Journal of Co-operative Studies, 58(2), 31-37

Abstract

This short article introduces a larger report on co-operative dairy farmers’ struggles. Farmers farming at a mid-level scale endure considerable stress and frustration seeking to survive, often at the edge of bankruptcy. Their survival dilemmas have at times been dismissed from the larger civil society with judgements about poor management or the ‘adapt or die’ trope, essentially directing farmers to sell the farm or to go into debt at the rate of millions of dollars. Giving up or losing their job, their career, their family’s security, their family heritage, their farm, and home can of course be profoundly disturbing, if not devastating. This study seeks to give voice to these farmers seeking to survive on the edge of structural displacement, drawing on qualitative comments from a survey of co-operative dairy members in the northwest U.S. and the author’s own formative experiences in family sized dairying. Emphasis is given to the double-binding nature of this lifestyle as reflected in farmer views and opinions about the world as a series of oppositions between and among farmers, between farmers and managers and employees, and between farmers and the larger co-operative, the market, and government. These comments are then used to formulate a series of member relations recommendations.  

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