Co-op Bill Keeps Moving Along

Nick Levendofsky,  WFU Government Relations Associate, updated the WI Farm Report Radio Network.  Levendofsky sites four specific areas that he’s watching –

If you are a member of any cooperative in Wisconsin:

– Up to 20 percent of your cooperative’s board seats could be turned over to non-members, including outside investors.

– You could lose the right to review cooperative records that are more than three years old – looks like an amendments coming.

– Your co-op would be allowed to give greater than 8 percent returns to capital investors.

In addition to these changes, if you are a member of the cooperative holding company Cooperative Resources International (CRI) or its member co-ops Genex or AgSource:

– Your co-op could choose to base voting power on patronage, rather than the principle of one member, one vote. If this change is adopted, average-sized farms would see their voting power in the co-op significantly diminished compared to the co-op’s very largest farm members.

Levendofsky says it’s important for all farmers to understand how these potential changes could impact their relationship and representation on their coop board.