On the heels of legislation that will send $5 million of sugar to the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and its producers, more good news came out of Washington, D.C. recently.

According to SMBSC President John Richmond, a settlement between itself and the Farm Service Agency has been reached that will provide Crop Disaster Payments up to $13.6 million to the cooperative.

It was on Oct. 6, 2000 that a change in the weather caused the sugar beet crop to freeze and then a series of thawing-then-freezing-then thawing again weather left the beets rotting on the piles.

"By the time we discovered that the crop was rotting, we had paid out $55 million to the producers," said Richmond. "What the co-op actually earned was about $21 million."

That left overpayments of $34 million for the cooperative to take on the chin, or to find ways to get it back.

The FSA settlement is another step in the right direction, said Richmond.

"We're still going through the numbers, but it looks like we'll be getting closer to $12.5 million from FSA," said Richmond.

That number is based on the tonnage each grower delivered to the sites in the cooperative during that year after Oct. 6.

Richmond said the rate of payment is based on $7.27 per ton, with a maximum of $80,000 per individual.

The Crop Disaster Payment program bases payments on the quantity, as well as the quality, of the crop.

"The calculation includes the beets that had to be hauled away (and spread on fields) and the sugar beets that were processed," said Richmond. "The total loss from last year's crop was $65 million."

In other words, about 35 percent of the loss has been taken care of with the FSA settlement.

What that leaves is the other 65 percent, which another $5 million worth of sugar has addressed.

Yet a good chunk of the loss has to be made up, which Richmond said is being worked on via pending litigation with the crop insurers.

"The litigation continues," he said.

On Tuesday of last week, Richmond said a variety of representatives with a vested interest in the cooperative met with staff from the State Attorney General's Office.

"We had a mass meeting, with shareholders, bankers, businessmen and other interested individuals there to talk with Mike Hatch's staff," Richmond said. "We just wanted to see if they could help us out."

Richmond remains optimistic that the losses the cooperative and its shareholders have felt will be addressed in the future. Having the Office of the Attorney General aware of the situation will help.

Looking beyond the 2000 season, Richmond said the current crop that has been harvested and is making its way to the processing plant in Renville is a good one.

"Things are going well, so far," he said. "We just did an infrared check of the piles and it appears the spoilage that occurred last year isn't happening."

Despite the fluctuating temperatures and the unseasonable warm temps the beets have endured over the past month, the beets appear to be doing all right.

"(The beets) really need some cold weather," said Richmond. "That would help ensure the beets will remain good until we process them."

For now, the cooperative will not only be watching weather forecasts, it is also still waiting to see what will come of pending litigation.

Minnesota is the largest sugar beet producing region in the United States.

More than 2,680 growers produce 7.5 million tons of beets annually, which are processed and grown via one of four cooperatives, including SMBSC.