Excerpts from the February 1986 Issue of The Sugarbeet Grower

​Ron Hayes Named President, CEO at American Crystal
“Ron Hayes has been elected president and chief executive officer at American Crystal Sugar Company, following the resignation of Charles Shamel.

“Hayes joined Crystal in 1982 as vice president of operations and was promoted to senior vice president of agriculture and operations in 1985. During his four years at Crystal, Hayes has worked with the cooperative’s factories to improve overall efficiency so that Crystal produces more sugar per day and at a lower cost. . . .
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“Before he joined Crystal, Hayes worked for the General Foods Corporation for 22 years. He spent seven years in research, held management positions in manufacturing for 12 years, and spent three years at the company’s corporate office.”
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Sugarbeet Suppliers’ Success Mirrors Profitable Operations by Producers
“Keep sugarbeet production profitable and generally speaking, you keep sugarbeet equipment suppliers happy and profitable as well. A good example is WIC Inc., Shelly, Minn.

“Comments Chuck Holmquist of WIC, ‘We had a fantastic year . . . good sales, and growers were pleased because the lifter helps them deliver the kinds of product that the factories want . . . clean beets with little tare.’

“WIC Inc. stands for the first names of the three gents that put the firm together . . . Wayne Schwitters, Ivan Rude and Chuck Holmquist. WIC Inc. started in 1979 by buying out the beet equipment division of the old Farmhand Company, Hopkins, Minn. ‘We’ve grown from that point . . . concentrating on the type of equipment that the grower needs to compete in this modern day. We’re small enough so that engineering and design changes can be looked at immediately,’ says Holmquist. 

“. . . Holmquist repots the company sold 30 of the newly designed 6-row lifters and 10 of the 4-row units.”

Sugar Industry Adds Million to Advertising Budget
“The sugar industry will sweeten its advertising pot this year, adding $1 million to its ad budget and using TV spot for the first time. Also being considered is a sugar ‘designer label’ for food-product marketers who use the real thing in their products.

“The $1 million lump added to [The Sugar Association] budget brings its total to $3 million. That’s about onetenth that spent for advertising by G.D. Searle & Co.’s NutraSweet, the leading artificial sweetener. Moreover, the sugar industry is being pinched by competition from corn syrup-based sweeteners.”

Hawaii Sugar Growers See Returns from Sugar, Molasses Drop by 10%
‘Hawaii’s sugar growers received some bad news about their 1985 sugar and molasses revenues when [the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association] held its 40th annual meeting at Koloa, Kauai, birthplace of Hawaii’s famed sugar industry 150 years ago.

“Their ‘net proceeds’ from sugar and molasses sales (revenues after marketing and refining expenses) was forecast at ‘$344 per short ton, raw value, a decline of almost 10 percent from last year,’ by John B. Bunker, president of C&H Sugar Co., the sugar marketing and refining company cooperatively owned by Hawaii’s sugar growers.

“Bunker said the drop in revenues was the result of a sugar ‘market in disarray,’ caused by something going ‘wrong last year when the ’85 quota was set 600,000 tons too high.’ Next year doesn’t look any better, he said, because the ‘ ’86 quota is set even worse . . . 700,000 tons too high.’ ”

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