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The board of the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative met
last week and decided to pursue a feasibility study toward a
possible purchase of Western Sugar. Randon Wilson, the attorney
representing the group, said the board was very pleased with the
interest expressed by Western Sugar growers in four states to fund
the feasibility study. Growers were asked to contribute $2 a planted
acre to fund the study.
"We heard from 1,000 growers representing about 155,000
acres that would be grown in the new cooperative," Wilson said
Wednesday.
The attorney added the board decided to send a new letter to the
growers who didn't respond giving them a final chance to participate
in the cooperative.
"We had received some bad addresses and non-responses from
our first letter," he said.
Wilson said about 3,800 letters were sent out in the first
mailing to both landowners and growers. Some of the recipients of
the first letter are no longer involved in farming or sugar beets,
Wilson said.
During last Thursday's board meeting, Wilson said representatives
from Tate and Lyle, who own Western Sugar, provided financial and
operational information, which is being assembled into the
feasibility study.
Once completed, Wilson said the board will use the feasibility
study to determine whether to enter into a letter of intent with
Tate and Lyle.
"We don't have a deadline for completion of the feasibility
study," Wilson said. "We will continue carefully with this
and see how it goes."
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