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Spreading seeds of success: Alabama Farmers Co-op and its Bonnie Plant Farm play big role in strengthening the rural South.

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If you're a resident of rural Alabama or even parts of Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, you're likely to benefit--perhaps more than you know--from an agricultural cooperative that was born during the 1930s to help farmers get a tax break on nitrogen fertilizer.

These days, you'll find much more than fertilizer at Alabama Farmers Cooperative (AFC), one of the largest farmer-owned businesses in the Southeast. Since it began 71 years ago, the federated supply and marketing cooperative has served the region with nearly every imaginable agricultural supply and service.

Based in Decatur, Ala., the multifaceted company is owned by 46 local, farmer-owned cooperatives that represent more than 30,000 members. Originally known as Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Cooperative, AFC typically sees annual revenues reach more than $300 million.

Grain marketing, cotton ginning and catfish processing are major divisions of AFC. Member co-ops also operate 80 farm-supply retail stores that sell everything from feed, seed, and fence supplies to garden materials, animal health products and sporting goods for a rising number of non-farm residents.

Powered by its diversity, AFC is channeling income to farmers, jobs to 2,300 people, support to related businesses and millions of dollars...