The amount falls far short of the crop insurance and assistance the cooperative is seeking for its members. But the news was welcomed by Neil Rudeen of Bird Island, chairman of the cooperative's board of directors, as an important sign of progress.

Rudeen said that the $13.6 million figure will at least provide a "floor'' for the amount of assistance that will be available. That's especially critical to growers as they work to arrange financing.

Rudeen said the cooperative will continue to work to increase the amount eligible for disaster relief.

The cooperative calculates its overall losses as a result of the 2000 freeze at $66 million, he said.

John Monson, state director of the FSA, said he received clearance Tuesday morning to begin the process of handling claims. Growers will need to submit claims on an individual basis.

Rudeen said the cooperative believes that the eligible losses through crop insurance would total $35 million to $36 million had the damaged beets been left in the fields.

Since they were harvested, the cooperative believes that the eligible losses identified at this point by the Farm Service Agency should be $20 million, not $13.6 million. "We're not going to get back to what we should have here,'' said Rudeen.

The cooperative's claims have been challenged by private insurance companies. They sued the United States Department of Agriculture for a bulletin it had previously released stating that the types of losses experienced by sugar beet growers here should be eligible for coverage, said Kennedy.

The cooperative's difficulty owes to what the congressman called a "flaw'' underlying the crop insurance program. It determines losses by the discount a grower takes when delivering a weather-damaged crop to an elevator. The process doesn't address value-added crops like sugar beets, where the ultimate value is not known until the crops are processed, he said.

Adding to the troubles facing the Southern Minnesota Sugar Beet Cooperative was its decision to harvest the damaged crop. Its tests did not show the full severity of the frost damage.

Kennedy pledged to continue working toward an "ultimate solution.'' He believes it should include crop insurance coverage for the kinds of losses experienced here. The congressman said he is concerned that this situation will undermine confidence in the crop insurance program.

Kennedy has also authored legislation seeking to indemnify growers for all beets damaged by the freeze, including those that were processed, and not just those that were discarded.