Cooperative Marketing -- History and Principles by W. Preston Thomas;

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1932
113a-47
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COOPERATIVE MARKETING - HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES
By
W. Preston Thomas
Head, Department of Agricultural Economics
Utah State Agricultural College
Development of Cooperative Marketing
There has been a general growth of cooperative marketing in the United States during the past  75 years.    However, the greatest development  came during the  last  25
years.     In 1915, there were 5,149 cooperative marketing associations in the United
States with a membership of 592,000 which did a business  of 0624,000,000,     In 1942,
there were 7,824 associations with 2,340,000 members with an annual business of
$2,350,000,000.    Since  1930, there has been a decline of 25 percent  in number of
associations.    Although membership has declined slightly there has been an increase
in value and quantity of products handled.    The more than 8,000 associations with
about 2-g- million members, doing a business which represents about one-fifth of the
total agricultural income,  give an excellent picture of the importance of cooperative marketing associations in the United States.
Table 1 - Marketing and purchasing associations.    Estimated number of associations,
membership,.and value of business for year 1941-42 1/
State and area
Number of
associations
Membership
Value of
business
United States
7,824
2
,320,000
,    (fciooo)
$2,360,000
Western states
1,389
381,500
566,275
Mountain area
554
167,500
'                   128,370
Utah
50
22,240
32,440
2/   Source - Farm Credit Administration
The cooperative marketing movement in the United States had its beginning during
the period 1870 to 1900 when the National Grange fostered it as a protest against
low prices and trade abuses.    The majority of the cooperative associations organised during the early period failed.    A few associations, however,  proved to the
country that cooperative marketing could be  sucoessfully carried on.
During the next period from 1900 to 1920 there was a  successful development of
cooperative marketing in this area, but principally in dairy sections of Minnesota,
■Wisconsin, and New York, and fruit areas in California.    Collective bargaining for
sale of agricultural products by farmers'  organizations in Utah began during this
period.    During this period the right of the farmers to sell or negotiate the sale
of their products cooperatively was questioned.    It took considerable effort to
establish the fact that the collective sale of their products was a right that
still belonged to the farmers.    An interesting part of the history of the development of the cooperative marketing movement in Utah is eon-nested with this
question of the farmers'  right to sell their products collectively*
By 1920 the success of the cooperative associations had attracted nation-wide attention. These organizations had grown slowly, carefully, and successfully. They had
adhered closely to principles of cooperation such as quality products and service
to members and  consumers.