ARCHIVED  December 1, 1996

Piedmont Farms files bankruptcy

WELLINGTON – Bad weather more than a year ago has helped spur the bankruptcy of Piedmont Farms Inc., one of the three largest organic vegetable farms in the nation.Wellington-based Piedmont filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 15, claiming assets and liabilities both in the range of $5 million to $6 million.
Piedmont is owned by Andy, Lewis and Patricia Grant. Piedmont Farms, located at 1020 Weld County Road 72, produces processed vegetables, beans and grains. It also offers fresh market vegetables.
The company employs anywhere from 40 workers during the off-season to 400 to 500 during the summer, said Ken Copple, an attorney with Ken Copple & Associates representing Piedmont.
Copple said the company suffered from an extremely rainy May 1995, followed by an early frost in September 1995.
“The combination of plant-
ing the crops late and having an early frost in September caused some severe losses,” Copple said.
But what finally pushed the farm into bankruptcy was the threat, Copple said, by Cooperative Finance Association Inc., a Kansas City, Mo.-based agricultural lender, to force liquidation of the company. That would have been “financially disastrous” for Piedmont Farms, Copple said. Piedmont owes CFA at least $3.24 million on two promissory notes.
“They have experienced some problems with their operating lender,” Copple said, adding that CFA is not allowing Piedmont to use any more funds for operating expenses.
That’s prompted Copple to file an emergency motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver to allow Piedmont to use some funds. He said Piedmont has almost $500,000 in crops in storage, with no available capital to get the crops to market.
“The use of cash collateral is absolutely necessary in order to provide the care required to prevent the loss of these crops that will otherwise wither and potentially die,” Copple said in the court filing. At press time, the bankruptcy court judge had not yet ruled on the motion.
Piedmont seeks authorization to spend $76,830 on payroll and taxes; $8,500 on utilities; $3,350 on fuel, propane and supplies; $6,000 on freight; $250 for an organic license fee; $4,830 for equipment rental and repairs; and $10,000 for raw materials/costs of goods sold, totalling $109,760.
Part of those funds would be used to purchase raw materials for Christmas wreaths, a staple of Piedmont’s holiday business.
“If Piedmont is unable to preserve the inventory of perishable crops, meet payroll obligations and other necessary expenses, and keep utilities supplied, the prospects for a successful reorganization will be irreparably damaged,” Copple said in the filing.
Piedmont has $17,780 on hand. “Absent court intervention in this matter, Piedmont has no reasonable expectation of collecting future receivables with which to continue its business operations,” Copple said in the filing.
Copple stressed in an interview that Piedmont seeks reorganization, not liquidation.
“The folks at Piedmont Farms want to continue to be a viable and contributing members of the Larimer County business community, and they want to continue to engage in their organic vegetable business,” he said.
He said it’s possible that another party might step into the bankruptcy proceedings and purchase an interest in Piedmont Farms or that the company might secure a new lender. Either would allow the operation to continue, he said.
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WELLINGTON – Bad weather more than a year ago has helped spur the bankruptcy of Piedmont Farms Inc., one of the three largest organic vegetable farms in the nation.Wellington-based Piedmont filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 15, claiming assets and liabilities both in the range of $5 million to $6 million.
Piedmont is owned by Andy, Lewis and Patricia Grant. Piedmont Farms, located at 1020 Weld County Road 72, produces processed vegetables, beans and grains. It also offers fresh market vegetables.
The company employs anywhere from 40 workers during the off-season to 400 to 500 during the summer, said…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
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