Factors leading to cooperative
activity
“A convergence of circumstances,
personalities, economic conditions, political culture and government actions
created the phenomenon in the Northern Plains that has come to be known
as ‘co-op fever’”. - William Patrie, Rural Development Director, North
Dakota Association of Rural Electric and Telephone Cooperatives
Many factors,
both economic and societal, have played a role in the emergence of new
generation cooperative activity in the 1990s. Among the reasons put
forth for new generation cooperative development in the region are:
industrialization
of agriculture
the experience of
the 1980s
uncertainty regarding
federal farm support and more liberalized trade
cooperative
spirit: “Buffalo Commons” and a strong cooperative heritage
entrepreneurial
attitude
declining farm value
share of the food dollar
early models of
success
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