New Farms Join Tierra Verde Cooperatives at Fastest Rate in Three Years

The San Vicente Cooperative Council voted on Wednesday to admit 47 new smallholder farms to the region's primary export cooperative, the largest single cohort approved in thirty-six months. The decision, announced after a six-hour closed session, marks a turning point in the cooperative movement's struggle against a federal registry backlog that has kept hundreds of farms in limbo for up to eighteen months.

The Federal Office for Cooperative Affairs, which maintains the national register, has added three staff members to its Tierra Verde desk and committed to clearing the current application queue by September. The office's director told this bureau that the acceleration reflects pressure from the Federal Assembly's agriculture committee, which has questioned whether the backlog amounts to a de facto barrier to smallholder participation.

The admissions come as coffee and yerba mate prices at the federal exchange have stabilized after spring volatility, and as Tierra Verde's interior towns report higher rainfall and improved harvest projections for the autumn season. Cooperative leaders say the combination of price stability and federal responsiveness has rekindled membership interest among farmers who had delayed applications.