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Abstract
Agricultural producers establish and support a cooperative when it provides benefits they would not obtain by individual actions. Cooperatives are distinguished from other types of organized ventures in that owners are the primary users of services, who benefit in proportion to use. Members of a cooperative typically have diverse economic interests. These may encompass size, type and location of farm enterprises, and length of membership. Maintaining cohesiveness for building incentives to cooperate is becoming more complex as more variations in production practices and technology become available, new forms of business relationships are developed, and as consumer preferences continue to become more diverse and demanding. The objectives of this research are: first, examine the role of member consensus and policy consistency in a cooperative; second, examine member consensus and policy in a strategic framework of competition, where competitors offer individualized terms to selective producers that are difficult for cooperatives to match; and third, develop a game theory analysis for situations where cooperatives need to attract large-scale producers.