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Grain Dealers
Grain Dealers
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development licenses individuals and business who receive, buy, exchange, sell, or store dry edible beans, soy beans, small grains, cereal grains and/or corn in the state of Michigan.
Statutory exceptions to the licensing requirements are as follows:
- A grower or producer who sells farm produce that the grower or producer actually produces.
- A person who buys farm produce, pursuant to a cash sale, as a feeder of the person's own livestock or poultry.
- A person who handled less than 30,000 bushels of farm produce from producers in the prior or current fiscal period, buying farm produce in a cash sale.
- A person who contracts for land or services to produce seed for sowing or propagation.
- A person who purchases farm produce from other than a grower or producer pursuant to a cash sale.
Note: Exceptions are not available if the person is required to offer warehouse receipts, price later agreements, or if the person takes title prior to payment to farm produce of a producer or grower. To qualify for an exception, the person must engage solely in the exceptions listed above.
Contact
Jeff Haarer, Program Manager, Producer Security Program
Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development
517-284-5642
MDARD-GrainDealers@michigan.gov
Regulatory Authority
MDARD receives its authority for regulating and licensing individuals under the Grain Dealers Act (PA 141 of 1939, as amended) and provides for:
- The storage, warehousing, buying, and selling of farm produce within the state of Michigan.
- The licensing, regulation, and bonding of grain dealers.
- Warehouse receipts and price later agreements and their priority.
- The creation of security interests.
- The establishment of an inspection service and personnel for licensed grain dealers.
- Penalties for the violation of this Act.
The Department is required to supply sufficient copies of this Act to grain dealers upon request. Key points of the Act may be found here. A person shall not act or offer to act as a grain dealer without annually securing a license from MDARD. No license can be issued unless the dealer, which handles less than 1,000,000 bushels during their fiscal year, reports at least $100,000 in allowable net assets. For dealers that handle more than 1,000,000 bushels, the calculation is 10 cents of allowable net assets for every bushel handled in allowable net assets.
Grain Dealer License Fee Schedule
Facility - Online Application / Printable ApplicationEach Facility Receiving Point |
|
---|---|
Total Bushel Capacity |
License Fee |
0 - 100,000 |
$615 |
100,001 - 200,000 |
$760 |
200,001 - 300,000 | $915 |
300,001 - 400,000 | $1,070 |
400,001 + |
$1,215 |
Merchandisers and Truckers - Online Application / Printable Application |
|
---|---|
License Type |
License Fee |
Grain Merchandiser |
$1,215 |
First Truck | $615 |
Each Additional Truck | $240 |
Note: The January 1, 2024, license fee increase is based on the annual change in the Detroit Consumer Price Index. See Section 8 (4) of the Grain Dealers Act, PA 141 of 1939, as amended (MCL 285.68(4)).