Number of farmer co-ops falls, but turnover on rise

The number of co-operatives operating in the agricultural sector has shrunk, but their combined turnover has risen to a three-year high at just over £7.9bn.

Co-operatives UK has produced its annual summary of the role of co-ops in the economy which reveals that a total of 434 farmer co-ops now operate in the UK – down from 440 the previous year.

The number of farmer members has also dropped by 1.8% to 153,486 after successive increases since 2015.

See also: Number of UK farmer co-ops falls for fifth year 

But the report also shows the importance of farmer co-ops to the “co-op economy”, with nine agricultural businesses featuring in the top 20 best performing UK co-ops by turnover.

In fact, agricultural co-ops are second only to the high-street retail sector in terms of turnover.

Retail’s dominance is not unexpected given it includes household names such as the Co-Op Group and the John Lewis Partnership.

Openfield

Openfield, which is owned by 4,152 farmers and sells around 4 million tonnes of British grain every year, featured as the seventh-largest co-op in the UK and the second-largest of the farmer-owned co-ops, behind Arla Foods.

Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK secretary general, said the economy could learn a lot from businesses such as Openfield.

“More co-ops can help pave the way for an economy that doesn’t just serve the rich – those already at the top of the food chain,” he said.

“Co-ops are more equitable; wealth is shared among members and they enrich the communities in which they operate.”

The 2019 report also reveals that co-ops are a resilient business model, with almost three out of four co-op start-ups (72%) still in operation after the first five years of existence.

In contrast, more than half of all new companies (57%) ceased to exist before reaching that same milestone.