Clive Rutherford, president of Tate & Lyle North America Sugars, and Rick Dorn, chairman of the board of the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative jointly announced that the closing date to buy Western Sugar Co. has been moved back to June 30, 2001. It was originally scheduled for March 31.
Rutherford and Dorn explained the cooperative has experienced delays in obtaining funding. They said that Western field staff will continue to contract with growers in anticipation of the closing. In fact, they encouraged all growers to plant on their regular schedule and prepare for cooperative ownership.
Growers members of the cooperative are working together to purchase six factories in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Tate & Lyle is the parent company of Western Sugar Co.