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Midwest co-op seeks partners across border.

Article Excerpt
Key Points

* Co-op currently can only supply half of plant's capacity.

* Alliance an attractive option for producers to own plant.

* Cloverdale Foods will retain 35% of business for three years.

THE long-time dream of a group of Upper Midwest hog farmers is on the verge of reality. A cooperative of approximately 60 producers has signed a letter of intent to buy controlling interest of a packing plant they've supplied since 1998.

The Cloverdale Growers Alliance is comprised mostly of producers in North Dakota, plus a few in Minnesota and Montana. The group seeks to purchase 65% of the Cloverdale Foods Co. plant in Minot, N.D. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

Daryl Dukart, the Dunn Center, N.D., producer who is leading the effort, said the group is in the process of raising $150,000 to fund the organizational effort necessary to get an equity drive up and running.

"This has actually been in the works for about eight years," said Dukart. "It seems that every time we would just about get ready to move forward, something would not come together, and the plans would be dropped. Then, we'd start over again."

The project has been gaining momentum since last summer, according to Dukart. What's different this time?

"We've had our ups and downs just like any cooperative," said Dukart. "We used some different pricing structures that made for a more positive...

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