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Western Sugar, which is a subsidiary of
Tate & Lyle North America, will soon be seeing a change in
ownership when the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Co-op
completes its buyout of the company.
According to Kevin Hall, vice president
of Rocky Mountain, the process is set to close March 31.
"It brings stability to our markets,
to our communities and to our farmers because we own the
company," Hall said. "So we control whether we're
going to stay in business or not."
When the change takes place all current
Western Sugar employees will stay in place, he said.
According to Hall, the new company is
still accepting subscriptions into the cooperative.
"You have to buy in at $200 per acre
right now, but you get a share in the profits," he said.
"In the last 15 years, Western Sugar was profitable
except for one."
Rocky Mountain is not offering
non-subscribing contracts, Hall said, but growers who have
been growing beets for Western Sugar needn't worry because
last year they signed a three-year contract.
"That contract is still in
place," he said.
"We kind of have a mixed bag this
next two years (due to the contracts)," Vollmer said,
"but we'll keep (growers) up-to-date of what the co-op is
doing. |