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.
