Cooperative Services Branch

Iowa, Minnesota, California top states for ag co-op business volume

February 11, 2022

Note: This bulletin is based on a state-by-state analysis of USDA’s 2020 survey of agricultural cooperatives and discusses the leading states for cooperative business volume (sales of commodities and farm supplies). 

In 2020, Iowa was the nation’s top state for gross business volume conducted by agricultural cooperatives. USDA’s annual survey of cooperatives shows that 102 ag co-ops operating in Iowa reported conducting $19.3 billion in gross business from marketing farm commodities, selling farm supplies and providing services, or a combination thereof.

Minnesota ranked second—192 ag co-ops operating in the state conducted $17.2 billion in gross business. California was third, with 127 co-ops conducting $14.9 billion worth of business. Illinois ranked fourth, with $12.3 billion generated by 113 co-ops, while Wisconsin was fifth, with 95 ag co-ops conducting $11.1 billion in business.

Of the $198.6 billion that ag co-ops grossed from sales and other operating income, the top 5 states of Iowa, Minnesota, California, Illinois and Wisconsin accounted for 37.6 percent of it.  These same 5 states were also the top 5 in net business volume (eliminating business done between co-ops).

Co-ops' marketing of commodities          

Co-ops marketed $46.7 billion of grain and oilseeds in 2020, ag co-ops’ largest commodity sector. This sector accounted for 38.9 percent of the total of $120.2 billion in net commodity sales collected by all co-ops nationally. Dairy was the second largest sector for co-op marketing, at $44.5 billion (37.0 percent of all ag co-op marketing). Fruit and vegetables ranked third, at $6.8 billion (5.7 percent), followed by: sugar, $4.6 billion (3.9 percent); livestock, $3.4 billion (2.9 percent); cotton and cottonseed, $2.7 billion (2.3 percent); rice, $1.8 billion (1.5 percent); and nuts, $1.7 billion (1.4 percent).

The following ag commodity sectors each accounted for less than 1 percent of total co-op marketing: poultry ($916 million, 0.7 percent); tobacco ($327.5 million, 0.3 percent); beans and peas ($248.4 million, 0.2 percent); and fish ($211.5 million, 0.2 percent).

The “other” category (which combines forest products, hay, nursery products, coffee, farmers markets, etc.) accounted for about $4.6 billion (or 9.1 percent) of total ag co-op marketing volume in 2020.

Figure 1 charts the proportion of commodities marketed relative to the total net volume. Grains and oilseeds marketing made up 38.8 percent of the total and dairy followed at 37.0 percent. Thus, these two commodities represented almost 76 percent of total ag co-op marketing. Following the top two biggest commodities were fruit and vegetables (5.7 percent of the total), sugar (3.9 percent), and livestock (2.9 percent).

Relative proportion of commodities marketed by ag co-ops, 2020

For total commodities marketed by ag co-ops, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Washington were the leading states. California marketed $12.5 billion of farm commodities, followed by Iowa ($10.2 billion), Minnesota ($10.0 billion), Wisconsin ($6.3 billion), and Washington ($6.0 billion).

The major commodities marketed in California included dairy, fruits and vegetables, nuts, rice, and poultry. Major marketing of commodities in Minnesota were grains and oilseeds, dairy, sugar, livestock and poultry. Iowa was the top state for co-op grains and oilseeds and livestock marketed, Arkansas for rice, Texas for cotton and cottonseed, Maine for fish, and North Dakota for dry beans and peas.

Farm supplies sold by co-ops

Co-ops sold $50.9 billion in farm supplies in 2020. The highest sales levels among farm supplies, were petroleum and energy products at $16.7 billion, followed by fertilizer at $10.4 billion, feed at $9.9 billion, crop protectants at $5.8 billion, other supplies at $4.6 billion and seed at $3.4 billion. 

Figure 2 illustrates that petroleum and energy products accounted for 32.9 percent of total net farm supplies sold by co-ops. Next was fertilizer at 20.4 percent, followed by feed (19.5 percent), crop protectants (11.5 percent), other supplies (9.1 percent), and seed (6.6 percent).

Relative proportion of farm supplies sold by ag co-ops, 2020

The leading state for farm supply sales by ag co-ops was Iowa in 2020 at $6.5 billion in net sales, or 12.7 percent of the nation’s total. Minnesota was next with co-op sales of $5.0 billion, or 9.8 percent of all ag co-op farm supply sales. Illinois ranked third, with $4.5 billion in farm supply sales (8.8 percent). Following those states were Wisconsin ($3.3 billion), and Nebraska ($3.1 billion). The states of North Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and South Dakota rounded out the top-ten states in farm supply sales by co-ops.

Iowa was the leading state for ag co-op sales of petroleum, feed, and fertilizer. Illinois was the leading state in co-op sales of crop protectants and seed, and Wisconsin led in sales of other farm supplies.

Co-ops also cooperate with each other, conducting a significant amount of inter-cooperative business. A total $22.2 billion in inter-cooperative business occurred in 2020.

Trends

The top 10 ag co-op states for combined net sales of marketed commodities and farm supplies (Iowa, Minnesota, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Washington, Kansas, North Dakota, and Texas) had collected 58 percent of the total from all the states from which co-ops operated within. Iowa has been the top state since 2018, Minnesota ranked first in 2016 and 2017. However, for net sales of marketed commodities, California has been first since 2018. For just farm supply net sales, Iowa has ranked first for the past 5 years.

Figure 3 charts the net sales of ag co-ops for the top 5 states over the five-year period, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Illinois, and Wisconsin, while Figure 4 shows the overall net sales of marketed commodities, farm supplies, commodities and supplies combined.

Trends of ag co-op net marketing and supply sales, 2016 through 2020

Net sales trends of ag co-op marketed commodities & supplies, 2016 to 2020

Of the five years depicted, Minnesota had the most net sales in 2016, at $19.2 billion. The top-ten states accounted for 58.0 percent of total net commodity marketing sales by ag co-ops, and 67.3 percent of net farm supply sales. For combined marketing and supplies, the top ten co-ops had 58.0 percent of total net sales.

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Agricultural cooperatives work to ensure that their member-owners have access to sound marketing services for their commodities and fairly priced farm supplies and services in the states in which their members operate farms and ranches. As this bulletin has shown, business volume of nearly $200 billion from net sales and service income is significant, and ag co-ops have a strong presence in many states in the nation.

For the longer bulletin on cooperative state volume in 2020, with more detail and information, including 5 corresponding data tables, please request from coopinfo@usda.gov

For visuals of this information in maps of the United States please see: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDARD/bulletins/30423b8. For the Excel workbook of maps, request from coopinfo@usda.gov

Link to this bulletin: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDARD/bulletins/30a3e41

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Cooperative Service Branch Bulletins fall under Cooperative Development

Contact Information:

USDA Rural Development, Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Business Development Division, Cooperative Services Branch

coopinfo@usda.gov