Value of Cooperative Benefits to Southern Dairy Farmers

摘要

The research sought to determine the tradeoff between the benefits of marketingmilk through a cooperative and the higher price received by producers selling milk to proprietary handlers. Prices received by farmers selling to cooperatives were compared with the price they could have received from a proprietary handler in the same area. The price differences were examined using various different measures. Four groupings of cooperative members with an alternative proprietary handler in their area were used to determine the value of cooperative benefits. The general price difference indicated that, overall, the cooperative members' mailbox price averaged $0.37 per hundredweight (cwt) lower than the prices paid by proprietary handlers.