Apr. 21, 2008

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Cargill donation supports LSU agribusiness scholars

RESERVE, La. — To commemorate groundbreaking on a new sugar refinery in Reserve, La., Cargill is donating $10,000 to a Louisiana State University scholarship fund for graduate students pursuing careers in agribusiness and agricultural economics. The donation was announced at the April 15^th ceremony for Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC, (LSR) a joint venture between Cargill and Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc. (SUGAR), a cooperative of 700 Louisiana growers and seven member mills.

Imparting the memory of Etienne de Bore, the 18^th-century farmer credited with bringing cane sugar to the state, Cargill Sugar Business Development Manager Jeff Cotter said, “We want to encourage the next generation of Etienne de Bores from among the young people of Louisiana. We want the state’s best and brightest to consider careers in agribusiness and applied economics. And we would encourage others to join us in the effort by adding their own contributions to the fund.”

LSR’s plant, expected to cost $150 million, will be the first new refinery construction in Louisiana in many decades and the first meaningful opportunity for Louisiana growers to become owners in a fully integrated, farm-to-market sugar production business. The plant will have the capacity to produce a million tons of sugar per year when it begins full production in the first half of 2010.

“This donation honors the Louisiana sugar industry’s rich past while helping pave the way toward a hopeful future,” said Michael Salassi, sugar cane economist and professor in the Dept. of Agricultural Economics at LSU’s Ag Center. “Well-educated young people will be the source of the innovation needed to keep Louisiana’s agribusiness sector thriving. We thank Cargill for its support of our scholarship fund and its enlightened approach to enriching the communities in which it operates.”