37 
of associations organized since 1919, 85 were established between 
1955 and 1964, and 33 went out of business. A total of three asso- 
ciations were organized and operating in 1939, 15 by the end of 1949, 
and 45 by 1959. 
Comparison by commodity groups shows that of 42 fruit bargaining asso- 
ciations organized in the 1919-64 period, 35 were organized after 1954. 
Of the total, 28 were active at the end of 1964, and 14 had discon- 
tinued operations (appendix table 25). 
At least 61 vegetable bargaining associations were organized between 
1919 and 1964. This is 45 percent greater than the total fruit bar- 
gaining associations organized over this 45-year period. The first 
surge in expansion of vegetable associations occurred in the 1940-49 
period, when 11 associations were organized. In the 1955-64 period 
46 were formed while 19 went out of business. The major growth 
in numbers of both fruit and vegetable associations has occurred in 
recent years. 
Trend in Scope and Operations 
Because of their minor importance, no systematic recording of data 
regarding bargaining associations operations was done until 1954. Hence, 
a detailed examination of their growth and development is limited to the 
1954-64 period. 
A total of 17 bargaining associations were operating in 1954. Of these, 
9 negotiated the sale of fruits orvegetables to processor markets (ap- 
pendix table 26). Ten of the 17 associations were in the Pacific re- 
gion, and 4 of the 9 negotiating associations were also in that region. 
Association numbers increased between 1954 and 1964 in all geographic 
regions and the level of association activity showed substantial change. 
Twenty-two of the 24 organized bargaining groups in the Pacific region 
were negotiating cooperatives. American Agricultural Marketing Asso- 
ciation activity in the Midwest was responsible, in part, for the in- 
crease of 15 in the number of bargaining associations in the Central 
States. By 1964, the cooperatives negotiating markets for growers in 
this region numbered 10 out of a total of 18. 
Bargaining association memberships and farm value of products, by 
geographic regions appears in table 13. All fruit and vegetable bar- 
gaining associations (negotiating, non-negotiating, and organized but 
not active) reported more than 16,000 members in both 1954 and 1964. 
Substantial membership increases occurred in the South Atlantic and 
Pacific Coast regions, but these were offset by decreases of memberships 
in the Central and Mountain regions. The farm value of commodities ne- 
gotiated by bargaining associations increased over the 1954-64 period 
in each geographic region. The value of crops negotiated in the Pacific 
