MOORHEAD, MINN. – December 11, 2000 – American Crystal announced today that David Berg has been named vice president of agriculture, Tom Astrup has been named vice president of administration, Brian Ingulsrud has been named corporate controller and Randy Johnson as director of human resources.

Berg, 46, holds a BS in Mass Communications from the University of Minnesota Moorhead and MS in Agricultural Economics from the North Dakota State University. With thirteen years of management tenure at American Crystal, he was most recently vice president of administration. In addition to promotions to vice president of business development in 1996 and vice president of strategic planning in 1994, he has held various positions within the economic research, marketing and analysis disciplines of the company. He resides in Fargo with his wife Becky and three children.

Astrup, 32, a CPA has a BS in accounting from the University of North Dakota, was previously the cooperative’s corporate controller. His business experience includes the positions of controller with Midwest Agri-Commodities, corporate accountant for American Crystal and corporate accountant for ProGold, LLC. He was also a staff accountant for Arthur Andersen, LLP in Minneapolis. He lives in Fargo with his wife Stephanie and one daughter.

Ingulsrud, 37, holds a BS in Accounting from the University of North Dakota and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. He was most recently director of agricultural strategy. He joined the Company in 1990 as a financial analyst, and has held the positions of financial planning supervisor, financial planning manager and treasurer. He is a Fargo resident with his wife Annette and three sons.

Johnson, 37, has a BS in Agricultural Business from North Dakota State University. In 1997 he joined American Crystal as training and organizational development manager. He was most recently the Cooperative’s director of training and compensation. Previous experience includes twelve years in management with Novartis. He resides in West Fargo with his wife Marilee and three sons.

American Crystal Sugar Company is an agricultural cooperative owned by over 3,000 shareholder entities in the Red River Valley (Northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota) involved in the growing and processing of sugarbeets. American Crystal is the largest beet sugar producer in the United States. American Crystal operates sugar factories at East Grand Forks, Crookston and Moorhead, Minnesota, and Drayton and Hillsboro, North Dakota. Its corporate headquarters and technical services center are located in Moorhead.