Dutch Agricultural Cooperation: Small Land Large Agriculture

Source: International Herald Tribune 2013-04-16 14:24:27

between urban and rural areas in the Netherlands, you can see patches of grassy pastures and happy cows everywhere, and rows of neatly arranged modern greenhouse off-season fruits and vegetables are covered with branches, forming a pastoral scenery with Dutch characteristics. Our reporter Pan Zhi/photo

"International Herald Tribune" reporter Pan Zhihong Tianmu from The Hague

this spring, the phenomenon of "cheap vegetables hurting farmers" appeared again and again. The high cost and low price of vegetables made farmers prefer to let vegetables rot in the ground. To solve this problem, the establishment of agricultural cooperatives is a good way. Farmers in many countries avoid the price risk of agricultural products through this way. In recent years, China has also vigorously promoted the establishment of various forms of new farmers' cooperative organizations. However, the problems such as the quality of cooperation, the level of standardization, the talent team and the implementation of policies can not be ignored. The development of agricultural cooperatives with a hundred years of experience in the Netherlands, its approach is worth learning from.

30-year-old Dutch boy, Kosteen. Brocklandt, who runs a dairy ranch with his parents and older brother. This 48-hectare ranch, located in a small town near the western Dutch city of Rotterdam, is a typical Dutch family ranch.

"Since my grandfather's grandfather's generation, our family has been running a ranch," Kosteen said. "Although we just sold the old ranch and moved to this new place not long ago, the ranch has changed little except that it has become bigger."

in this pasture, in addition to a few not too big farmhouses, there are more contiguous pastures, and the leisurely cows stop and go. The entire ranch can accommodate about 200 cows and 140 calves. In the whole Netherlands, it is considered a medium-small ranch.

"At present, we have joined two agricultural cooperatives, one of which is to help cows breed, and the other Friesland. The Campina cooperative is responsible for helping us sell milk, especially the latter one, which is very important to us. It is our guarantee of income from running the farm." Kosteen said.

In the Netherlands, farmers join at least one agricultural cooperative, just like the Kosteins. Walking between urban and rural areas in the Netherlands, you can see patches of green pastures and rows of neatly arranged modern greenhouses. Behind these scattered farms or pastures, there is a strong production coordination organization. This is the Dutch agricultural cooperative model that has developed for a hundred years.

All products sold to cooperatives

the Costian family joined Friesland. The Campina Cooperative is now the largest agricultural cooperative in the Netherlands, with nearly 15000 members and a turnover of about 9 billion euros (1 euro is about 8.18 yuan) in 2010. Before reaching its current size, the cooperative underwent several large mergers, and the agricultural cooperative that the Kosteans first joined was incorporated into it after several twists and turns, so they joined the merged cooperative.

"We can be considered the farmers at the bottom of the cooperative. The reason why we are willing to join and believe in the cooperative is mainly because of the security of income. At the same time, the cooperative's organizational structure, democratic principles and transparent operation give people a sense of trust," Kosteen said.

"After joining the cooperative, we can clearly know that our milk can be sold." Kosteian went on to explain, "There are also some business organizations in the Netherlands. If you don't join the cooperative, you can also sell milk to them, but in that case, you never know how much you should produce and how much you can sell. And join the cooperative, according to the regulations, the cooperative must buy all your products, so the income of farmers is guaranteed. When the market is bad, those commercial organizations will not ask for your milk, and the cooperative will remain the same."

in fact, the benefits of joining an agricultural cooperative go beyond that. The reporter's investigation learned that, for example, for the Kostean family's farm, in addition to the main income earned by joining the cooperative to obtain sales security, it is also possible to participate in an additional second profit distribution at the end of the year based on the share of economic transactions with the cooperative. 30% of the total amount of this secondary profit distribution will be collected by the cooperative as funds for the cooperative's operation and risk resistance. 35% will enter the cooperative's equity collective shares, and the remaining 35% will be returned to farmers in the form of cash, like dividends.

"More importantly, farmers know that if they cooperate with cooperatives, it must be a long-term cooperation," Kostian said. "If they cooperate with businesses, although there are temporary benefits, they are not sure whether they will be able to renew the contract next year."

not for profit

the literal translation of the English name of the country means "Low Land". Due to the low-lying terrain and adjacent to the North Sea, the Dutch have had to fight against water for a long time since ancient times, and in the process of building water conservancy facilities, all projects will absorb the opinions of all parties, balance the interests of all parties, and finally reach a compromise. "Polder model".

Dutch agricultural cooperatives also have such distinctive characteristics. Because of this, the first agricultural cooperative in history established in 1877 in the province of Zeeland in the southwest of the Netherlands was named "Self-interest".

In the 1870 s, the Netherlands suffered a major agricultural economic crisis. At that time, a large number of cheap agricultural products from the United States and Russia poured into the Dutch market, and Dutch farmers were still in a state of "natural economy", unfamiliar with market news, and difficult to respond to market changes. In this context, the unity of small farmers in order to form a joint force in the market of agricultural cooperatives came into being.

According to the Dutch Wageningen University agricultural economics professor Jos. According to Byman, Dutch agricultural cooperatives are "enterprises owned, controlled and benefited by their members."

among them, "member-owned" means that the member is not only the service object of the cooperative, that is, the user, but also the main provider of the cooperative's equity capital; "member control" means that the member is also the decision-maker of the cooperative. Members uniformly decide the development strategy and organization of the cooperative through democratic voting. "Members' benefit" means that the cooperative itself is not for profit, that is to say, all the income of the cooperative will be allocated to the members except for deducting a part (generally 30%) as the operating funds of the cooperative organization and the funds to resist risks.

After more than 100 years of development and change, today's agricultural cooperatives have spread to all aspects and fields of Dutch agriculture. Usually, a farmer will join more than one agricultural cooperative to deal with various matters before, during and after agricultural production. But what has not changed for hundreds of years is that agricultural cooperatives are connected with farmers at one end and the market at the other, becoming a cooperative organization that does not seek their own profit in the "field to the counter.

Variety of cooperatives

the land area of the Netherlands is less than 42000 square kilometers, and the total agricultural land including agriculture and animal husbandry is only 20,000 square kilometers. It is precisely by relying on the power of cooperatives that the small country of the Netherlands has become an out-and-out agricultural country in the world. The net export value of agricultural products has been second only to the United States for many years, ranking second in the world.

Agricultural cooperatives in the Netherlands are diverse and of different sizes, but they share some common basic principles: independence, voluntariness, democracy, closeness, and non-capital profitability. Together, they safeguard the interests of farmers in joining cooperatives. It provides impetus for the long-term operation of cooperatives.

"Cooperatives can unite the power of farmers and put farmers in a more advantageous position in the production chain," said Sintia. Griffin told reporters.

Today, agricultural cooperatives have become the most important mode of production organization in the Netherlands. Judging from the supply of agricultural materials, 60% of chemical fertilizers and 55% of concentrated feed are provided by cooperatives. From the perspective of production and sales, 82 per cent of milk, 70 per cent of vegetables, 95 per cent of flowers, 63 per cent of beets and 100 per cent of potatoes consumed by people are provided by cooperatives. Ninety per cent of farmers' loans come from the credit cooperative Rabobank.

In fact, Rabobank is a "by-product" of the development of Dutch agricultural cooperatives ". From the beginning of the farmers' credit cooperative to today, it has become the second largest bank in the Netherlands and ranked 31st among global banks.

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