seeking Members
The President of the Cooperative Communicators Association is Brian Delgado, seen here welcoming first timers at their recent convention where I conducted a presentation on social media. I recorded a conversation with Brian while I was there to learn more about CCA. He says CCA is an organization designed to help educate cooperative communicators and those working with cooperatives. Membership …
All About Cooperative Communicators Association
The Cooperative Communicators Association 2010 Institute is in full swing. I arrived this afternoon and met a number of the very important persons who are leading the organization like those pictured here. For those of you who are not familiar with CCA check out my interview with Teri Ditsch, TJD Design, , Amber DuMont, Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc. and …
Farmer Cooperatives Can Tell Story at Workshops
Workshops on competition in agriculture, like the one held last week in Iowa, can allow farmer-owned co-ops to tell their story. According to the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC), Friday’s joint workshop between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) set the stage for farmer-owned co-ops to show how they promote a more competitive agricultural …
NCFC Launches Campaign to Tell Co-op Story
“Farmer Cooperatives: Providing for America” is the theme of a new campaign launched this month by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC). NCFC launched the new campaign at its 81st Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara, California last week to tell the story of this country’s 2500 farmer cooperatives to policy makers, government officials, and the American public. The campaign …