According to the release, the board of Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative has indicated that due to lagging acreage, they have entered into negotiations with Tate & Lyle for an adjustment to the purchase price for Western Sugar Company.

Extensive discussions have occurred and negotiations are ongoing. The board is still hopeful that the purchase price can be adjusted so the Cooperative can operate on reduced acreage. June 29 is still targeted as the closing date on the sale.

The continued support of the growers is extremely important, concludes the release. Once current negotiations are concluded, all growers will be advised concerning the new purchase arrangements.

Cooperative officials could not be reached for comment by press time.

The purchase price was based on a minimum of 150,000 acres, company wide, with a goal of 170,000 acres. An exact number of acres planted for the 2001 crop have not been made available, although it was reported that 140,000 to 145,000 grower acres were committed throughout the six states. A pool of acres was created to provide land for farmers who could not obtain sugarbeet ground otherwise. Montana reportedly had excess acres from the beginning, while Colorado and Nebraska lagged in committed acres.

The farmer-owned Cooperative was formed during the summer of 2000 to pursue the proposed purchase of Western Sugar Company from its parent company, Tate & Lyle North America Sugars. The British company had indicated earlier in the year that its sugarbeet processing facilities in six states were for sale.

In October 2000, a $78 million purchase price was agreed to. This amount included some allowances on the part of Tate & Lyle for farmer funded improvements to the various factories in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming.

To join the cooperative, farmers had to purchase a $100 share up front, and then pay $185 for each acre they intended to deliver to the co-op's facilities. To help growers get the extra financing they needed to buy into the co-op, a special financing branch of the cooperative was created that included participating local banks.

The buyout of Western Sugar was scheduled to be completed March 30, 2001, but a delay in appraisals and funding postponed the deal until June 29, 2001.