San Vicente Cooperative Votes to Admit Twenty-Three New Farms

The Cooperative Council of San Vicente voted 47 to 31 on Tuesday to admit twenty-three new smallholder farms to the regional cooperative network, marking the largest single intake in four years. The decision came after six hours of closed debate and reflects the mounting pressure on Tierra Verde's cooperative system to absorb new members while maintaining the dues structure that has financed rural infrastructure and price guarantees.

The approved farms range from three to twelve hectares and are concentrated in the interior counties of Misiones and Corrientes. Most are family operations converting from subsistence crops to coffee or yerba mate production, drawn by the cooperative's federal export-price floor and access to the regional credit union. The intake will raise the Cooperative Council's total membership to 2,847 farms.

The vote masks a sharper conflict over membership fees and admission standards. A minority faction, led by harvest captains from the older coffee belt, argued that rapid expansion dilutes per-farm investment returns and strains the Council's administrative capacity. The majority, supported by younger farmers and those in poorer counties, countered that exclusion locks out the region's next generation and concentrates cooperative wealth among established producers.