Little is known about the board structures and processes adopted by agricultural cooperatives, particularly in Eastern European countries. We address this substantial knowledge gap by focusing on Estonian agricultural cooperatives. Using survey results from a sample of 23 Estonian agricultural cooperatives, we identify board structures and processes, measure organizational health, and compare our findings to similar studies in other countries. We find both similarities and differences between sample cooperatives and their counterparts in other countries. Estonian agricultural cooperatives tend to perform better than those without a board. However, more research at the member level is needed in order to draw definite conclusions. Member preference heterogeneity emerges as a potential future threat to organizational health and, thus, demands the attention of cooperative leaders in Estonia. We conclude that there exists considerable room for improvement through the introduction of a more flexible legal framework and the adoption of professional board governance processes, which includes director orientation training, inclusion of additional financial expertise and board evaluation routines.

Collaboration in cooperatives helps farmers strengthen their economic position in dynamic agri-food markets. Unlike other types of businesses, agricultural cooperatives are user-owned, user-controlled, and user-benefitting enterprises. Their dual nature as business enterprises and social groups of members complicates performance evaluation. This study attempts to bridge the gap by developing a micro-level conceptual framework for benchmarking agricultural cooperatives. Based on a systematic literature review of 77 empirical studies published in 1987–2025 and thematic analysis, the authors propose an eight-dimensional conceptual framework encompassing competitive, financial, educational, efficiency, environmental, governance, operational, and social performance indicators. The review reveals that existing research prioritises financial indicators while overlooking cooperative-specific characteristics arising from their dualistic nature. The conceptual framework offers a structured conceptual basis for assessing the performance of agricultural cooperatives across sectors and countries. Although applying the framework is beyond the scope of this paper, the authors highlight prospective indicators for future empirical work and practical implementation.

Across production and processing systems, biological residuals are inconsistently defined, with the same materials treated as waste, by-products, or resources depending on context. This ambiguity constrains the identification of valorization pathways and limits the design of sustainable and resource-efficient operational strategies. This study addresses the issue by compiling a sector-resolved inventory of 94 bioresiduals across 12 bioeconomy-related activities. Analyzing 1763 firm–bioresidual observations from a national survey in Estonia using binomial logistic regression. The results show that bioresidual use is primarily shaped by operational and data-handling practices, particularly collection and accounting, rather than by structural firm characteristics. Separate collection emerges as a key precondition for higher-value use, while accounting practices are associated with external and energy-related pathways by increasing visibility and traceability. In contrast, irregular or seasonal bioresiduals tend to default to waste handling due to variability and perishability. The findings also indicate that many effective uses remain internal to production systems and are under-documented. Improving the definitions and monitoring practices of bioresiduals could support more efficient and sustainable resource management by reducing biowaste generation and enhancing coordination across value chains, thereby fostering the development of a circular bioeconomy.