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MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) -- The Pacific Northwest Sugar Co. needs
$5 million to $10 million or its sugar processing plant will be
closed, a company official said.
Jay Bair, of Pacific Northwest's board of directors, said time
is running out to get the money.
"If they don't get something done in the next few weeks, I
think they'll fold up the factory and sell the pieces," he
said. "It's like running out of gas with one lap left in the
race."
The $100 million plant opened in 1998, but was plagued during
its first year with mechanical problems that left some of the
first harvest rotting in piles. Plant officials now think they
have most of those problems solved.
But the plant is faced with a lack of money for long-term
operations.
The 1999 sugar beet crop of 585,000 tons produced less sugar
than hoped. Plus, the sugar that was produced is worth less now
because of a nationwide surplus.
The plant employs more than 300 workers during its busiest
processing times in winter.
Plant officials last week told the 60 growers in the
cooperative to delay planting this year's 25,000-acre beet crop
because there might not be enough money to keep the plant open.
Bair, who is also a grower, said farmers probably will not
plant beets after April 10.
But farmers will still have time to plant other crops on land
originally meant for beets if they're told the plant will close.
"We're in the wait mode. We've put a lot of investment in
this and there is a lot to be lost," said Jerry Hodges, a
Quincy grower. "We can always plant other crops."
Hodges, like other growers, could also be left holding
expensive beet machinery that can't be used for other crops if the
plant closes. He said a new beet harvester costs $60,000, while a
defoliator, the machine that cuts the leaves off the beets before
they're pulled from the ground, runs about $20,000.
Hodges is optimistic last-minute funding will be found to keep
the plant open.
"I've heard some rumors that something good is in the
works," Hodges said.
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