Indian Springs Farmers Association Summary

Petal, Mississippi, US:  Indian Springs Farmers Association

Indian Springs Farmers Association A.A.L. was founded in 1981 as a small cooperative of African American farmers who banded together to fight the inequality of the unfair wages they were earning for their watermelon crop.  Today the cooperative is spread over six counties in Mississippi; the 42 members collectively own a $500,000 packing facility that enables them to box, market, and truck their produce to a wide variety of wholesale and retail buyers throughout the country. The cooperative focuses on selling fresh vegetables which yield a higher profit margin than commodity crops.  Other benefits of membership include lower-priced supplies bought in bulk, joint marketing arrangements, and a comprehensive marketing platform that aids in brand creation, mailings, and advertising.  With the assistance of local universities and local business development centers, the co-op is continually gathering information about prices and developing new customers. 

“We do a lot of co-op to co-op trading," says founder Ben Burkett.  "We find out about each other through the Federation of Southern Cooperatives.” Through these connections, the co-ops trade seeds, equipment, and knowledge.  Some co-ops have modeled themselves after Indian Spring's plan, and Burkett is proud to be imitated.  “They copied our plan, modified it a little bit, then built their own plant using the same financial strategy. When we drew our own blueprint, we didn’t have nobody to copy.”

The efforts have kept three dozen small farmers competitive, which in turn has pumped $5,000-10,000 per week during the active growing season into rural Mississippi's economy. “We’ve trained a lot of young people,” says Burkett. “We’ve been an incubator.”

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