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Mt. Pulaski, IL | We have a smaller coop (5 locations in 3 counties) that is very profitable. We only handle grain - no fertilizer or chemicals. We are usually paying as much or more for grain as the local private elevators and bigger coops and our drying and storage rates are no more than and most of the time less than the competitors. It is a well managed company.
If you have 5 shares of patronage stock, you get 5 votes. If you have 5000 shares, you get 5000 votes. We have no outstanding patronage stock older than 10 years. We pay patronage on grain bushels sold plus a percentage of drying and storage based on where the profits were in our financial statement. This keeps the voting members to only the active farmers and landowners who are doing business with the elevator. If you retire and have no interest in the farm land, you get 100% of the value of your stock in a check after the next board meeting. There is no reason for some coops to have 30 year old stock that only your family can get when you pass, or they make you transfer it to some relative who does not even know where the farm was.
As the coops get bigger, it seems they don't even pay any patronage back to the active members. I know some of that is because of constant expansion, however we probably average putting in 2 million dollars in new storage or handling equipment every year. | |
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coop got to big for me to vote
