Birth of a Cooperative Nation Whole Farm Cooperative (WFC) arose in response to the large corporate-run conglomerates that threaten the small farm way of life. Comprised of about fifty family farms throughout Central Minnesota, the Co-op draws from a strong history of livestock, dairy, and vegetable farmers marketing goods cooperatively. Begun in a basement, which […]
Snowy Pines Restoration
Message in a Bottle Greg and his wife, Marcia Rapatz’s passion for trees led to the creation of Snowy Pines Reforestation, a service-oriented forestry business committed to sustainable forestry and reforestation near Browerville, MN. Combined, Greg and Marcia have over 45 years of forestry experience. “Planting trees is like sending a message in a bottle,” […]
Prairie Farmers Cooperative
A Hot Dog Competes and is a Wiener When investing in ethanol was first proposed to state officials and bankers, many balked and questioned whether farmer-owned plants could compete with huge agribusiness processors. Despite the skepticism Prairie Farmers Cooperative built their own processing facility. Still, they wondered how could a family farmer hot dog compete […]
PastureLand Cooperative
Their Own Brand PastureLand Cooperative in southeast Minnesota is marketing cheese, butter, milk and ice cream made from the milk of grass-fed cows. Together with six Rochester area producers, the co-op aremarketing their own brand of cheese and milk. It wasn’t just low milk prices that prompted members of a Rochester-area cooperative to create their […]