Comparison Letter

United States Department of Agriculture
Rural Development

July 23, 2013

ID=9000, Ed=J, Form=D

Mr. John S. Curtis, General Manager
Farmers’ Cooperative
123 Main Street
Stuart, IA 50250
Dear Mr. Curtis:
We hope the enclosed letter report will be useful to Farmers’ Cooperative; the information in this report is
from our annual survey. Thank you for responding to our annual survey.
Table 1 presents a balance sheet comparing your cooperative with similar mixed farm supply cooperatives
with sales from $20 million to $30 million. Table 2 has an income statement with averages for similar
cooperatives and your cooperative. Table 3 shows common financial ratios for comparison cooperatives.
If you have any questions or comments on this information, feel free to either phone (202) 690.1415 or Email me, eldon.eversull@wdc.usda.gov. For additional cooperative information and reports listed by subject,
please visit our web site, www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/newpub.htm.
Information from Farmers’ Cooperative is held in the strictest of confidence. We hope you will complete and
return the questionnaire that will soon be sent to you after your fiscal year ends for your business year ending
in 2012 and include an annual report with detailed operating expenses so that we can provide performance
data to you next year.
Sincerely,

E. Eldon Eversull

ID=9000, Ed=J, Form=D

eldon.eversull@wdc.usda.gov

phone: 202.690.1415

Rural Development, Stop 3256, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-0700

Web: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov
Committed to the future of rural communities.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW,
Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

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Table 1—Common size balance sheet for Farmers’ Cooperative

Current Assets
Other Assets
Investments
PP&E (net)
Total Assets

Your cooperative
54.86
.07
29.80
15.26
100.00

Similar cooperatives
55.29
6.48
12.86
25.37
100.00

Current Liabilities
Total Liabilities

27.13
28.36

35.33
46.22

Allocated Equity
Retained Earnings
Total Equity

66.45
5.19
71.64

37.25
16.54
53.78

100.00

100.00

Total Equity and Liabilities

All items are a percentage of total assets, values for similar cooperatives are an average that excludes your cooperative, data is
for 2011.

Table 2—Common size income statement for Farmers’ Cooperative

Total Sales
Cost of Goods Sold
Gross Margin

Your cooperative
100.00
88.39
11.61

Similar cooperatives
100.00
87.57
12.43

Service and Other Income
Gross Revenue

1.88
13.49

4.15
16.59

Expenses
Wages
Depreciation
Interest
Other
Total Expenses

4.86
1.03
.00
5.97
11.87

7.77
1.62
.66
5.70
15.74

1.62
.81
.11
2.54

.84
1.90
.79
3.53

.10

.23

2.45

3.30

Net Operating Margins
Patronage Income
Nonoperating Income
Net Income Before Taxes
Taxes
Net Income

All items are a percentage of total sales or service if your cooperative is a service cooperative. Values for similar
cooperatives are an average that excludes your cooperative, 2011 data.

ID=9000, Ed=J, Form=D

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Table 3—Ratio analysis for Farmers’ Cooperative
Ratio

Your cooperative

Current

Similar cooperatives

2.02

1.56

.28
.40

.46
.86

Times Interest Earned
Total Asset Turnover
Fixed Asset Turnover

2.21
14.46

6.37
1.96
7.74

Gross Profit Margin
Return on Assets
Return on Equity

11.61
5.61
8.12

12.43
8.21
17.40

Debt to Asset
Debt to Equity

Values for similar cooperatives are an average that excludes your cooperative, 2011 data.
Some ratios were considered outliers so are blank in the above table. If information for Your cooperative is blank, we did not
receive a usable response from your cooperative in 2011. The enclosed information is for your use, some information has been
estimated for missing data items.

The ratios are as follows:
Current = current assets / current liabilities.
Debt to asset = debt / total assets (Please note: debt = all liabilities).
Debt to equity = (debt / total assets) / (equity / total assets).
Times interest earned = (NIBT + interest expense) / interest expense.
Total asset turnover = total sales / total assets.
Fixed asset turnover = total sales / PP&E.
Gross profit margin = gross margin.
Return on assets before interest and taxes = (NIBT + interest expense) / total assets.
Return on member equity = net income / allocated equity.

ID=9000, Ed=J, Form=D