California Agriculture

Agricultural producers and lenders have expressed concerns about the highly publicized financial difficulties experienced by some agricultural cooperatives. This study analyzes the comparative financial performance of cooperatives and investor-owned firms in four sectors: fruits and vegetables, dairy, farm supply and grain. Standard financial ratios measuring profitability, liquidity, leverage and asset efficiency were analyzed for 1991 through 2002. The overall financial performance of cooperatives on the West Coast was on par with that of similar investor-owned firms.