Agribusiness: GTC closure shocks Johnstown, area farmers

JOHNSTOWN — Golden Technologies Co. announced in late February that it would close April 20.

The news sent a shock wave through Johnstown, which reaps the greatest tax benefits from the company. Local farmers, too, will feel the effects of the closure. Some supply corn to GTC, and some purchase biomaize, a byproduct that is used for cattle feed.

Ron Klein Jr., who partners with his father in a farming operation near Johnstown, said, “The day they announced the GTC closing, corn prices dropped 10 cents per hundred.”

The corn used to grind into high-fructose corn syrup is purchased largely out of…