The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is accepting claims from farmers that recently sold grain to the now closed Porter, Minnesota elevator. The operation voluntarily shut its doors and the checks to farmers that sold grain there have bounced. Nicholas Milanowski, Head of MDA’s Fruit, Vegetable and Grain Unit says those farmers can file for repayment through the state bond program until March 30.

The state bond is $125,000.  However, it’s estimated that the Porter Elevator owes roughly $4 million in grain payments from cash sales and deferred payments, making the MDA bond a little more than 3 percent of what is owed to area farmers.  Milanowski says they won’t know how much farmers will actually receive from the bond until they see the number and amount of the claims.

The elevator is expected to file for bankruptcy, but he says that won’t impact the state bond disbursement process.

However, the sold grain now is an asset of the elevator and will be used to pay secured creditors first in a bankruptcy process, while unsecured creditors such as farmers will be paid if there is any money left.

Farmers that stored grain at the elevator will be compensated by the USDA under a $200,000 federal bond.