Regulation of Grain Sales & Storage

As a result of several recent elevator and grain dealer failures in the United States, the National Agricultural Law Center has begun a project to outline and digitize the state requirements for those entities to operate.  Requirements are very different from state to state, ranging from no regulation at all to very significant regulation, including licensing, bonding, statutory liens, and civil and criminal sanctions.

This project involves the regulations set up to address both warehouses and grain dealers.  Warehouses are involved in the storage of grain.  Typically, ownership is maintained by the grower, rather than being transferred to the warehouse.  Warehouses are regulated by either state or federal government, depending on the entity with whom the warehouse is licensed.  To read more about warehouse licensing on the federal level, click here.  On the other hand, a grain dealer is a person or entity involved in buying, receiving or exchanging grain from the grower.  Typically, an interaction with a grain dealer requires a transfer of ownership (title) to that dealer.  Largely, regulation of grain dealers has occurred on the state level, and varies significantly from place to place.

The primary aim of this compilation is to provide the researcher with easy and free access to a state’s statutory language by simply clicking on the link in the chart below.  It may be useful for producers interested in learning more about protections in place that ensure payment for their crop, to individuals who wish to learn more about getting into the business of grain dealing, and to policy makers deciding what, if any, changes should be made to their state laws.

To read a short overview publication of typical state regulatory provisions, please click here.

To access the compilation of state laws relating to grain dealers (including citations), click here.

To access the compilation of state laws relating to grain warehouses (including citations), click here.