Publications

• Inventory Management for Farm Supply Cooperatives
  
  • Over 25% of the assets of a typical farm supply cooperative are tied up in inventory. This publication describes goals and methods for inventory management including the IMI index, the purchasing plan, optimal re-order points and re-order quantities, managing shrink, seasonal items, and inventory control. Research results from a farm supply cooperative case study are also presented.
• Understanding Fertilizer Price Risk
  
  • Describes fertilizer price risk in the context of overall production risk.
• Causes of Fertilizer Price Volatility
  
  • Describes the structural changes in the US fertilizer supply chain which have led to increased price volatility.
• Managing Fertilizer Price Risk
  
  • Describes strategies for minimizing fertilizer price risk.
• Evaluating Investment Opportunities
  
  • Cooperatives are faced with many opportunities to investment in both traditional infrastructure and non-traditional areas. This publication discusses methods for project evaluation.
• Financial Statement Analysis for Agricultural Cooperatives

Related Publications

• A Dashboard for the Board
• Addressing the Equity Retirement Program
• Agricultural Finance Review
• Audit Committee
• Before the Bricks and Mortar: A Case Study of a New Generation Cooperative's Planning Process
• Challenges to Producer Ownership of Ethanol and Biodiesel Production Facilities
• Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys: A Guide for Food Processors
• Cooperative Management Series: Building the Board Packet
• Cooperative Management Series: Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys
• Cooperative Management Series: Customer Segmentation in Agricultural Cooperatives
• Cooperative Management Series: Directors Legal Handbook
• Cooperative Management Series: Directors Roles and Responsibilities
• Cooperative Management Series: Effective Board Meetings
• Cooperative Management Series: Effective Decision Making in the Board Room
• Cooperative Management Series: Evaluating Cooperative Managers
• Cooperative Management Series: Evaluating Investment Opportunities
• Cooperative Management Series: Evaluating the Board
• Cooperative Management Series: Parliamentary Procedure in the Board Room
• Cooperative Management Series: Parliamentary Procedure Quick Guide to Motions
• Cooperative Policy Development
• Economic Impact of Oklahoma Rural Electric Cooperatives
• Economic Potential of Unmanned Aircraft in Agricultural and Rural Electric Cooperatives
• Equity Management Systems
• Evolving Credit Needs of Cooperatives and Producer-Owned Businesses
• Factors Impacting Participation In and Purchases Made by Members of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative
• Feasibility of a Cooperative Winery
• Feasibility of a Shared Machinery Cooperative
• Feasibility of Producer Owned Canola Crush and Biodiesel Production Facility
• Fertilizer Blending Calculator
• Financial Decisions for the Board Case Study
• Financial Performance Analysis for Directors
• Human Resource Management in Agricultural Cooperatives
• Impact of a Stock Write-down on Cooperative Members
• Leading the Charge or Waiting for the Troops
• Livestock Marketing Cooperative Benefits in the 21st Century
• Opportunity for New Cooperative Business Models for Rural Utilities
• Options for Joint Machinery Ownership
• Organizing a Machinery Cooperative
• Pondering When to Hold Them and When to Fold Them
• Positioning for the Future
• Producers Cooperative Oil Mill: A Case Study in Cooperative Management
• Profit Distribution Alternatives
• Reinvest Revolve or Refund Case Study
• South Central Cooperative Case Study
• South Central Cooperative Case Study Liabilities
• Succession Planning
• The New Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Pooling and Distributing Tax Deductions
• The Outside Officer
• The Run Away Board
• Transforming the Cooperatives for the Next Generation
• Understanding Cooperative Terminology
• Updating the Governance Structure Case Study
• Valuing the Cooperative Firm
   

Newsletters

• Cooperatives and Regulations
• Does Being a Cooperative Change the Mission?
• Per Unit Retains and a Look Back at the Grain Glitch
• Strategically Important Members
• Drift Proofing your Cooperative
• Patron Drift
• Celebrating Cooperative Independence
• Member Co-Op Decisions on Handling Non-Qualified Patronage from Federated Cooperatives
• Non-Qualified Regional Patronage
• Alignment Solutions from Multi-stakeholder Cooperatives
• What Can We Learn from Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives?
• More Insight from Representative Cooperatives
• Quantifying the Tradeoffs
• Allocating Overhead
• Member Responsibility or Member Opportunity?
• The Interesting Economics of Internships
• A Unique Partnership
• Designing the Perfect Cooperative
• The Boards Role in Cyber Security Risks
• Is Payroll an Expense or an Investment
• Are your Member Communications Hitting on all Cylinders?
• Patronage and Pricing
• The Fuzzy Math of Cash Patronage Percentages
• Give Members a Reason to Attend your Annual Meeting
• How Much Section 199A should we Pass on?
• Should You Invite the Devil into Your Board Room?
• We Recorded the Webinar Just for You!
• You Will Not Want to Miss this Upcoming Webinar!
• On a Mission to Create Committed Members
• Twas the Night Before Co-op
• Dealing with Regional Patronage
• A New Dimension of Member Diversity
• Some Tax Reform Discussions for the Board
• Some Simple Math on Retaining Profits
• In Praise of Allocated Equity!
• In Praise of Revolving Equity
• Cooperative Finance Fallacies
• Heterogeneity in Member Attitude
• Heterogeneity in Member Needs
• Heterogeneity in Agricultural Cooperatives
• Member Time Horizons in Agricultural Cooperatives
• Employees as Members in an Agricultural Cooperative
• Balance Sheet Goals and Section 199A
• Tax Reform and Cash Patronage
• Which One is Your Section 199A Hat?
• A Strategic View of Section 199A
• Swimming in the Patronage Pool
• Identifying your Cooperative's Core Competencies
• Nonqualified Stock and the Time Value of Money
• Property Rights and Patronage
• Grain Cooperatives cannot Afford to Ignore Section 199A
• The Cooperative's Role in Pooling Tax Deductions
• Impacting your Sustainable Growth Rate
• The Sustainable Growth Rate of a Cooperative Firm
• Can Cooperatives Seize the Moment
• Everything you Ever Wanted to Know about Per Unit Retains
• An Update on the Impact of Tax Reform on Agricultural Cooperatives
• Tax Reform and the Cooperative Balance Sheet
• Impact of Tax Reform on Cooperatives and Members
• Impact of Tax Reform on Cooperative Profit Distribution
• The DNA of the Cooperative Business Model
• Plenty of Room Under the Cooperative Tent
• Put a Face to Cooperative Months
• Membership is Ownership
• Board Operations versus Cooperative Profitability
• Board Operations versus Cooperative Success
• Board Characteristics versus Profitability
• The Forgotten Branch of Management by Exception
• Get your Mind Around a Brainstorming Session
• Guidelines for Employee Suggestions
• Fire Up Employee Suggestions
• Designing a Differential Pricing Program
• Differential Pricing and Member Reaction
• Differential Pricing and Diverse Memberships
• Agronomy Margin Risk
• Grain Margin and Rochdale Principles
• Grain Margin Risk
• Two Last Things for Your Board to Get Right
• Get Right or Get Left
• Is your Board Doing Things Right?
• Try Flipping Your Board Meeting Agenda
• Economic Depreciation Versus Tax Depreciation
• Return on Investment from Infrastructure Reinvestment
• Depreciation and Capital Expenditures Determine Income Growth
• Board Members as CEO Candidates
• Employees as Members in an Agricultural Cooperative
• Make a Resolution to Improve Your Annual Meeting
• Strengthening the Audit Committee
• What Should the Board Ask the Auditor
• Cooperatives Build a Better World
• Zombie Apocalypse Would Lead to New Cooperative Development
• The Cooperative CEO is the Chief Culture Officer
• The Boards Role in Cooperative Culture
• The Culture in Your Cooperative
• Advisory Boards and Standing Committee Members
• Is There a Healthy Level of Board Turnover
• Make Information the Reason to Attend Your Annual Meeting
• How Democratic is Your Cooperative
• Why Do Big Cooperatives Sometimes Fail
• The Mayflower Compact
• Thats the Way the Money Goes
• The Other 80 20 Rule
• Myth Buster: Cooperative Leaders Are Only Looking Out for Themselves
• Agricultural Cooperatives as a Form of Diversification
• The Cooperative as an Extension of the Farm Firm
• Cooperatives on Campuses
• Does Interest in Cooperative Mergers Occur in Waves
• What Drives Interest in Mergers Among Cooperatives
• How Do We Define Success in a Cooperative
• Incorporating Regulatory Scenarios into Cooperative Strategic Planning
• Mega Trends Impacting Agribusiness Regulation
• A Strategic Approach to Regulatory Changes
• Stewardship Has Deep Roots in Cooperatives
• The Stewardship Model of Cooperative Management
• The Monitoring Aspect of Cooperative Governance
• Developing an Election Procedures Manual
• Bylaws: How Strong is our Coops Foundation
• Bylaws Versus Policy
• Not Even One Non-Producer Member
• Mis-describing Revolving Equity
• Mis-describing Cooperative Equity
• Defining a Member in a Cooperative
• Patronage Thresholds for Voting Privileges
• Professors in the Board Room
• Farmers Value of Cooperatives Article
• Living Your Cooperative's Mission
• Training for Keeps
• Becoming a Cooperative Story Teller
• Cooperatives Matter
• Rogue Proofing Your Board of Directors
• Dealing with Rogue Board Members
• Signs of a Rogue Board Member
• The Road Trip Approach to Member Communication
• The Other Side of Member Communication
• Articulating Your Risk Appetite
• Determining Your Risk Appetite
• What is Your Risk Appetite?
• Risk in Grain and Farm Supply Cooperatives
• Machinery Cooperatives in China
• Another Look at the DuPont Model
• Cooperative Sector Performance and the DuPont Equation
• Survey Results: on Profit and Profit Distribution
• Survey Insights into Equity Redemption Programs
• The Economics of Cleaning the Boot Pit
• Cut Costs or Distribute Profits More Efficiently
• The Winner is Nonqualified
• Solar Cooperatives
• Fonterra's Fair Share Value
• Fonterra's Shareholder Council
• Fixing and Election Process Before it is Broken
• Challenges of Implementing On-line Voting in Cooperatives
• On-line Voting for Cooperatives
• Barriers to Diversity on the Cooperative Board
• Simple Steps to Address Board Diversity
• Agricultural Cooperatives Lag in Diversity
• Challenges for Board Diversity
• The Need for Board Diversity
• Fleet Size and Fertilizer Department Profitability
• What Drives Fertilizer Department Profitability
• Competitive Board Elections
• Strengthening Your Bylaws
• Board of Director Compensation
• Valuing the Cooperative Firm
• If you are not at the Table You are Likely on the Menu
• Russian Roulette with Three Cylinders Loaded
• Does a Sense of Ownership Impact Participation in Governance?