We interrupt this regularly scheduled update to bring you this important message:
CALL TO ACTION
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS BY NOON ON MONDAY, APRIL 8th and ask them to support SECTION 32 of SF 609: Ag & Natural Resources Appropriations
.
This language specifies a priority lien for elevators storing and drying grain and is critical to our state and agricultural economies. Bankers are fighting this aggressively so your communication with legislators is crucial. As one legislator put it... "I have to pay for my own drying and storage-- why doesn't the bank?" Our talking points on the issue are written out below.
NEXT STEPS:
Find your Senators and Representatives
HERE
.
You can use the following summary when reaching out via e-mail or phone, if you want:
Senator OR Representative _____________,
I ask for your support of section 32 in bill
SF 609
: Ag & Natural Resources Appropriations. This language specifies a priority lien for elevators storing and drying grain, it is
critical
to our state and agricultural economies. We expect to see this language in a House companion bill and wanted to connect you with the issue resolved in this legislation.
The Iowa Institute for Cooperatives (IIC) and the Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI) worked together to create this language, specifically codifying what's happening today. To reach a viable solution, we sought input from stakeholders including the Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Services (who hold roughly 40% of ag loans in Iowa), CoBank, additional ag lenders, cooperative and private elevators, and numerous legal experts.
For more than 50 years, elevators have received payment for their cost to store and dry grain; the elevators maintain and enhance the quality of the grain and thus preserve the value of the customer's grain and the lender's collateral. A bank recently sued two cooperatives to claw back storage and drying costs. Today, when the elevator creates a grain settlement, they deduct the charges incurred and write a check for the remaining balance. Charges incurred (storage and drying) are set in advance and well-documented to maintain accuracy and transparency.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to reach out to our lobbyists Katie Hall and Mike St. Clair.
Thank you,
-YOUR NAME HERE