Just this week – the grain elevator licensing and inspection program transferred from the Public Service Commission to the state Agriculture Department.
And already, the Ag department is dealing with an elevator insolvency.
Commissioner Doug Goehring said JM Grain of Garrison has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and his office will be asking a court to name it the trustee.
The elevator handles beans and lentils – and Goehring said this is most likely due to the situation with higher tariffs on certain ag products being shipped overseas. He said the company did not try to defraud anyone – and scrambled to sell the product it was unable to sell overseas.
"It sat in ports," Goehring said. "They had to relocate it, and try to resell it."
Goehring said it's been a big headache for them.
"They have been working diligently at this," Goehring said. "But ultimately, you have a product sitting in a tropical environment, and I don't know what condition it's in, or if it's just a matter of having a high price on it."
Goehring said if the product was eventually sold, it probably had a very high discount price.
