San Vicente Cooperative Admits First New Members in Two Years

The Cooperative Council of San Vicente voted unanimously on Friday to induct seven smallholder farms into the federation, ending a two-year hiatus on new membership. The farms, ranging from three to twelve hectares in size, are located in the interior valleys north of San Vicente and grow coffee, yerba mate, and certified organic crops. The vote came after the Council's administrative committee completed a backlog of applications and revised the membership vetting process to reduce delays.

The freeze had become a point of friction within Tierra Verde's agricultural sector. Smallholders seeking entry to the cooperative system faced application queues that stretched to eighteen months, and the federal Office for Cooperative Affairs in Meridian had flagged the backlog as a barrier to regional growth. The new admissions represent a modest but concrete step toward clearing that queue.

Council leadership attributed the delay to a need for stronger due diligence on land titles and financial records, particularly among farms applying from remote counties where registration has historically lagged. The revised process now allows parallel verification with the Federal Registry, cutting the timeline from submission to decision by roughly half. The seven farms approved on Friday will begin paying dues in December and will be eligible for cooperative price-support schemes starting in the new year.