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Cooperatives
 Overview
Individual farmers cannot consistently and reliably control the price they receive for their agricultural products or the price they pay for the inputs needed to produce those goods. Thus, farmers often form cooperatives so that they can enhance their economic market power. Although there is no universally accepted definition, a cooperative can be defined as a legal business entity created under state law that is owned and operated for the purpose of benefiting those individuals who use its services. A farmer cooperative can serve one or more functions including but not limited to providing loans to farmers, supplying information pertinent to agricultural production, selling inputs necessary to agricultural production, bargaining on behalf of its members, providing transportation services, and marketing agricultural products for its members.
Read the full overview.
Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.
Major Statutes
Capper Volstead Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 291-292
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-11
Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 12-17
Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 521
Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1388
Agricultural Fair Practices Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2301-2306
Cooperative Marketing Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 451-457
Agricultural Marketing Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 1141-1141j
Agricultural Adjustment Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 601-659
Farm Credit Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 2001-2279
Discrimination Against Farmers Cooperatives Associations by Boards of Trade, 15 U.S.C. §§ 431-433
Regulations
Internal Revenue Service Regulations, Tax Treatment of Cooperatives, 26 C.F.R. §§ 1.1381-1.1383.1
Internal Revenue Service Regulations, Tax Treatment of Cooperatives, 26 C.F.R. § 1.1385.1
Internal Revenue Service Regulations, Tax Treatment of Cooperatives, 26 C.F.R. § 1.1388
Capper-Volstead Act Regulations, 7 C.F.R. §§ 1.160-1.175
Federal Register Rules Open for Comment
Center published Federal Register Digest
Case Law
Case Law Index for Cooperatives
Center Research Publications
Forms and Filing Information: Business Organizations (Rumley, 2009)
Biofuels: Policy and Business Organization Issues (O'Brien, 2006)
The Farmer's Legal Guide to Producer Marketing Associations (O'Brien, Hamilton & Luedeman, 2006)
Hedge to Arrive Contracts: Futures or Forwards (Gokhalé, 2005)
Legal and Policy Considerations of Investor-Friendly Cooperatives (O'Brien, 2005)
An Overview of Organizational and Ownership Options Available to Agricultural Enterprises:
Part 1; Part 2 (Goforth, 2002)
Introduction to Federal Securities Laws (Goforth, 2002)
Agricultural Law Bibliography
Introduction | Keyword Search | Browse Categories
Legal publications on Cooperatives:
Agribusiness Corporations
Cooperatives
Corporate Farming (Restrictions on Corporate Farming/Family Farm Preservation)
Organizational Forms for Agriculture
Reference Resources
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Antitrust Division Manual
Policy Guidelines Manual to Merger Remedies
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
IRC section 521 Exempt Farmers' Cooperatives, 4.44.1.1-4.44.1.8
The Farmer's Tax Guide, IRS Publication 225
The Agricultural Employer's Guide, IRS Publication 51
Corporations, Publication 542
USDA Rural Development
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Library of Publications for Business and Cooperative Programs
Rural Cooperatives Publications Catalog
Rural Cooperatives Magazine
Rural Development Farm Bill Page
Problems and Issues Facing Rural Cooperatives (Gray and Kraenzle, RMS, 2002)
Income Tax Treatment of Cooperatives (Frederick, RBS, 2005 ed.)
Congressional Resources
Reports on Cooperatives (Government Accountability Office)
Other Federal Resources
Export Trading Company Act of 1982
Publications
Agricultural Cooperatives: A Guide to Complying with Missouri Securities Laws
Cooperatives and Contracting in Agriculture: The Case of West Liberty Foods (IA St. U., 2005)
Cooperatives: Principles and Practices in the 21st Century (Zeuli and Cropp, U. WI Extension, 2004)
Co-ops 101: An Introduction to Cooperatives (1997)
Cooperative Organization and Structure (1998)
New Generation Cooperatives: External Environment and Investor Characteristics (Cobia, 1997)
The Structural Characteristics of Farmer Cooperatives and Their Behavioral Consequences (Staatz, 1987)
Antitrust Status of Farmer Cooperatives: The Story of the Capper-Volstead Act (Frederick, 2002)
How to Start a Cooperative (Rapp & Ely, 1996)
The Capper-Volstead Act: Opportunity Today and Tomorrow in Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary
of the Capper-Volstead Act (Barnes & Ondeck, 1997)
Cooperative Financing and Taxation (1995)
Director Liability in Agricultural Cooperatives (Fee, Hoberg, & McCormick, 1984)
The Farmer's Cooperative Yardstick (Williamson, 1998)
Agricultural Alternatives - Cooperatives (Dunn, Harper, and Kime, 2005)
Understanding Capper-Volstead (Volkin, 1995)
How Agricultural Cooperatives Are Taxed (Cook, Ratchford, Griffith, 1995)
Member Control of Cooperatives: What It Means and How It Is Exercised (Cook, Ratchford, Griffith, 1995)
New Generation Cooperative Membership: How Do Members Differ from Nonmembers (Olson, Kibbe, Goreham, 1998)
Use of LLC-Cooperative Statutes: Status of New Business Formation in Wyoming, Minnesota, Tennessee,
and Iowa Organized Through 2005 (Kennedy & Frederick)
Additional Resources
Cooperatives Posts (United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog)
Center for Cooperatives (U. WI)
Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives
Database of Cooperative Law (International Labor Organization)
International Co-operative Agricultural Organisation
National Cooperative Business Association
The Arthur Capper Cooperative Center (KS St. U.)
The Cooperative Communicators Association
National Society of Accounts for Cooperatives
Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives (ND St. U.)
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
Cooperative Network
Idaho Cooperative Council
Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
Kansas Cooperative Council
Mid-Atlantic Alliance of Cooperatives
Missouri Institute of Cooperatives
Montana Council of Cooperatives
Montana Cooperative Development Center
Nebraska Cooperative Council
North Dakota Coordinating Council for Cooperatives
Northeast Cooperative Council (Cornell U.)
Ohio Farmers Union Cooperative Development Center
Cooperative Development Center for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
South Dakota Association of Cooperatives
Washington State Council of Farmer Cooperatives
Limited Cooperative Association Act (Nat'l Conference of Comm'rs On Uniform State Laws, U. PA)
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