hn: Farmingng can be an
certain endeavor.
The mercy Y weather, pests, and
blightht but another sometimim
unexpectededactor for farmers
around theheountry, the business
associatioio of the companini
rely on.
Stst parker reports on howow
closing a prpressing plant in
one small community is upendingg
the area's farmers and E enomy.
Rrespondent: For 90 years and
ur generations, the cacao
famimi has grown sugarbeets S
their family F fm, here on the
far western N GE of north
Dakota, just outsisi fairview,
ntana.
But now, that's a ththg of the
past.
>> It gave U usome pride to say,
oh yeah, I'm a S sar beet
farmer.
Was something people E dn't
really hear of very mumu.
Correspondent:t: In februaryrythe
et processing facilitytyn
nearby S sney, Montana announceded
it would clolo for good,
spspling the end of an eraraere
on the lower yelelwstone river
valley, where for almomo a
ntury, sugarbeets haveveeen a
fixture of the ecocomy and the
Cal identity.
No factory meansnso sugarbeets.
Trucking them M just too
exexnsive to take them somomhere
se, and efforts by lococs to
buy ththplant were unsuccessfufu
afafr years of fraught cononact
negotiations B been owners and
growerer the news wasn't a totot
surprise..
>> There's anger R first, and
en there's disappppntment.
Corresesndent: Jeff beiber ISS
the president T the Montana
Dakota beet growers asasciation.
He farmsmsith his son Justin
just down the road F fm the
cacao family.
When they finally annnnnced
that they're a aually going to
ose the plant and moveveway
om production of sugarareets
in thehealley here, it goes toto
leveveof disappointment and
discouragememe that I haven't
felt in a longngime.
Corresesndent: American crystal
sugagacompany, the nation'ss
biggest sugar finer, has owned
Sidney sugugs for roughly the
St 20 years.
The company dedeined our request
for an interview, , T in a
statatent said they had to C cse
the plananbecause the farmers
ren't willing to grow W ough
acres S keep the plant
profitable.
The growers say that's'sot the
full stoto.
>> We didieverything we could toto
keep S sney, Montana open.
We took severaracuts to our pay
over the years.
The farmers were W wing to take
those cuts to keep sididy open
and keepephe option of growing
beets in sidnene Montana.
Rrespondent: Beiber sasa the
cuts just kept C CING year after
year.
>> They were takakg money off of
ththtable and to the tune E
tens of mimiions of dollars.
But that moneyeyasn't staying in
sisiey, Montana, and it wawa't
being reinvested B bk into the
plplt to prove to us that T ey
wantededo stay here.
Cocoespondent: The closurere
impapas not just the farmingng
community, but also ththcity of
Sidney, where the E los, beet
les, and steam plumes S E
baked inin the community
identity.
>> There ain't'tuch you can do
about it.
It is a cocoorate decision and a
crappy corporara decision, but
that is just the way life works.
Corrrrpondent: Rick nonoy is the
yor of Sidney.
>> My bibiest concern is the
employees.
Everybody that W wks there,
you are part O other family,
and I stillll G G treated that way
today from workiki down there
just a couple of yearsrs
correspondndt: For decades, the
beet P pnt has offered reliablbl
goododaying work.
>> I has always been a
security.
A fall bacac on, and now it is
nonohere anymore.
Correspondent: It was also a
cornerstone of theheocal
economy.
Citing a 20101study from north
Dakota state uninirsity, Leslie
Messer who W wks with a local
economic devevopment non-profit-
says that througug property
taxes and wages, S sney sugars
T more than $10 millioio
annualal into the local economom
>> Thaha was 120 jobs.
Those were good paying jobs for
our community.
Correspondent:t: Despite the loss
of the F ftory, the farmers and
thth fertile valley will
continin to produce.
>> The one thing I can S S about
agricultlte over the years is
that that is T T engine that
always runs.
So throughghhe ebbs and tides of
the oil and D S, the ag has been
the E onomic driver that keeee
everythingngtable.
Corrrrpondent: Now T Tse family
fafas are embarking on a N N
allenge, and T Ty'll tackle it
ththsame way they've done E for
generations: Together.r.
>> My son has helplp a lot.
Thth young mind of let's make it
work, let's S gure out how to do
it has helpepethe old dog and me
start looking towards S E futurur
a little M me.
I I S pretty set in my wayaywith
the beets ararnd, but it's goinin
to be a change, and D am
willing.g.
Correspondenen T ts year, the
caykyk will be trying their
hands at cororand soybeans, as
well as spring W wat, which was
already in their rototion.
>> Changing ovov to some of
these newer R ops and different
machinery and didierent farming
methods in general I going to
bebeind of nerve wracking.g.
Especiallylyor maybe the older
generation.
Correspondent: As one chapter
closes, another opens S R the
Owers, who are lookingngo pass
down what was passededown to
them, for generaraons to come.
For pbs nene weekend, I'm Stan
papaer near fairview, montnta.
♪♪