Riviersonderend South Africa | Talk about the use of farm coops in this age came up at an farmers gathering last night.
Two of our local coops in the district became companies about 5 years ago and decided to become one last year,had to get bigger to be more of a role player ,which i can understand.
I think the original idea when the first Coops was formed was to buy in bulk at the best price inputs for its members and the profit margin was small to gave the farmers the best price.
A lot of storage for the farmers products in our case grain were built to handle the harvest and store it.
Silos were big investments for the Coops and the most money were made with the handling and storage of the farmers harvest.
Since becoming companies and shares were traded on the open market , a lot of investors are buying the shares with no intrest in farming just to see a good return on their investment.
What is happening is that the member of the Coop is now a shareholder in the company,whose main aim is big profits to pay out big dividends to its shareholders and the original "Coop Idea"of the past went out of the window.
The farmer member who had to find the best price on his inputs and grain storage are having it difficult to do business with its own "Coop"
My question is this an world wide problem and what actions had farmers done to counter it.
Just my thoughs this sunny morning.
Solly |
Farm Coops
