" The industry is very hesitant because the acceptance with the consumer isn' t there, " said Craig Halfmann, president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association.

Halfmann said sugar refiners advise growers not to plant genetically modified sugar beet seed, which has been approved for use in the United States but faces opposition from environmental and consumer groups that are concerned about the safety of engineered commodities.

The crops, known as genetically modified organisms or GMOs, are bred to be more resistant to disease or more tolerant of pesticides.

Moorhead, Minn.-based American Crystal Sugar Co. and Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative of Wahpeton do not allow their growers to use genetically modified sugar beet seed, company officials said.

While genetically modified sugar beets would help farmers by allowing them to control weeds with fewer chemicals, the potential damage to their market because of resistance to the technology outweighs the benefit, American Crystal spokesman Jeff Schweitzer said.

" That' s too high a risk for us to take as a company, " Schweitzer said.

The cooperative monitors demand for and opposition to genetically modified sugar, and could change its policy if the marketplace improves for growers, he said.

Minn-Dak requires its growers to sign agreements that they will use only seed it approves.

Co-op officials approved 20, 000 acres of genetically modified sugar beets in February 1999, but rescinded that decision a month later, before planting, after realizing the " serious customer resistance" to the crop, spokeswoman Patricia Keough-Wilson said.

Herbicide-tolerant sugar beets would cut growers' costs by allowing them to use fewer chemicals on their crop, and resistance to pests and disease also could be bred into the plant, said Halfmann, who farms near Stephen, Minn.

Halfmann said opposition to genetically modified sugar beets extends to byproducts.

Pulp left over from processing is made into crystalized sugar and sold to livestock producers overseas, and many of those customers don' t want to feed modified crops to their herds, he said.

Halfmann said he hopes resistance to genetically modified crops lessens so sugar beet growers can take advantage of the technology as corn and soybean growers have done.

" We' re kind of jealous ... we definitely hear from those guys how great it is, " he said.