Ohio Grain Indemnity Fund

OFU Efforts Pay Off – Grain Indemnity Update Signed by Gov. Kasich

July 11, 2013 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs Senate Bill 66 which updates Ohio’s Commodity Handlers law, also known as the grain indemnity fund and program.

COLUMBUS – Gov. John Kasich today signed into law S.B. 66 which affords Ohio’s farmers status as first in line for assets in the event of a grain elevator failure and boosts the size of the farmer-funded grain indemnity program.

The Ohio Farmers Union and other state ag organizations worked for two and a half years with the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Cliff Hite (R-Findlay) on the legislation. Hite also serves as chairman of the Ohio Senate Agriculture Committee.

“Family farmers are the winners with the updates to the grain indemnity law,” said Roger Wise, president of OFU.

“Before grain indemnity, smaller operators could be driven entirely out of business in the event of a grain elevator bankruptcy. We’ve been covered since 1983, but some have questioned – and the state has had to go to court – over the question of who is first in line as a creditor when an elevator fails.”

“It’s clear now in Ohio law that regarding elevator failures, the farmers who did business with that elevator are first in line,” Wise added.

Additionally, the updated law increases the size of the farmer-funded grain indemnity fund which pays producers for losses in the event of an elevator failure. OFU sought to have the fund size increased due to several years of historically high prices for corn and soybeans.

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PHOTOS – Kasich Signs SB 66 – Grain Indemnity Law Update

July 11, 2013 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Below are a couple of photos taken during the bill signing ceremony for SB 66 today. Clicking on the images gives you a full res shot to download.

L-R: State Sen. Cliff Hite (R-Findlay), SB 66 primary sponsor; Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

L-R: Roger Wise, president, Ohio Farmers Union; Linda Borton, executive director, Ohio Farmers Union; State Sen. Cliff Hite (R-Findlay); Christopher Collins, aide to Sen. Hite; Tony Anderson, Ohio Agricultural Commodity Advisory Commission; Mel Borton, Ohio Farmers Union; Allen Stockberger, Ohio Agricultural Commodity Advisory Commission. Seated, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Grain Indemnity Bill is On Gov. Kasich’s Desk – And There’s a New Senate Ag Chairman

June 30, 2013 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Ohio State Sen. Bob Peterson, new chairman of the Senate Ag Committee.

The Ohio Senate agreed to the minor House amendment to SB 66, the bill which will update Ohio’s grain indemnity law.

Since the senate overwhelmingly supported the original bill, this was no surprise. What was a surprise was the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Cliff Hite (R-Findlay) being introduced as the former chairman of the Senate Ag Committee. Hite chuckled and went about his business in explaining the House amendment.

It turns out that earlier in the day, Hite was replaced as chairman by Sen. Bob Petersen (R-Washington Court House). Given the smiles on the floor on both senators’ faces, it appears that the change in leadership came as no surprise.

Based on discussion at the last Agricultural Commodity Advisory Commission, which oversees the grain warehouse program and grain indemnity fund, the one-half cent per bushel levy will begin to be collected at the beginning of 2014. The indemnity fund would be built up to its new cap of $15 million. Ohio Dept. of Agriculture officials say that based on past history, it will take around two years of collecting the levy to build up to the new cap. Another needed change contained in the bill is explicitly setting farmers as the primary lienholders if an elevator goes under. Finally, barley, oats, rye, grain sorghum, sunflower and speltz are removed from the list of commodities covered by the fund.

Of course this all dependent on Gov. Kasich’s signature which is expected soon.

Ohio Grain Indemnity Clears House 94-0

June 19, 2013 By Ron Sylvester 2 Comments

Proposed changes to the Ohio Grain Indemnity Fund are a big step closer to reality. On Wednesday, S.B. 66 cleared the Ohio House 94-0.

Due to a minor technical change in the bill which occurred in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the bill will now need to be reconciled or accepted with the House change in the Senate. This would be the final step before the legislation hits Gov. John Kasich’s desk. We’ll keep you posted.

Legislative Alert: Ohio Grain Indemnity (SB 66) Gets First Hearing in House Ag Committee

May 7, 2013 By Ron Sylvester 1 Comment

Senate Bill 66 which would update the law behind Ohio’s grain indemnity program and fund received its first hearing in the Ohio House this morning.

In fact, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Cliff Hite, the primary sponsor of the legislation which was unanimously passed by his committee and the full Senate, was today’s entire agenda in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Hite provided sponsor testimony for SB 66, the bill’s first step through the House committee process to get the measure to the floor for a final vote.

Hite’s testimony began with off the cuff remarks about the Ohio Farmers Union being instrumental in bringing the issue to him and working with other stakeholders to get a bill that eventually sailed through the Senate. He followed with prepared remarks recounting some of the history behind the law which was first passed in 1983 and last updated in 2004. He focused on the two issues OFU has championed – codifying farmers as primary lien holders and the increases in the indemnity fund’s cap and trigger.

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Commission which advises Ohio’s grain indemnity fund to meet

March 1, 2013 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

The Ohio Dept. of Agriculture has announced the next meeting of the Agricultural Commodity Advisory Commission. The commission provides an advisory role to the Grain Indemnity Program (Fund) and the director of ODA.

Their next meeting will be held Wednesday, March 13, 10 a.m. at the Reynoldsburg campus of ODA in the Plant Health Building, conference room 101. For information contact Denise Hatch at ODA at 614-728-6410.

2013 Policy Priorities Set by OFU

January 30, 2013 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

OFU President Roger Wise and wife Sandra at the January 26 policy hearing at the OFU Annual Convention.

COLUMBUS – Severance taxes, the Ohio Turnpike and ag nutrient pollution are among the policy initiatives in the spotlight for The Ohio Farmers Union, a 5,000 member family farm and consumer advocacy group.

New state and federal level public policy positions are made by OFU each January at its annual convention. Gone from last year’s policy list is a call for a moratorium on fracking in Ohio until the U.S. EPA issues a report on horizontal drilling’s effects on the environment.

“We’ve removed our moratorium request due to the fact that the EPA report is still not complete. We have members in shale counties who stand to benefit from responsible well-drilling, but we also have members greatly concerned about what we don’t know about what fracking will do to water supplies,” said Roger Wise, OFU president.

“We will continue to urge lawmakers to protect farmers and rural landowners and our air and water first. Our new policy position requests that the U.S. EPA include water quality in its ongoing study.”

At the state level, OFU is supporting the Kasich Administration’s Ohio Turnpike plan with two caveats: First, that northern Ohio be defined as territory north of U.S. 224 and second that the Ohio General Assembly codify Administration pledges to keep 90 percent or more of Turnpike bond and other revenue in northern Ohio.

OFU is also supportive raising severance taxes in the state, but differs with Kasich on where new revenue should go.

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Frack tax proposal one of several items discussed during OFU Legislative Day

March 25, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

The Ohio Farmers Union made contact with more than a dozen state legislators earlier this week during our 2012 Ohio Legislative Day in Columbus and discussed hot topics like the shale oil and gas boom in eastern Ohio, the Ohio Turnpike, restoration of funding for the Office of the Ohio Consumers Counsel, grain indemnity and Ohio’s renewable energy goals.

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2012 Should See a Revamped Ohio Grain Indemnity Law

January 4, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

A successful farmer-funded Ohio Department of Agriculture program will see its first changes in more than a decade during the first half of 2012 according to the ODA official who administers it.

The Ohio Grain Indemnity Fund, which protects producers from losing everything in grain elevator failures, is on track for a legislative overhaul sometime in the first quarter of 2012 according to the fund’s administrator, David Simmons.

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Ohio’s Grain Indemnity Fund Strong, But Adjustments May Be On The Way

July 5, 2011 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

David Simmons of the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture

Ohio’s grain Indemnity Fund was the chief topic of discussion at a recent Ohio Farmers Union Town Hall in Archbold.

Northwest State Community College President Thomas Stuckey, State Sen. Cliff Hite, David Simmons of the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture and Roger Wise and Bruce Yancey of the Ohio Farmers Union spoke and answered questions from the 50 to 60 meeting attendees.

The meeting was hosted by the OFU chapters in Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams Counties and Northwest State Community College.

Farmers in this area of northwest Ohio have been affected by the recent failure of Archbold Elevator, Inc. located at 3265 CR 24 in Archbold, Ohio. ODA has recently approved 85 claims associated with its failure submitted to the state grain Indemnity Fund. Those claims are to be paid pending approval of the Ohio
Controlling Board on July 11. The total cost to the Fund of the Archbold claims will be $3.4 million.

Simmons’ role at ODA is administrator of the section of the agency that oversees the Indemnity Fund among other programs related to grain, feed and seed. He gave a presentation about the history of grain elevator regulation in Ohio and updated farmers on the health of the Indemnity Fund.

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