Youth perceptions of, and willingness to join Irish dairy cooperatives and their governance

Abstract

Given the aging population of Irish dairy farmers, the future success of dairy cooperatives cannot be guaranteed without meaningful youth membership or share ownership. This study aimed to determine the factors that influenced the decision to own shares, the willingness of young people to purchase shares, and to join boards in Irish dairy cooperatives. The sample size consisted of 255 randomly selected young people below 40 years from Ireland. The binary logit regression model was used to run three regressions. The findings revealed that the majority of the young people were willing to join the cooperative and its board. The young people perceived cooperatives as adding value to farmers’ livelihoods and considered farmer control, fair price on products, and good governance as the key cooperative attributes. Factors such as age and involvement in cooperatives had a positive impact or were more likely to influence current share ownership. Involvement or exposure to cooperative operations and having parents in cooperatives increased the likelihood of young people’s willingness to buy shares in the future. The perceived openness of agricultural boards, being a graduate, and interest in attending board information sessions, increased the likelihood of young people’s willingness to join the board. • Young people value farmer control, fair price and good governance. • Age, family shares and cooperative exposure influence youth interest in share ownership. • Education, board openness and information sessions influence youth interest to join the board.