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Western Sugar growers in four states have formed a board to study
whether they could or should buy factories from the company's owner,
Tate & Lyle of London.
Grower leaders met with company officials on June 10, in Fort
Morgan, Colo., and were told the company was "evaluating their
position in North American operations," implying a sale might
be in the offing, says Robert Busch, a beet grower from Mitchell,
Neb.
The company took a similar message to employees the next day. The
growers from Nebraska, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming on July 14
formed a 10-member board for Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers
Cooperative.
The group hired Randon Wilson, a lawyer from Salt Lake City, Utah,
with a national reputation in cooperative law.
On July 24, Wilson sent out grower information surveys asking for $2
per planted acre to fund a feasibility survey, which could be up to
185,000 acres.
Among other things a study would explore the condition of Western
Sugar's factories and environmental risks.
The factories are located in Billings, Mont.; Lovell, Wyoming; Fort
Morgan and Greeley, Colo.; and Scottsbluff and Bayard, Neb.
Rick Dorn of Billings, Mont., is president of the co-op. Busch,
president of the Nebraska Non-Stock Sugar Beet Growers Association,
is a member of the board.
Wilson represented the Snake River sugar growers when they bought
the Amalgamated Sugar Co., and is representing Michigan and
California growers in potential buyouts.
"For the guys that want to continue to raise beets, today in
this environment we have, in (farmer-owned) value-added crop like
sugar beets gives you a little better control of your destiny,"
Busch said. "Based on the Snake River experience, the local
bankers who finance growers with their annual lines and other
financing were the best sources of funds for growers who needed to
borrow to make their investments in the Cooperative."
Wilson said, in a letter to growers. "Under our best
estimate, we would expect the investment by growers would be
approximately $200 per acre."
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