Some of the most well-known names in agriculture are atop the list of 100 largest cooperatives by revenue compiled by the National Cooperative Bank.
CHS Inc. tops the list with more than $28 billion in 2020 revenue. The other two co-ops in the top three are ag giants Dairy Farmers of America and Land O’Lakes with $17.8 billion and $14 billion in revenue, respectively.
Growmark ($7.5 billion in 2020 revenue) and Ag Processing Inc ($4 billion) are also in the list’s top 10.
Overall, agriculture-specific co-ops account for 49 of the list’s 100 businesses, but that figure could arguably be higher if it included ag lenders like CoBank (number 11 on the list) or Farm Credit Services of America (number 29), which are classified as "Finance." The list also includes grocers and retailers critical to the business of farmers and ranchers like ACE Hardware Corp. and Do-it-Best Corp.
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While the 2021 list reported agriculture’s dominance in the usage of the cooperative system’s member-owned business model, it also reported some shifts in revenue between 2019 and 2020 when compared to last year’s figures. The report’s figures showed a drop of about $3.5 billion in revenue for CHS. DFA and Land O’Lakes both reported increases – about $2 billion for DFA and roughly $100 million for Land O’Lakes.
Overall, the cooperatives in the report brought in about $2.1 billion less in assets in 2020, but the value of co-op assets jumped $133.7 billion.
The report is released every October during National Co-op Month.
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