Agricultural Cooperation in Western Europe -- Section A. – The Benelux Countries

Excerpts from the report Preface: Farmer cooperatives and general farm organizations of Western Europe are of increasing interest to the people of the United States. At least two factors are responsible. One is the close working relations developing between the agricultural organizations of Western Europe and those of the United States. The other is the important role which these organizations play in the economic life of their countries. Thus, in the United States, there is a continuing and growing need on the part of cooperative and other groups for information on agricultural cooperatives in these Western European countries. This report is an attempt to fill the need for such information. This report covers several phases of cooperation and cooperative development in the Benelux countries. It discusses the time and place of organizing the first cooperatives, the reasons for organizing, the service performed, and the periods of greatest activity. It shows the organization set-up and relative national importance of each commodity or enterprise cooperative in its field. In addition, it presents the relationships of the agricultural cooperatives with consumer cooperatives, general farm organizations, and government.