| FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Poor yields and a below-average payment will cut
revenue for American Crystal Sugar Co. farmers this year, the co-op' s
president and chief executive officer said Thursday.
The expected revenue of $640 per acre is " one of the worst levels
we' ve had in our company' s history, " James Horvath said.
By comparison, the Moorhead, Minn.-based sugar company' s farmers took
in about $821 per acre for the 2000 crop, Horvath said.
Beet planting was hampered by wet weather and delayed in some parts of
the Red River Valley until late May or June.
American Crystal' s roughly 3, 100 farmers harvested 8 million tons of
beets off 452, 000 acres, for a yield that fell more than two tons per
acre below recent averages, Horvath said.
That yield, plus a $36 per-ton payment that' s more than $5 below
average, combined for the poor revenue, he said. The 2000 payment totaled
$37.70 per ton for a harvest of 9.6 million tons of beets.
Horvath said sugar prices are improving, and he credited a government
program that pays farmers not to harvest some of their crop in order to
reduce a national sugar glut. American Crystal farmers did not harvest 29,
000 acres this year.
Horvath said farm legislation being hammered out in Washington contains
provisions that will help the sugar industry by moderating supply and
demand. One measure would direct supply before beets are planted, rather
than pay for otherwise healthy beets to not be processed.
" This year things are looking a lot more bright, " Horvath
said.
American Crystal shareholders held their annual meeting with the Red
River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association in Fargo on Thursday.
The Red River Valley' s other large sugar processor, Minn-Dak Farmers
Cooperative of Wahpeton, reported its harvest data Tuesday. The 2001 crop
totaled 1.7 million tons of beets at an average of 18.04 tons per acre.
Minn-Dak said its 2000 harvest weighed in at 2 million tons, with a
record yield of 21.74 tons per acre. Gross payments to Minn-Dak' s 500
farmers for that year will top $40 per ton, a figure that is expected to
fall to about $33 per ton for this year' s crop. |