Project Overview
Enhancing the Sustainability of Producer-Owned Organizations
Annual Reports
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: technical assistance, workshop
- Farm Business Management: cooperatives
- Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, partnerships
Proposal abstract:
Producers practicing sustainable agriculture increasingly seek to develop new organizations to collectively market their products and capture profits from downstream levels. To increase their long-term profitability, producers introduce innovative mechanisms that create incentives for individuals to invest. Preliminary situational case studies indicate the horizon problem investment constraint should be explored by examining diverging member preferences within the producer-owned organizations. Preliminary analysis of the data collected through producer-member surveys suggest the horizon problem exists but is manifested differently based on the effectiveness of alternative cooperative structures in dealing with the tensions that arise from increasing heterogeneity among memberships.
Project objectives from proposal:
Short term:
•Increase knowledge about horizon problem
•Make management aware of organizational techniques to ameliorate horizon problem
Intermediate term:
•Incorporate mechanisms to align member investment with patronage
•Develop cooperative design with incentives for member investment
•Possible change in state legislation regarding cooperative policies
Long-term:
•Increase farmers’ economic well-being
•Enhance the quality of life for farmers
