AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate risks faced by farmer cooperatives in China,using farmer cooperatives in Zhejiang province as a case. Specifically, the authors identify risksinherent in two primary types of farmer cooperatives in China (traditional and modern ones) when theexternal environment changes, the cooperative size expands and heterogeneity in membership widens.Design/methodology/approach – The authors assume that the “uncertainty of the externalenvironment” and the “deviation of organisational adaptation” constitute the two dynamic factors thatgenerated risks for farmer cooperatives. A survey of 158 farmer cooperatives is obtained in Zhejiangprovince in 2010, and factor analysis is employed to identify the risks and their critical degrees oftraditional and modern cooperatives.Findings – The results indicate that two types of cooperatives in China face drastically different setsof risks. Traditional cooperatives face larger competitive and human resources risks, whereas moderncooperatives face larger decision-making and behavioural risks. Product market risk, macroeconomicpolicy risk and financial risk are common critical risks faced by both types of cooperatives.Originality/value – In this paper, risks in China’s farmer cooperatives were empirically studied andsystematically discussed. The paper offers a typology to identify risks inherent in two primarytypes of farmer cooperatives in China (traditional and modern ones) according to property rightsarrangements and governance structure.Keywords Farmer cooperative, Risk identificationPaper type Research paper