National Effort to Inform about Cooperatives Starts with University Extension

Audio provided as a service to farm broadcasters by the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center at Iowa State University.

Audio with Madeline Schultz, Program Coordinator for the Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture Program.

Suggested Lead: October was National Cooperative Month. Madeline Schultz - Program Coordinator for the Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture Program - says it makes sense to recognize this important business model - as nearly 40-percent of the U.S. population has joined a cooperative. What’s more - she says cooperatives have a lot to offer economically. Schultz notes the top 100 cooperative businesses in the U.S. had more than 175-billion dollars in revenue in 2009…tape

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Schultz says we also have agricultural marketing cooperatives, rural electric cooperatives, telephone cooperatives and cooperatives that back national brands like Ace Hardware and Land O’Lakes. But many folks access cooperatives quite frequently without even realizing it. That’s why Schultz says it’s important to get information about cooperatives into the hands of people across America…tape

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Schultz is part of a national effort to get new resources on cooperatives into the hands of consumers, cooperative managers, young people who might be interested in getting involved and those who just want to know more. She says a group of professors and extension professionals from around the U.S. are developing information on cooperatives…tape

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Again - that resource is available at www dot eXtension (EE-extension) dot org (www.extension.org). Another resource is Iowa State University’s Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Schultz says articles and information about cooperatives are available online at www dot agmrc dot org (www.agmrc.org).