[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Cooperatives post record income and revenue in 2014[/title][fusion_text]Wednesday, October 7th 2015
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the nation’s farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record income and revenue in 2014. As part of USDA’s observance of October as National Cooperative Month, Vilsack previewed a USDA report to be released later this month that shows cooperatives earned $6.5 billion in net income and generated $246.7 billion in total revenue last year. Net income increased 16.5 percent while revenue rose 0.4 percent from 2013. Co-ops set records for income and revenue in 2014 for the fourth year in a row. Ag co-op employment increased 0.4 percent to 191,000 people in 2014. The number of full-time co-op employees dipped slightly, 0.4 percent, while the number of part-time employees increased by 2 percent. The total number of ag cooperatives declined from 2,186 in 2013 to 2,106 last year, a drop of nearly 4 percent. Despite the decline, co-op memberships grew by 1 percent, to just under 2 million. Many farmers and ranchers are members of more than one cooperative. In addition to providing supplies and marketing services to farmers and ranchers, the nation’s co-ops provide telecommunications, energy, financial and other important services. Vilsack recently signed a Cooperative Month proclamation that salutes the nation’s cooperative business sector, which includes about 30,000 co-ops.
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