Author: cooperatives

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Unallocated Equity

Phil Kenkel

Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University

In a recent national project, academic researchers, cooperative managers and members, USDA, agricultural foundations and other stakeholders collaborated to identify the critical issues facing agricultural cooperatives.  A two-stage Delphi survey was conducted, followed by expert panel sessions in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The material below summarizes some of the findings from the project.

Unallocated equity, also called unallocated reserves and retained earnings, is permanent equity capital that is not assigned …

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The Section 199 Deduction and Patronage Calculations

By Phil Kenkel, Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University.

There is generally a gap between tax-based net income and book-based net income. While the IRS prefers to use taxable income as the patronage base, cooperatives can calculate patronage on either a tax or a book basis. Patronage refunds originated with the Rochdale principles, which stated “net margins distributed according to patronage.” This concept is reflected in Subchapter T of the IRS tax code, which lays out three basic criteria …

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Depreciating Fixed Assets

By Phil Kenkel, Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University.

Fixed assets are a necessary evil for agricultural cooperatives. Along with fixed assets comes the topic of depreciation. Depreciation can be thought of in at least three ways. The layman’s concept of depreciation is the decline in market value with use or obsolescence. We all expect a truck to depreciate when we drive if off the lot. That’s a great example to explain depreciation to teenagers but doesn’t help us …

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Communications

Phil Kenkel

Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University

In a recent national project, academic researchers, cooperative managers and members, USDA, agricultural foundations and other stakeholders collaborated to identify the critical issues facing agricultural cooperatives. A two-stage Delphi survey was conducted, followed by expert panel sessions in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The material below summarizes some of the findings from the project.

Cooperatives are owned and controlled by a diverse set of users. They also operate under a unique …

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Greg McKee

photo Greg McKee

Gregory McKee is an associate professor and director of the Quentin Burdick Cooperative Center at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Since joining NDSU in 2006, he has pursued a mission of conducting, promoting and coordinating university education and research on cooperatives; strengthening the operations of existing cooperatives; and working toward expanding employment and economic opportunities through cooperatives. Currently, Dr. McKee teaches a semester-length course on cooperative business management to undergraduate students online and at universities in North Dakota, and a …

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Challenges for the Board of Directors

By Phil Kenkel, Vice Chair, Cooperatives CoP and Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University, phil.kenkel@okstate.edu.

In a recent national project, academic researchers, cooperative managers and members, USDA, agricultural foundations and other stakeholders collaborated to identify the critical issues facing agricultural cooperatives. A two-stage Delphi survey was conducted, followed by expert panel sessions in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The material below summarizes some of the findings from the project.

A wide variety of governance issues including board member …

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High School Cooperative Syllabus

 

G. McKee.

Authors: Greg McKee, North Dakota State University, gregory.mckee@ndsu.edu, and Donald Frederick, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.

Summary: This page provides links to a syllabus designed for high school teachers who are interested in informing their students about cooperatives. The syllabus is designed to accompany the Co-ops 101: An Introduction to Cooperatives“book.” Whether it be part of a social studies, Ag Ed or Ag Business class, this syllabus provides an excellent teaching structure for the topic of …

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Rural Cooperative Development Centers

As of June 2012, nearly 40 Rural Cooperative Development Centers (RCDCs) were located in 26 states. The first centers were funded by the USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program in 2009.

This webpage provides several types of information about the RCDCs:

 

    • Name and Website URL of U.S. Rural Cooperative Development Centers – This
…
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CHS online co-op lessons

 

CHS Lessons and Test

Cooperative Fundamentals Online Lesson

This online lesson provides an excellent summary of how a cooperative works. Prepared in an easy-to-read format, the lesson is broken into sections, and each section ends with a short knowledge check. The lesson serves as a thorough preview or review for a cooperative class or lesson.

Fundamentals Test

CHS has provided this short test to go along with the online lesson above. The test consists of 12 multiple choice questions.…

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Cooperative Businesses

Authors: Brian Henehan, Cornell University, bmh5@cornell.edu, and Bruce Anderson, Cornell University

Reviewers: Gerald White and Brent Gloy, Cornell University

Organizational Characteristics

Probably the most widely known and proven of collaborative business organizations are cooperatives. They are usually formed of many entities and are legally constituted, limited liability corporations controlled by their members. Cooperative members are often in the same industry and have common economic interests that may involve joint marketing, purchasing of supplies and/or the providing of services.

Most …

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