In today's world, it can be easy to forget where food and agricultural products come from. Many different farms work together to provide everything from coffee to cotton. The majority of these farms are members of one or more agriculture cooperatives. Farmers and consumers share the benefits of these varied partnerships. The market for fair trade and organic agricultural products has grown dramatically thanks in part to agricultural cooperatives. Export cooperatives make these products available to a global market, while community-supported agriculture brings local food to a local market.

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Agriculture cooperative

A cooperative is an entirely member-owned legal business and exists for the mutual benefit of its members. An agriculture cooperative, or farm coop, involves a group of farmers who produce food or other agricultural goods.

I recommend: Read more about farmer cooperatives at the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

Export cooperatives

Export cooperatives exist to sell goods abroad and to be competitive in a global agricultural marketplace.

I recommend: Visit Cooperatives Working Together for information about its assistance program for export cooperatives. See a successful example of an export cooperative at the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA).

Fair trade

Fair trade means ensuring that those who produce goods receive a fair payment for their work. It can also mean ensuring workers have a safe work environment. The most common agricultural fair trade product is coffee.

I recommend: The Fair Trade Federation details the principles of fair trade.

Organic

Organic generally means grown without pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. Organic farmers do not genetically modify their products. In the case of meat and dairy, organic means the product should be free from growth hormones and antibiotics.

I recommend: For further information on organic designations, visit Organic.

Community-supported agriculture, or CSA

Community-supported agriculture, or CSA, allows consumers to buy local food direct from farmers during their growing season. It ensures the freshest food for the consumer and the fastest payment for the farmer.

I recommend: Local Harvest maintains extensive information on CSA, as well as a database to search for CSAs in your area.

Local food

People are becoming more aware of the impact of transportation and other costs associated with food brought in from all over the world. Consumers are returning to eating more local food, meaning food produced within 100 miles of where the consumer lives.

I recommend: Check out terms of reference at the American Farmland Trust.

Agriculture cooperatives are at the forefront of a number of movements in the United States and worldwide. In the United States, national, statewide and local groups have organized to assist small farms and make their products visible and available to a more stable market. Worldwide, fair trade organizations have helped to organize local farmers to get fair prices and higher quality products.

Whether you're interested in shopping for fresh products from a farm coop or joining an existing ag coop in your area to sell your products, you can find the cooperative farming resources you need online. While most cooperative farms organize on a local or state level, national organizations assist in finding coop farms and farmers' markets.

When searching for a farm cooperative, use the following resources:

1. Search for the products you need from export cooperatives;

2. Search for local organizations to buy from farm coops;

3. Find local and state organizations you can join to sell your produce.

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Find international export agriculture cooperatives for fair trade

If you want to get involved in organic and fair trade movements by buying the right products for personal use or resale, search for export agriculture cooperatives that specialize in selling farmers' produce to an international market. Export cooperatives ship global produce that is either organic or certified by fair trade organizations.

I recommend: Melissa's global organic exports specializes in the sale of worldwide organic fruits and vegetables, enable consumers to get international produce that is healthy and produced under fair trade regulations. COPROEXNIC is a Nicaraguan organic agricultural grower-owned export cooperative that allows individuals to buy coffee and cotton direct, and provides contact information for more business options.

Get products from a local or national agricultural cooperative

If you want to buy farmers' produce from an ag coop, you can either find a local or state organization to buy from, or get produce shipped from an organization in another state. National agriculture cooperatives have branches or sponsored organizations of local farmers throughout the country.

I recommend: Whole Farm Coop is a local farm cooperative that allows customers to order groceries online and have them shipped. Organic Valley is a family of farms that sells and ships a range of meat and dairy products. Local Harvest is a national organization that allows you to search for sponsored farmer coops in your area by state and zip.

Join an existing agricultural cooperative to sell farm produce locally

Joining a farm cooperative is the best way to expand the market for your small farm produce. If you want to join the organic or locally grown movement you can get involved with a coop in your state or region. By joining a cooperative, you can ensure that your produce is sold to a stable market even if you don't have a large crop yield.

I recommend: Foodroutes.org allows you to search for organizations by region if you are interested in joining an existing coop. The American Farmland Trust also provides resources for connecting with other farmers and finding a farm coop. You can search for local AFT activities such as farmland protection programs in your state.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you want to join a farm cooperative but no agricultural cooperatives exist in your area, consider founding your own farmers' market or coop. All you need to found an organization is a group of farmers committed to selling locally and some advertising to generate local interest.

A viable, yet inexpensive, way to sell fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs is to join a farm cooperative. A farm cooperative is a community of family farmers who work to sustain their farms by joining together to sell their goods and regulate prices. Profits go back into the co-op to benefit all members.

If you're the owner of a small farming business and would like to learn more about farm cooperatives, there are a lot of resources available to you. Some things you will want to learn about are:

1. How agricultural co-ops are formed and how they operate.

2. What a farm share is and how it helps a cooperative farm make money.

3. The difference between an organic farm co-op and a traditional agricultural co-op.

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Learn how a farming co-op operates

It may be hard to understand how farm cooperatives work without getting some specific information. That means you will need to do some research before you decide whether becoming a member of an agriculture co-op is right for your business.

I recommend: Go to the United States Department of Agriculture's website and read the detailed information about how co-ops work. Pay specific attention to the section entitled "What is a cooperative business?" Then send an information request to the National Council of Farm Cooperatives. Also consider attending the council's annual Washington, D.C., conference to learn more about cooperatives and network with other farmers.

Determine how co-op farms can benefit from a farm share

A good (and also a popular) way for an agricultural cooperative to make money is to offer farm shares to the public. These shares let individuals buy into your farm at a set seasonal fee in exchange for being allowed to pick their own produce.

I recommend: Go to Farm Direct Co-op to find out more about how farm shares work. Then visit LocalHarvest and search the listings for "community supported agriculture" to find a farm near you that participates in this practice. Interview one of these farmers to get more information. Most will be happy to impart their knowledge to help other potential cooperative farmers.

Find out more about organic farm cooperatives

When conducting your agriculture cooperatives education and training, don't forget to learn about organic farming co-ops. Joining an organic ag co-op could attract a niche audience to your products, especially with all the press about sustainable agriculture in recent years.

I recommend: Go to CROPP Cooperative's website and read about how organic co-ops work. You can also send an e-mail request to get more information. Then read about the Organic Valley co-op, which is one of the most prominent in the United States. There is a lot of information about this co-op on Organic Valley's website.