Uniting for Common Cause

• Published in: Rural Cooperatives Vol. 84; no. 6; pp. 34 - 37
• Main Author: Hogeland, Julie A
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Superintendent of Documents 01-11-2017
• Subjects: Agricultural cooperatives; Agricultural policy; Agriculture; Collective action; Communication; Cooperation; Cooperatives; Economies of scale; Ecosystem management; Ecosystems; Environmental policy; Environmental stewardship; Environmental studies; Farmers; Farms; Landscape; Motivation; Neoliberalism; Nonpoint source pollution; Partnerships; Point source pollution; Production costs; Sheep; Smith, Adam (1723-1790); Studies; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1088-8845; 2169-2203

[...]policymakers have looked to the Pontbren Farmers Group as an indicator of whether resilient production systems developed on individual farms - such as planting trees and hedges - can generate economies of scale by being extended across several member farms to a 'landscape level' (a British term for a type of farming that preserves ecosystems). [...]If I act like a cooperator, who can say I'm not one? "The concept of 'performative' suggests that identity is not a fixed, once-and-for-all decision, but a fluid concept that is continuously being enacted and reinforced through choices and experiences" (Hogeland, 2015:70). Will it be possible to generate additional scale economies insofar as co-ops like Pontbren Farmers Group systematically advance to a regional level? A strong motivation for increasing scale beyond the landscape level is that the benefits of a single collaborative partnership can spread out to influence transaction costs throughout the system. [...]policymakers recognize that "collaborative partnerships may be better than command-and-control [top-down regulatory] institutions for reducing the transaction costs of managing ecosystems or other diffuse problems like non-point source pollution" (Lubell, 2015:43). According to the BBC, PFG members ultimately hope their efforts reduce their production costs, make their farms more sustainable and pave the way for the next generation of farmers.