Excerpts from the report Preface: July 2, 1991, marks the 65th anniversary of passage of the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926. This act recognizes cooperative marketing as an implicit part of the Nation's policy prescription for assisting producers of agricultural products to deal with issues facing them. Some of the momentum supporting this approach was altered in the Depression of the 1930's when farm programs were initiated to address a number of the same problems. The Department's role in assisting producers and other rural residents to engage in self-help activity is worth documenting at this juncture. It demonstrates how a relatively small program, by Federal standards, has had a significant impact on improving farm incomes and market efficiency. Cooperation takes on an increasingly important role as independent farmers face a marketplace characterized by more integration, coordination, and interdependence. Readers should glean from this book how a governmental service-oriented program can augment a stronger and more prosperous production agriculture and rural America.