(The Center Square) – Illinois’ Grain Code is at the center of a battle involving the state’s Department of Agriculture.
The Illinois Supreme Court is considering a case involving a grain producer who applied for reimbursement from the Illinois Grain Insurance Fund after the failure of SGI Agri-Marketing, an Illinois-licensed grain dealer.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s order denying Miller’s claim for compensation, and questioned whether the Grain Code’s language sets a pricing date as a matter of law when the parties do not enter a price-later contract within 30 days of grain delivery.
That claim by Robert Miller was originally denied, but his attorney, Timothy Cantlin, said Illinois’ Grain Code is there for a reason.
“To protect producers in the event that there is a failure, and to that end, this code should be liberally construed and liberally administered in favor of the claimant,” Cantlin said.
Attorney Anna Gottlieb, who represents the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said Miller doesn’t qualify for reimbursement.
“The farmer may seek recovery from this limited fund and he will recover if he can meet the requirements under the Grain Code,” Gottlieb said. “Here, Mr. Miller cannot show that he has met those requirements because the grain at issue was priced outside the recovery window.”
According to farmdoc daily, the department has argued that “if the parties fail to enter into a contract within 30 days of the last delivery, the grain ‘shall be priced on the next business day’” and that the “statute does not indicate who prices the grain, and, therefore, the plain meaning of the provision is that the grain is priced automatically on the thirtieth day.”
In contrast, Miller argued that nothing in the language of Section 10-15(e) required automatic pricing. The Fourth Circuit agreed with Miller, noting that the statute’s plain language “dictates an individual or entity shall set a price on or find out the price of the grain” and that entity is the grain dealer.