Producers Livestock Marketing Association (PLMA) is a cooperative. As such, our member patrons are also owners and are able to share in portion of our net margins. A portion of our co-ops profits are returned to members through our patronage program.
Annually, PLMA’s board of directors examines the financial condition of the co-op and determines, based on multiple factors, how much of the net margins to return to members through patronage dividends and how much to retain in order to maintain adequate capital levels for stability and growth.
During the spring, a portion of the patronage dividend is paid in cash to members through dividend checks. The remaining portion is reinvested back into the co-op and retained as allocated patron’s equity.
The patronage returns through dividend checks effectively lower the costs patrons paid when marketing their livestock. Producers Livestock charges commissions when livestock are sold, but members are able to get a portion of those fees back through our patronage program, which reduces their cost of marketing their livestock.
The most important benefit of our patronage program is that it effectively lowers your selling costs.