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| This may be biased as I've sat on both sides of the table. Retail manager/board advisor and producer/customer. #1 all day long. Efficiency and buying power drive the market in most areas in "normal" production ag. As a manager, I didn't have the personal responsibility but all agronomy products (Fert, seed, crop protection). I could go on and on about the inefficiencies and difficulties in true price discovery dealing with coop suppliers and very much biased local boards.
Here the coops were made on the backs of livestock producers. Dairy especially. As land consolidation occurs the livestock guys want there equity payed out how it was sold to them 40 years ago. But the rules have changed because if the terms were followed many of the local coops would be insolvent and without any equity to operate and expand.
As a customer I will buy from whomever has the best price for what I need. For me there is almost zero "value" in whatever commodity I need. If a coop has a better buy on "X" products, the patronage is just an extra. It's not something of value to me because I may not ever see the big dividend.
The only reason I've seen to do business with a coop #2 location is better application, especially row-crop spraying. I'll gladly pay for an applicator. There's alot of "drivers" for the big coops. Many times its a revolving door for employees in coop #1 operations.
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Just some thoughs on COOP's
