If interested in forming a cooperative, learn all you can about the legal, economic, and financial aspects of a cooperative business. Cooperatives, to be responsible to their owners and to the laws of the land, are formally organized under a specific law that fits their purpose for being. They are generally organized under some state law rather than a federal law and usually under a law in the state where their headquarters are located. These state laws permit a company to be created and to exist. Each of them describes the allowable nature, in a general way, of a company created under them. The company’s founders choose the law that fits their purposes best and file "articles of incorporation" with the state’s Secretary of State. If all is in order, the Secretary of State issues a charter, or some similar authorization, to show that the company is permitted to be created.

Cooperatives Links

• Alternative Business Forms for Rural Economic Development (PDF: 72 KB / 8 pages) - Western Illinois University
• Co-ops have major beneficial impacts on rural communities - Rural Cooperatives, USDA
• Cooperative Feasibility Guide (PDF: 505 KB / 24 pages) - RBCS, USDA
• Cooperative Information Reports - Rural Development, USDA
• Cooperatives in Sustainable and Equitable Community Development (PDF: 944 KB / 217 pages) - Humboldt State University
• Directory of Farmer Cooperatives (PDF: 220 KB / 133 pages) - Rural Development, USDA
• How to Start a Cooperative (PDF: 136 KB / 4 pages) - Rural Development, USDA
• Lessons from a Failed Cooperative - University of California
• Measuring the Economic Impact of Cooperatives in Minnesota - RBCS, USDA
• Should I Join a New Processing Cooperative - North Dakota State University
• Starting a Value-Added Agribusiness: The Legal Perspective (PDF: 100 KB / 32 pages) - Western Illinois University 
• Value-Added Cooperatives in Rural Economic Development (PDF: 37 KB / 14 pages)- Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

Associations and Other Resources

• Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
• Cooperative Development Services
• Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
• Minnesota Association of Cooperatives/Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives
• National Cooperative Business Association
• National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
• Quentin Burdick Center For Cooperatives - North Dakota State University
• Rural Cooperative Center - University of California
• Rural Cooperatives Magazine - Rural Development, USDA
• Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs - USDA
• University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
• USDA Rural Business Investment Program - Rural Development, USDA

MDA Contact

Meg Moynihan
Minnesota Farm Opportunities
651-201-6616
Ag Marketing & Development Division