| Sugar beet farmers are about to get some relief from Congress to help
them recover from disastrous crop damage in 2000.
The Commodity Credit Corporation will give government-owned commodity
sugar valued at $5 million to the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Co-op, and
the co-op will be able to sell the sugar, U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn.,
said Thursday.
The co-op's members saw their 2000 crop devastated by an October frost.
Though much of the crop was harvested, it was of poor quality, and the
stored beets deteriorated rapidly.
The sugar transfer is included in the conference report on the
agriculture appropriations bill which will soon be on its way to the House
and Senate floors for final approval.
"This is not something we were optimistic of achieving,"
Kennedy said, and he was pleased to have it included in the conference
report.
John Richmond, president and chief executive officer for the co-op,
said he was pleased to hear about the assistance.
"I think it's fairly innovative," he said of the plan to give
sugar to the co-op.
The government owns and pays storage costs on 600,000 tons of sugar, he
said.
By providing aid in the form of sugar, the government doesn't have to
use cash, and it will save money on storage costs, he added.
Richmond said he's not sure exactly how much sugar will be turned over
to the co-op, but it will be a welcome boost for the co-op.
"Our 550 shareholders are definitely under financial stress,"
he said. "Every piece that comes along helps heal these guys a little
bit."
The co-op recently filed suit against crop insurance companies which
have so far refused to pay farmers for their 2000 losses because the crops
were harvested.
"We tried to mitigate losses to the insurance companies, and the
insurance companies said they weren't liable," Richmond said.
There have been no settlement talks yet, he said, but a federal judge
is considering whether the suits will be heard in federal or state court.
A $13.6 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is
nearing completion, too. Richmond said he'd been told the co-op would
receive settlement papers for review soon, probably next week.
"Being in the conference report does give us some assurance"
the aid will be signed into law, Kennedy said.
Conference reports are compromise legislation written using the
original bills passed by the House and Senate, and they can't be amended
when they are returned for final votes.
Once the bill has been signed, Kennedy said, the aid would likely come
soon and be delivered in equal portions over several months. |