The national body representing co-operatives is endorsing the latest moves by farmers and growers to take full ownership of businesses that have been operating on quasi-co-operative lines.
One involves a new wool marketing co-operative that aims to replace the existing Wool Partners International company with a totally farmer-owned enterprise.
WPI was formed as a joint venture between a farmer group and rural services company PGG Wrightson.
In the kiwifruit industry, Bay of Plenty post-harvest operators Eastpack and Satara have announced their plan to merge and created a wholly grower-owned co-operative by buying out Satara's investor shareholders.
Cooperatives Association chair Peter Macdougall, says those are positive developments because they avoid the conflict of interest in having investors as well as farmer shareholders; an arrangement he likens to having two jockeys on one horse.
He says in that type of arrangement there is debate over whether to use profits to grow the business or pay them out as a dividend.
Mr Macdougall says he's had experience of that sort of arrangement as a former director of fertiliser company Ballance Agri-Nutrients before it became a full co-operative. Fonterra also had that debate before opting for a capital restructuring plan that kept the company totally in farmer hands, he says.
Meanwhile, the farmers behind the new Wool Partners co-op are seeking Companies Office clearance to issue a prospectus before the end of this month to raise money to buy PGG Wrightson assets in the joint venture.
