Co-operatives have a long and glorious history in the Agricultural sector, amongst other industries. Many of the early co-operatives in Australia were created to help farmers access bulk purchase discounts for farm inputs like seed and fertiliser, to create a market for their farm outputs where they could set the price equitably or to raise capital to purchase value-adding processing equipment.
According to the Co-operative Federation, one of Australia's peak bodies for co-operative businesses, Australia’s first co-operative agricultural entrepreneurs got together in the 1880s. They were dairy farmers based in NSW and Victoria wanting to bypass agents, sell their products for a better return and raise capital to build factories for processing milk products. However, in spite of this established track record, there are many people who don't know what a co-operative is, or even if they're a member of one! The Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) report that 1 in 3 Australians are a member of a co-operative or mutual business, but only 1 in 8 actually know that they are. Despite this lack of knowledge and understanding from the broader community, from the 1,834 active co-operative and mutual businesses in Australia, the combined sector had an annual turnover of $184.4 billion (including super funds). More details on the co-operative and mutuals sector can be found in the BCCM's "National Mutual Economy Report" for 2025.
In the interest of spreading the word about the benefits of this old business structure for new challenges in agriculture, Ceilidh Meo, Managing Director of the Long Road Olive Co-operative, recently co-presented a session at GROUNDED, a festival celebrating all things regenerative agriculture. The session covered co-operatives in the context of capitalism, and the varied experiences of starting a co-op from scratch. With Lauren Mathers from Bundarra Farm contributing her experiences of starting and running the Murray Plains Meat Co-operative, and Carolyn Suggate contributing her experiences of founding and running the Organic and Regenerative Investment Co-operative (ORICoop), the breadth and depth of different businesses within the co-op structure was on display for session attendees. The discussion also covered the way co-operatives change and develop over time, with the Long Road Olive Co-op having been incorporated for only six months at the time of the festival, while the Murray Plains Meat Co-op was founded in 2019, and ORICoop in 2017.
Profit margins in agriculture are already tight, and when farmers are forced to be price takers in the commodity markets, they have no control over their income from season to season. On a small scale farm, some of this insecurity can be overcome by stacking mixed enterprises to diversify income streams, but a better way to manage farm income is to move from commodity (wholesale) markets into retail or direct-to-consumer sales. This allows the producer to set their own price, based on the actual cost of producing the goods. With the rise in online sales (e-commerce), farmers' markets and supportive independent retailers, this avenue for sales is becoming easier to access.
However, the cost of establishing an individual brand for small scale producers is considerable. The is not just the financial cost, but also the time investment (when there's never enough time to do all the farm work as well) and human resources to manage that brand. This is where co-operatives really shine because all of the establishment and running costs can be shared amongst members so that the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. As well as reducing competition between potential members in a crowded marketplace, the co-operative structure is designed to allow all members to have a say in business decisions, and to share in the profits of the co-operative business. These profits are usually distributed based on the members' involvement and usage of the co-operative facilities, depending on each individual co-op's rules and primary activities. In addition, the co-operative business allows for greater innovation and expansion compared with individual businesses, as pooled resources and the interplay between members can create the opportunity for new ideas and product development to come to life.
For the Long Road Olive Co-op, we are also aiming at creating a market for raw olives, many of which currently go unharvested because the cost of value-adding (in time, labour and financially) is too high for most small scale producers to make their efforts worthwhile. If you have olives to sell, get in touch via our Contact page. We encourage you to join the co-op to access the profit sharing arrangements, or we can offer a price per kilo for freshly harvested fruit.