Marketing Operations Of Dairy Cooperatives, 2007

A total of 49,675 member-producers of the Nation's 155 dairy cooperatives marketed 152.5 billion pounds of milk, or 82.6 percent of all milk marketed, in 2007. Forty-five cooperatives operated 176 dairy processing and manufacturing plants, 12 handled milk through receiving stations only, and 98 had no milk handling facilities. Cooperatives marketed 71 percent of the Nation's butter, 96 percent of nonfat and skim milk powders, 26 percent of natural cheese, 7 percent of packaged fluid milk products, 4 percent of ice cream, 13 percent of ice cream mix, 11 percent of yogurt, 42 percent of dry whey products, 14 percent of sour cream, and 20 percent of condensed buttermilk. Cooperatives in the 1-billion-to-2-billion-pounds of milk group showed the most significant increase in the share of total cooperative milk volume, while the milk share of the larger sized groups, as a whole, was slightly lower. A total of 86 dairy cooperatives reported having 21,475 full-time and 2,944 part-time employees. Complete financial data submitted by 94 dairy cooperatives showed that total assets for the fiscal year were $8.41 per hundredweight (cwt); total liabilities, $6.09 per cwt; members' equity, $2.32 per cwt; and net margin before taxes, 28 cents per cwt, which represented a return on equity of 12.2 percent.