Rural Cooperatives

Rural Cooperatives is a bimonthly trade journal for rural cooperatives in the United States. It is published by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Business-Cooperative Service and focuses on rural agricultural cooperatives. Rural Cooperatives is a bimonthly trade journal for rural cooperatives in the United States. It is published by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Business-Cooperative Service and focuses on rural agricultural cooperatives. The publication began as News for Farmer Cooperatives and was published by the U.S. Farm Credit Administration from April 1934 until December 1953. The journal was initially published on a monthly basis. The journal was published from 1954 until January 1976 by the U.S. Farmer Cooperative Service. In 1976, the journal shortened its name to Farmer Cooperatives and, in 1996, the journal changed its name again to Rural Cooperatives and broadened its scope to include rural utility and consumers' cooperatives. Rural Cooperatives magazine is now in its 80th year of helping to increase understanding and use of the cooperative, producer- and user-owned form of business. USDA’s oldest periodical, it was launched after Congress passed the Cooperative Marketing Act, which charges USDA with helping to promote cooperatives through education, research, statistics, technical assistance and co-op development.