A
new generation of cooperatives has arisen in the northern states that border
the Prairie Provinces of Canada. 
In
the 1990s this development was an important new dynamic in the economic
growth of the region. The pressures facing this region were not unique,
yet this approach was unique. The concepts of cooperative enterprise
utilized were not unique yet they were applied on a scale and in a manner
not seen before.
In the 1990s,
North Dakota and Minnesota experienced a new wave of cooperative activity.
A 1994 article in one of Minnesota’s newspapers reported that at least
$1 billion had been invested by farmers and rural citizens in new business
investments, and listed 50 new generation cooperatives that were being
formed primarily in North Dakota and Minnesota (Egerstrom, Saint Paul Pioneer
Press). In 1999, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture reported
that value-added cooperatives had built nearly $800 million in facilities
since 1990, and that the state’s producers had invested $216 million in
equity (North Dakota Department of Agriculture). New generation cooperatives
are being used as a method for farmers to climb higher up the economic
food chain. By further processing their raw commodities themselves,
farmers are hoping to capture a greater share of the consumer food dollar.
These new cooperatives are being formed as a way to diversify and stabilize
producers’ incomes. In North Dakota, they are seen as a way to help
keep rural families on farms and in small towns.
"The
phrase rolling off North Dakotans' tongues these days is 'value added'.
Much of the talk is about food processing--some call it 'moving farmers
up the food chain.'" - excerpt from 1995 North Dakota State University
Extension Service newsletter.
References
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