Rural America tackled innumerable problems with the scale of cooperatives. And there are other examples of cooperation outside the Rochdale principles – neighbors buying a truckload of an input (feed, fertilizer, fencing supplies, pipe) to share a bulk discount, neighbors banding together creating a truckload for a video auction, farmers pooling equipment for harvest. Farmers and ranchers are very independent, but one thing will force cooperation … money.

You can tell a lot about a person by seeing the things they protect.