INTRODUCTION
The cooperative' has experienced a long history in the United States and Great Britain.In the United States, its origin canbe traced to the National Grange movement.Even before the Grange movement, cooperation among farmers had been a notable  characteristic of farm life. Following the Grange movement, use of the agricultural cooperative as a form of business association grew.To protect agricultural cooperatives from federal antitrust laws, in 1914 Congress exempted noncapital stock farmer cooperatives from the scope of these laws by enacting section  of the Clayton Act. Eight years later, with the enactment of the Capper-Volstead Act, Congress extended this immunity to capital stock cooperatives engaged in collective marketing, handling and processing......

Originally published in the KENTUCKY LAW JOURNAL73 KY. L.J. 1033 (1985)

University of Arkansas School of Law, The National Agricultural  Law  Center