Completed Projects

Farmers' Attitudes Toward Agricultural Cooperatives on the Northern Plains

The need for this project is addressed in terms of three major objectives:

• Compare characteristics and attitudes of two groups of farmers--members of new, emerging, value-added agriculture cooperatives in the northern plains (North Dakota and parts of South Dakota and Minnesota with other farmers in the region).

• Ascertain primary agricultural lenders' perceptions of profitability of new cooperative ventures and the reflection
  of this perception to their clientele.

• Identify the dimensions and levels of confusion and dissatisfaction of members of marketing cooperatives regarding allocation of cooperative benefits, cooperative finance, control, and the extent that interests of diverse groups
  are satisfied.

Strategies for Rural Cooperative Development

Three objectives are given:

• Identify potential opportunities for cooperatively owned rural businesses in North Dakota.

• Determine conditions required for successful rural cooperative development.

• Compare investor and non-investor characteristics and attitudes toward investment in cooperatives and other investment alternatives.

Non-Agricultural Cooperative Business Opportunities in the Great Plains

The purposes of this agreement are to:

• Identify the magnitude of rural development opportunities and to illustrate the problems of establishing new non-farm cooperatives in the Northern Plains as a development strategy for bringing economic vitality to local communities.

Develop a plan of action to address these problems by creating a comprehensive way to enable the development of outreach and pre-development activities that will lead to more cooperative businesses in rural communities where needs are identified and economic feasibility can be demonstrated.