San Vicente Cooperative Admits Thirty New Farms After Months of Review

The vote, held at the Cooperative Council chambers in San Vicente, passed with seventy-three percent support among the Federation's current 412 member-farms. The new members bring the total to 442 and represent a cross-section of smallholders across three provinces—coffee growers from the central highlands, yerba mate cultivators from the eastern river valleys, and a cluster of organic vegetable producers near the town of El Rocío.

The admission process, which began in April, required each applicant farm to submit detailed records of land tenure, soil management practices, and labour standards. The Federation's membership committee conducted site visits and reviewed financial statements to ensure compatibility with the cooperative's sustainability charter, a requirement that has slowed admissions in previous years.

Martín Gómez, the Federation's president and a coffee farmer with thirty years in the cooperative, described the vote as a vindication of the membership's patience with the vetting system. "We take time because we take care," he said in remarks to the chamber. "These thirty farms have shown they share our commitment to the land and to each other." The new members will pay standard entrance dues of 850 florins and begin participating in the Federation's collective bargaining for export pricing in January.