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Small-Scale

Dairy Farming Manual

Volume 6
Husbandry Unit 13
DAIRY FARMING ORGANIZATIONS

page 23
Extension Materials
What should you know about dairy cooperatives?
1 What is a dairy cooperative and why join? (5-16)

A dairy cooperative is:
- a group of people working together to help each other and share benefits.
2 What does a dairy cooperative do? (17-35)

A dairy cooperative:
- provides services for members
- keeps records and organises financial matters.
3 What types of dairy cooperative are there? (36-44)

There are:
- single-purpose cooperatives
- multi-purpose cooperatives.
 

 
4 How can you organise a dairy cooperative? (45-49)

By choosing:
- the right person
- for the right job
- in the right structure.
page 25
What is a dairy cooperative?
5 A group of people working together on dairying:
- they put their labour and resources together to benefit all members.

 6 A cooperative is democratic:
- each member has one vote.
7 By members working as a group, the cooperative can help by:
- making the best use of the money and resources which each member has
 

 
 8
- buying large quantities of necessary items at lower prices such as concentrates
page 26


9
- sharing the costs of collection, processing and distribution
- making production more efficient and increasing employment
- making a profit to share between members.
10 Each year, some of the surplus money goes to the cooperative for financial, social and training services
 11 and the members share the rest of the money.
So you get more benefit by joining other farmers in a dairy 
 

 
cooperative
12 and sometimes your dairy cooperative can get more benefits by working with other dairy cooperatives.
page 27
Why join a dairy cooperative?
13 Without a cooperative, you must spend a long time
- to send your milk to the chilling plant
- to collect your feed
14 or deal with a middle man who takes a high profit and may be corrupt.
15 With a cooperative, you can have milk collecting points in each village or group of villages.
The collecting points can also provide feed and other requirements.
 

 
16 By sharing, you:
- spend less time travelling
- reduce the cost of feed because the coop buys in bulk.
page 28
What does a dairy cooperative do?
17 It organizes members for efficient collection, processing and distribution of milk.
18 It checks milk quality
- on the farm
- during processing
- during retail.

19 It sets milk prices paid to members.
It negotiates sale prices for milk on behalf of all members.
20 It supplies:
- animal feeds
- farm and household supplies.
page 29
21 The cooperative purchases:
- equipment
- vehicles
- buildings
necessary for cooperative activities.
22 Each farmer needs:
- an open milking bucket
- a milking bucket with a hood
23
- a milk transport can, large enough to hold all the milk with:
- a lid
- a wide neck to allow cleaning.
 

 
24 For example: 1 cow needs: 1 x 10 l milk can
so
1 farmer with 4 cows needs:
- 4 x 10 l milk cans and
- 1 x 40 l milk transport can.
page 30


25 Each milk collecting point needs:
- milk transport cans.
26 

For example:
25 members supply 400 l to the collecting point so there should be at least:
- 12 x 40 l cans (2 spare cans).
 

 

27 The milk chilling centre needs:
- cooling tanks.
For example, the daily collection is:
- 2,500 l from 10 collecting points with 300 members.
28 The processing plant collects milk from the chilling centres and, therefore, needs larger capacity.
page 31


29 The cooperative provides:
- A.I. services
- veterinary services.
30 For this work, a cooperative needs:
- vets
- inseminators
- extension workers
- milk recorders (where there is official milk recording).
 

 
31 It provides training:
- in husbandry
- and cooperatives.
page 32


32 The cooperative keeps records of all credits and debits
33 and produces balance sheets for:
- milk collection and marketing
- sales of cattle feed and consumer goods
- other activities.
34 An internal auditor checks:
- investments
- budgets
- loans
- payments.
 

 
35 Cooperative officers or private auditors approved by the cooperative:
- do the final auditing
- report to the meeting of all the members.
page 33
What types of cooperatives are there?
Single-purpose cooperatives
36 This type of cooperative only supports dairying, dairy feeds and milk processing.
37 In some countries, e.g. India, the cooperative does not give credit.
The bank may offer credit to members of the cooperative.
38 In other countries, e.g. Indonesia and Thailand, the cooperative does offer credit.
 

 
39 Only milk producers can be members of these single-purpose cooperatives.
page 34


Multi-purpose cooperatives
40 This type of cooperative supports other activities besides dairying:
- crop production e.g. smallholder tea
41
- general sales outlets e.g. in Indonesia.
  42 Milk producers, tea producers, consumers and others can join multi-purpose cooperatives.
 

 
43 Some cooperatives process milk from members and market the products.
Profits are shared with members.
page 35
How can you organize a cooperative?
44 You choose the:
- right man
- for the right job
- in the right structure.
  page 36
 What are the duties of each group?
45 The General Assembly has a President and a Secretary elected from the members.
It can:
- elect and dismiss the President, Secretary, Board of Directors and Management
- approve budgets and rules
- vote on other important subjects.
46 The Board of Directors has a Chairman, Secretary, Cashier and Board Members, and is responsible to the General Assembly.
It can:
- arrange meetings of the General Assembly
- interpret rules
- supervise management
- set and review budgets.
47 The Supervisory Board has an Auditor and Inspectors.
It can:
- check accounts
- supervise administration
- check production
- call meetings if necessary.
page 37
48 The Advisory Board has experts in many fields.
It can give specialist advice on:
- housing
- processing
- marketing.
49 The General Manager and the Section Managers:
- manage the personnel
- make sure to achieve objectives
- report activities and budgets to the Board of Directors.
In small cooperatives members will do most of the jobs above.
Large cooperatives will employ specialists where necessary.
page 38
What do you know about dairy cooperatives?


What a dairy cooperative is
1 Activities 
(5-9)
2 Sharing benefits 
Reasons for joining
1 Problems of time and middle man 
2 Benefits of milk collecting points and cooperation 
What a dairy cooperative does
1 Organises collection 
(17)
2 Checks milk quality 
(18)
3 Negotiates milk prices 
(19)
4 Supplies goods for members 
(20)
5 Purchases items for activities 
(21)
6 Farmer requirements 
7 Milk collecting point requirements 
8 Milk chilling centre requirements 
(27)
9 Milk processing plant requirements 
(28)
10 Cooperative services and manpower requirements 
11 Financial matters 
Types of dairy cooperative
1 Single-purpose 
2 Multi-purpose 
Organising a dairy cooperative
1 Manpower and structure 
(44)
2 Organisation:
- General Assembly 
(45)
- Board of Directors 
(46)
- Supervisory Board 
(47)
- Advisory Board 
(48)
- General and Section Managers 
(49)

page 39

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