Cooperative Equity Redemption

A 2008 survey of 2,473 U.S. farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives was conducted to examine their equity redemption practices. The 792 respondents provided information on whether they had redeemed allocated equity in 2008 and if so, by what method. A revolving fund was most often used for redeeming member's equity, closely followed by redemption to patrons' estates. Information from 460 cooperatives that responded to both this and a 1991 equity redemption study is also compared. Additionally, the responses were grouped into eight cooperative types based on products sold or marketed and into seven asset sizes.