The Trustee for a Portsmouth granary which closed January 1st, has issued an update on the status of bankruptcy proceedings.  Deborah L. Petersen, Trustee for the G & R Feed and Grain Co., Inc., case, said Friday that the USDA is still finalizing their calculations, however, they have determined that they will begin taking bids for sale of all stored grain on Monday, January 14th, 2013. Once the stored grain is all sold by the USDA, each producer with a warehouse receipt for stored grain will receive a letter from the USDA. Producers can expect to receive a check for their stored grain within 4 – 6 weeks after all grain is sold and delivered. At this point, there is no action for producers to take with the USDA. The USDA will announce further details as they become available.

G & R Feed and Grain filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case on January 1st, 2013. The Iowa Department of Agriculture is in the process of reviewing all deferred price contracts. They are sending letters to producers who sold grain to G & R. The letter indicates that holders of signed credit-sale contracts do not qualify for payment from the Iowa Depositors and Seller Indemnity Fund, but you may qualify for other partial payments. Producers who sold grain for cash or who sold grain on an unsigned contract, who were not paid, may qualify for the Indemnity Fund and may receive up to 90% of their claim, with certain limits. These producers may proceed to file their claims with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, as well as with the Bankruptcy Court.

Petersen says G & R intends to have complete schedules filed in the Bankruptcy Court soon. Once filed and completed, everyone listed will receive a notice from the Bankruptcy Court. The Notice contains information on how to file a claim with the Bankruptcy Court. If you have a claim for a deferred price contract, or other amount due you, you should take action to timely file a claim. If you have a contract for future delivery of grain, you will soon receive notice of rejection of that contract, as the Trustee will not be fulfilling those contracts. Once the Rejection is finalized, then the Trustee has no further interest in the contract and the producer will not be required to fulfill the contract and can sell or otherwise dispose of the grain as the producer desires.

Petersen says as the Trustee, she has taken possession of all assets, other than the stored grain, and is taking action to liquidate as soon as possible. There are many other matters still in the information gathering stage. Petersen says if you have legal questions, including how to file a claim, you shoudl contact an attorney of your choice.