Assessing the Effectiveness of Farm Supply Cooperatives: A Comparison of Farmer and Manager Viewpoints

This paper reports the results of a survey of attitudes of commercial fanners and supply cooperative managers about agricultural supply cooperatives. Cooperative managers and fann­ ers frequently made significantly different responses to questionnaire statements. With a few exceptions, fann size and fanner age did not appear to influence perceptions about supply cooperatives. "",nether a fanner was a cooperative member was important in some cases. Lower prices in lieu of easy credit and patronage refunds were found to be acceptable to farmers, but not at the expense of good service. Managers placed great importance on member loyalty to the supply cooperative without regan! to price considerations.