Cooperative Partners Online Magazine
Candles Light up Business - North Dakota-based Candlelight Cottage Inc., sells handcrafted candles made from 100 percent soybean wax. May 5, 2003.
Growing a New Farm Niche - A Kansas producer built greenhouses to raise vine-ripened, pesticide- and herbicide-free tomatoes for the wholesale food market. July 7, 2004.
A Dairy Disneyland - A Door County, Wis., dairy farm embraced tourism and expanded to better accommodate visitors to their 575-cow operation. Oct. 11, 2001.
Milking the Tourist Trade - The Young family of Ohio has expanded its retail store to include activities for all ages. Sept. 15, 2002.
Pearing Up Healthy with Handy - This story profiles how an Oregon family is adding value to a whole-pear market. July 20, 2001.
Rice Farming on the Flat - An Arkansas family raises a premium short-grain variety for Oriental dishes. Sept. 13, 2001.
Market to Market, Iowa Public Television
Duncan Family Farms - Market to Market, Iowa Public Television. An Arizona vegetable farm bolsters sustainability through tourism. Jan. 18, 2002.
Organic Dairy Producers Profit - Market to Market, Iowa Public Television. Organic Valley of LaFarge, Wis., is the nation’s largest farmer-owned organic dairy cooperative. May 2, 2003.
Organic Farmer Runs Frozen Food Operation - Market to Market, Iowa Public Television.
A Minnesota farm raises, processes and freezes organic crops for the organic frozen food market. Oct. 25, 2002.
200 Pork Producers Dare to Dream - Illinois-based Meadowbrook Farms opens for pork processing following five years of development. Oct. 15, 2004.
Other
Producer Profiles -- PCC Natural Markets -- Producer profiles of food and health product producers that really care about people, the environment and the integrity of their products.
Romance vs. Reality: Hard Lessons Learned in a Grass-fed Beef Marketing Cooperative - Part One (pdf) - Tallgrass Prairie Producers Co-op, Kansas Rural Center. 2001. At it’s peak during five years of operation, this co-op marketed beef in 23 states through three large natural food distributors. Product volume was too low for competitive processing costs and inadequate capital kept the group from hiring professional management.
Finding a Niche - How Dakota Growers Pasta Co-op Found Success in a Highly Competitive Market - Kansas State University, Rural Cooperatives Magazine. 2001. A closed membership cooperative, this vertically integrated North Dakota business turns durum wheat into pasta for the retail private-label, foodservice and ingredient market segments.