Case Studies

This part of the Co-operative and Collaborative Farming hub brings together a range of collaborative farming and co-operative farming and agribusiness examples in the one spot. Case studies and examples are from Australia and from across the world and may help to kick start your idea or navigate through a difficult period.

Having a range of examples and case studies of farmers who have created co-operatives and collaborative relationships in this hub may assist in idea generation and avoiding common pitfalls.

As noted by Farming Together:

Collaborations bring people,organisations and knowledge together. Something is jointly created, often something entirely new. Yet there is no one-size-fits-all model. Success is achieved when members and administrators focus on the main elements of a collaboration: interactions, governance structures, systems and processes.

Co-operative endeavours share information and expertise. Participants are loosely connected and independent, with low demands to contribute and minor changes to how they work. The advantage is in learning from others. This approach, of low-risk and limited rewards, targets specific actions – not holistic operational change.

Collaboration is not ‘business as usual’. It demands new ways of dealing with each other. Collaboration is a high-risk, high-stakes environment that can produce unexpected results and directions. This uncertainty requires high levels of trust and extensive dialogue, and can be rewarding.