Del Monte, growers reach accord

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Del Monte Corporation and the Southern Minnesota Crop Growers Association settled on a pea and sweet corn contract Wednesday.

Under the contract, sweet corn growers will receive the same price this year that they got last year -- $47.13 per ton, according to Growers Association Manager Dean Ibberson of Sleepy Eye.

Pea growers will receive three percent less than in 2000. Pea prices are determined by a complex formula based on variety, planting dates and tenderness, Ibberson said.

Ibberson and Francis Fromm, both of Sleepy Eye, and Rick Petersen of rural Redwood Falls represented the growers association at the meeting held in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Building in St. Paul.

Sleepy Eye Del Monte plant manager Jim Knetsch attended the contract meeting.

"I thought Jim seemed awful reluctant to make the offer," Ibberson said. "We pushed them as far as we could, and I think he went as far as he could."

Ibberson was not happy with the contract.

"They expect us to grow sweet corn for the same price as last year while field corn was 30 cents a bushel higher Wednesday than it was a year ago," Ibberson said.

Recent natural gas price hikes are expected to raise the price of fertilizer at least $15 per acre, according to Ibberson.

"We've been given pea and sweet corn contracts at the same price or less than the previous year the last four years," Ibberson said. "Del Monte is not my favorite charity. We are both supposed to make money. (Del Monte) bosses in California don't care if we make a living, just that they get product. I'm sure people in the Sleepy Eye plant would like to pay us more."

Knetsch said he thought the contract price was fair.

"Considering the competitive environment and general economic trends, I thought it was a fair and equitable contract. There are lots of pea and sweet corn competitors in Minnesota," Knetsch said. "Each grower can decide whether or not to grow for us. We have a strong, loyal growing base. Some growers have been with us for over 70 years and we greatly value them."

Del Monte is the largest producer of canned fruits and vegetables in the United States. Its net sales were $1.5 billion in fiscal 2000.

The Sleepy Eye plant was the first one to secure a contract, setting the industry standard, according to Ibberson.

Ibberson has been getting phone calls from Washington, D.C. and Canada about the contract agreement.

Ibberson said he will now compose a letter to the 177-member growers association describing the contract issue.

The Southern Minnesota Growers Association was formed several years ago when Del Monte growers in the Sleepy Eye area said they were not paid for bypassed acres over a multi-year period.

An investigation was launched by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and growers were repaid about $750,000 for bypassed acres.

Ibberson said the growers association will hold a membership drive next month.

He hopes to sign up more members.

"Some farmers thought we would close down the Del Monte plant in Sleepy Eye, but that hasn't happened," Ibberson said. "Even if we don't get better prices, at least we improved communication between Del Monte and its growers."

Ibberson said the association incorporated the federal crop insurance program into a bypass pool that saved growers and Del Monte money and made other contractual changes that aided both groups.

Ibberson said he will travel to a Wisconsin vegetable growers convention soon to give a speech on forming a growers association in the Badger state.