National Council of Farmer Cooperatives

NCFC is a national association representing America’s farmer cooperatives. There are nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives across the U.S. whose members include a majority of our nation’s more than 2 million farmers, ranchers and growers. These farmer cooperative businesses handle, process, and market agricultural commodities and related products; furnish farm supplies; and provide credit and associated financial services. Earnings from these activities are returned to their members on a patronage basis. Farmer cooperatives also provide jobs for nearly 250,000 Americans, many in rural areas, with a combined payroll of over $8 billion. 

Farmer cooperatives have been at the forefront of proactive work to improve the environment in the communities they serve.  From pest management to nutrient management, from development of cutting-edge technologies to implementation of area-wide conservation practices, farmer cooperatives have the expertise and the trust of their farmer members to serve as the best place for information on production practices.

In a time of increasingly onerous state, local and federal environmental requirements, coupled with demands from consumers, and in an effort to remain this country’s best stewards, NCFC supports 4R nutrient stewardship as an innovate approach to meeting many of these challenges.  NCFC and its member cooperatives hope to be a valuable rung on the ladder of information dissemination, education, and most importantly on-the-ground stewardship.