34 
Information obtained from the 56 reporting cooperatives on their label- 
ing practices revealed that 53 percent of the total pack was sold under 
the cooperative's own label, 22 percent under chainstore labels, 23 
percent under labels of other buyers, and 2 percent unlabeled (appendix 
table 24). 
BARGAINING COOPERATIVES 
The objective of the bargaining cooperative is to obtain the highest 
return consistent with current and prospective economic conditions and 
the long-run welfare of grower-members. Because of characteristics 
of the commodity and the market situation, bargaining associations 
concentrate on negotiating for the price and other terms oftrade in- 
volved in the sale of the raw products to processors. 
Membership in a bargaining cooperative is voluntary, and a common re- 
quirement for membership is that members be bonafide agricultural pro- 
ducers. The cooperative nearly always has a membership agreement which 
requires members to market through the cooperative all the crops they 
produce for processing that are bargained for by the association. 
The capital requirementsof a bargaining association are usually very 
small since the chief need is for operating expenses. 
Growth and Development 
Wholesale and retail fruit and vegetable firms have become larger and 
fewer in number. Growers have found that group action is one way to 
relate themselves to the changing market conditions. The cooperative 
approach offers growers a means for gaining bargaining power where con- 
ditions of imperfect competition exist. 
Trend in Numbers 
The first fruit and vegetable bargaining association was organized in 
1919. Between 1919 and 1964, 108 bargaining associations were organ- 
ized. Of this total, 70 were still active at the end of 1964. This 
included five citrus association participating plans and 23 state af- 
filiates of the American Agricultural Marketing Association. 3/ Avail- 
able records showed that 38 associatins had gone out of business by 
merger or by other discontinuances. 
Relatively few fruit and vegetable bargaining associations were organized 
before World War II. Since the war, and especially during the past 10 
years, the number of associations increased markedly. Of the total number 
3/ | Incorporated as an affiliate of the American Farm Bureau in 1960, 
the AAMA has coordinated the development of state marketing-bar- 
gaining associations by State Farm Bureau. 
