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The meeting was one of the last three of 15 grower meetings held in four states. Meetings were held in Bridgeport and Scottsbluff on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Wilson explained to growers how the cooperative would work, how it would be financed and what kind of profits growers could anticipate if they invest.

Wilson told the group Tate and Lyle has spent $150 million during the last 15 years updating the factories.

Growers have the opportunity to purchase Western Sugar Company and all its assets for $78 million. Wilson said Tate and Lyle will be paid some of the additional revenue from the cooperative if sugar prices increase during the next five years. During negotiations, Wilson and Tate and Lyle agreed to limit the earn-out to $25 million or five years, whichever comes first.

Growers have been asked to pay $28 million toward the purchase price. The cooperative will finance the remaining $50 million.

To join the cooperative, growers will pay $100 one-time membership fee which will earn them one vote in the cooperative. They must also contribute $185 per acre. Their initial downpayment of $35 an acre is due by the end of January. The remaining $150 per acre, which they can finance through equity loans, must be received by the end of February.

If enough money isn't received for growers to purchase the company, Wilson said Tate and Lyle will sell the company to someone else. "Tate and Lyle has indicated they have decided to exit the sugar beet industry," he said.

Rick Dorn, president of the Rocky Mountain Sugar Beet Growers Cooperative, added, "A sale to someone else doesn't mean it will be business as usual."

Wilson said earlier, he heard rumors that American Crystal was possibly interested in purchasing the company to maneuver acres to North Dakota. However, Wilson said he thinks they backed down because of the possibility of the cooperative purchasing the company.

"I feel the real competitor will be Tate and Lyle and liquidation," he stated.

Wilson told the growers that those who wish to join the cooperative need to do so by the end of January. "We want to help the growers decide whether they are going to play," Wilson said. After the end of January, a share will go up from $185 per acre to $300 per acre. "If there are too many people who hold out, we won't have enough money to buy the company," he explained.

Wilson explained to the growers that the cooperative developed a Rocky Mountain Grower Finance Company.

The finance company will borrow funds from local banks to create a risk pool and reloan it to growers who qualify to help them pay for the $150 an acre they need to join the cooperative. "We have asked the local banks to loan the cooperative whatever it needs to finance the growers at favorable interest rates," Wilson explained.

Wilson said growers who obtain funding through the finance company will use their delivery rights as collateral. The finance company will limit the loans to a five-year term and annual payments will be taken from the grower's beet check.

Dorn said each grower will need a different amount to cover their finances. "The maximum they can borrow is $150 per acre for five years," Dorn reiterated. "We are doing this because we need to get enough acres and growers to make this buyout work."

"We want to keep the risk pool manageable," Wilson said. "Some banks have indicated they will contribute more to the risk pool than their share."

However, he cautioned growers that he may not be able to get every grower a loan. In some of the other cooperative buyouts he has helped with, Wilson said some outside sources have also contributed to the risk pool. As an example, Wilson told the crowd that American Crystal contributed to the risk pool for the Amagulated/Snake River deal.

Growers asked Wilson what would happen if they can't make the cooperative-owned company work. Wilson showed the growers a diagram indicating Western Sugar has $110 million in assets, which should be enough to pay back the growers and the bank if the cooperative can't survive in the sugar industry.

However, Wilson added, industry experts have assured him sugar prices have bottomed out and should increase in the coming years.

Wilson said he feels the cooperative should be successful. Western Sugar growers have the opportunity to purchase the company for less than grower cooperatives who have tackled other buyouts have had to pay, Wilson explained. "If anyone can survive the industry at today's prices, it would be you. You should be the last one standing if the industry fails."

In the last tally Wilson made, growers had signed up 177,000 acres. "There have been a few more come in since I stopped tallying," he said.

Wilson said growers should seriously consider the cooperative so they can control their industry. "Unless the growers control it, someone else could come in and close it," Wilson explained.

The attorney said the delivery rights should also increase the value of land.

Wilson said once 185,000 acres are obtained, the cooperative will have to be closed because that is the maximum capacity of the six sugar factories. Wilson said he remains optimistic the buyout will go through.