All Roll Calls
Yes: 180 • No: 4
IndianaSB 461First Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2025)SenateWALLET
Grain indemnity.
Sponsored By: Jean Leising (Republican)
Signed by Governor
Summary
Defines "revocation of a license". Creates a process in which the director of the Indiana grain buyers and warehouse licensing agency (agency) determines whether a building or other protected enclosure constitutes a single warehouse that requires one or more licenses. Specifies the documents a person who desires to conduct business as a grain buyer, warehouse operator, or buyer-warehouse (licensee) must submit to the agency to renew a license to operate. Specifies how a business as a licensee may renew its license. Specifies the types of licenses the agency shall issue and how a license may be relinquished. Establishes what information must be included in a financial statement submitted by a licensee to the agency. Removes the ability of the agency to temporarily suspend a licensee's license. Specifies various matters related to on-premises inspections. Permits the director of the agency (director) to call an informal meeting with a licensee. Provides when the director may revoke, and when the director shall revoke, a licensee's license and what information the director must share with the licensee. Establishes various notice requirements. Permits the agency to adopt rules. Requires the director to inspect and test all equipment used to test the moisture content of grain purchased from producers once per year. Requires the Indiana grain indemnity corporation board to elect a chairperson and vice chairperson and take on various new responsibilities. Addresses various issues with producer premiums. Provides that a grain buyer shall keep accurate and correct records of grain purchased from producers documenting the producer premiums paid by producers. Establishes storage fees to determine storage loss. Requires the office of the attorney general to provide legal assistance if requested by the director. Requires the director to take possession of the bond or other security and all proceeds from a grain sale in the event a licensee has failed to meet its obligations under the grain indemnity chapter. Provides that the director shall provide informal conferences between agency representatives and persons who have or who appear to have grain deposited with the licensee in revocation. Makes technical and conforming changes.
agricultureappropriationsthe houseagriculture and rural development
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Bill Overview
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30 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 9 costs, 16 mixed.
Grain businesses must back unpaid bills
Beginning July 1, 2025, grain licensees must keep assets free of other claims worth at least 85% of covered unpaid grain bills, combined across licenses. They also need current assets at least equal to current liabilities; having no current liabilities meets this test. Asset shortfalls allow 90 days after notice to cure; current-ratio shortfalls allow that period only when the ratio exceeds 85% of the requirement. A ratio at or below 85%, or failure to cure either shortfall, leads to a meeting and possible corrective agreement lasting no more than 12 months or revocation. Failing either financial requirement carries a $1,000 fine, and failing a corrective agreement requires revocation.
Grain businesses must meet capital minimums
Beginning July 1, 2025, minimum positive tangible net worth is $100,000 for grain banks and $100,000 plus $0.10 per storage bushel for warehouses. Grain buyers need the greater of $100,000 or $0.05 per bushel purchased in their latest fiscal year. Buyer-warehouses need the greater of a base plus $0.10 per storage bushel or $0.05 per bushel purchased that year; the base is $150,000 when both measures are below one million bushels, otherwise $200,000. Multiple-license holders must meet combined minimums, and failing to maintain them carries a $1,000 fine. A shortfall above 85% of required net worth allows 90 days after notice to cure; amounts at or below 85%, or an uncured shortfall, trigger a meeting and possible revocation.
Farm loss claims follow license revocation
Beginning July 1, 2025, participating producers can claim unpaid grain sales and unmet storage obligations tied to license revocation. Written proof of the loss and its price replaces the former requirement for an agency-adjudicated claim; agency review still applies. Loss calculations subtract prior payments, moisture and quality discounts, drying, storage, deferred-pricing charges, marketing checkoffs, and other sale deductions. Storage losses also exclude outstanding charges against the grain. When determining obligations and losses, the director may consider grain delivered for sale or storage under a bailment within 15 months before revocation.
Farm claims follow grain license revocation
Beginning July 1, 2025, the fund compensates qualifying financial or storage losses caused by grain license revocation. For unpriced grain sold to a buyer-warehouse, the storage-obligation price applies only when ownership passed to that buyer. For other grain buyers, the agency uses its warehouse-price procedures. When proven claims remain unpaid, the director must send the board the claimant list, claimed shortfalls, and final order. That referral does not itself guarantee payment.
Farm grain claims get recovery safeguards
After a hearing finds a likely shortage and a need to distribute security, the director must take control of that security. Grain-sale proceeds stay in a separate account in the form received, and the order must provide conferences for possible depositors; sureties may participate. After revocation, the director alone enforces grain liens and shares assets within priority tiers; liens end when claims are discharged. Unpaid surrendered-receipt claims qualify only when revocation occurs less than 21 days after surrender, and available assets may not cover all claims. The board must publish buyer-revocation notices within five business days after receipt, and missing stored grain at revocation requires referral to the county prosecutor.
Farm premiums use gross grain prices
Beginning July 1, 2025, the producer premium remains 0.2% of gross grain sales to a first purchaser licensee when collections are active. The base includes grain-characteristic premiums and discounts, before marketing assessments, storage, drying, cleaning, or other service charges. Buyers must send collected premiums and completed forms by October 31, January 31, April 30, and July 31 for the preceding quarter. Buyers must keep purchase and premium records for five years after remittance and allow authorized agents access during normal business hours.
Farmers face grain claim eligibility limits
Beginning July 1, 2025, producers lose grain indemnity eligibility when the board issues their premium refund check. The board must also deny compensation when a majority finds that unusual marketing practices substantially contributed to the loss. Those practices must differ from generally accepted grain-industry practices. The board may consider whether contracts allowed under grain law meet accepted marketing practices.
Grain businesses face tighter license entry
Beginning July 1, 2025, grain buyer, warehouse, and buyer-warehouse applicants must meet business qualifications and background requirements. Specified financial crimes disqualify applicants and covered officers, directors, partners, or managers; improper business practices can also justify denial. Applicants without a regular, reachable Indiana street address must appoint a registered agent under state business rules. The law ends temporary licenses lasting up to 90 days while applicants complete requirements. A person cannot claim grain-license status without a valid license that has not ended.
Grain operators face required corrective action
Beginning July 1, 2025, the director must notify grain licensees that cannot meet depositor obligations or refuse lawful inspections. The notice requires one or more actions: supply fully paid grain, add bond, letter-of-credit or cash security, or allow inspection. When the director calls an informal meeting, the agency must explain its purpose and arrange a mutually agreed meeting within 30 days after notice. Meetings are in person or by approved live virtual conference, and participants receive minutes and materials within five days. Meetings, materials, and consent agreements are confidential, and settlement offers and discussions receive evidence-rule protections.
Grain pricing cannot cross crop years
Beginning July 1, 2025, licensed grain businesses cannot make deferred-pricing agreements that extend beyond the delivered grain's crop year. They also cannot roll those agreements into new deferred-pricing agreements lasting beyond that crop year. This limits how long buyers and producers can leave the grain's price unsettled.
Revoked grain businesses must stop operating
Beginning July 1, 2025, specified bankruptcy, receivership, creditor-assignment, insolvency, and liquidation events automatically revoke grain licenses. Revoked businesses must stop licensed work, remove license claims, turn over related records and property, and follow agency orders. They must end grain arrangements as directed and deliver previously received grain only under the director's supervision. The law removes the provision allowing supervised operation during suspension. The director must publish newspaper notices in each facility's county, post facility notices, and recover unused receipts after revocation.
Grain moisture checks carry device fees
Beginning July 1, 2025, equipment measuring moisture in grain bought from producers must be tested at least annually. Accurate devices receive state seals showing inspection and expiration dates; failed devices need accepted calibration, proof of correction, and agency approval. Inspection sites pay $200 per device per inspection into the grain licensing agency's license fee fund. Reckless commercial use of unsealed equipment is a Class B misdemeanor. Commercial grain buying sites must prominently post the moisture-testing law and rules.
Farm claims face independent reviews
Beginning July 1, 2025, the board must hire a claims manager with no association or family relationship to board members. After a payment default or license revocation, the board investigates marketing methods and losses; claimants must sign submissions under penalties for perjury. The board can subpoena loss records and compel participation in buyer-revocation proceedings; refusing requested documents or investigation means no fund payment. Fund payments require majority board approval, and disputed settlement negotiations require independent legal advice. Administrative funds can pay management and legal costs, with board approval required for legal expenses in actions involving the corporation or board.
Farm grain premiums follow fund balances
Beginning July 1, 2025, active collections charge producers 0.2% of gross marketed-grain sales before storage and service deductions. Collections generally stop after the fund exceeds $25 million on June 30 and remain stopped until it falls below $20 million. Collections can restart when, as of May 1, the balance is at least $20 million and a known revocation creates expected claims at least equal to that balance. Collection years run September 1 through August 30.
Farm storage claims require paid-fee proof
Beginning July 1, 2025, storage-loss claims after warehouse license revocation require proof that producers paid storage fees. Minimum monthly rates are $0.05 per bushel for barley, canola, corn, lentils, oats, rye, sorghum, sunflower, wheat, and other field crops. The minimum for popcorn is $0.10 per bushel per month. Uncollected storage charges cannot count as outstanding charges.
Farmers can repay refunds to rejoin
Producers who received premium refunds after June 30, 2015, can petition to rejoin the grain indemnity program. They must deliver the required petition by hand or certified mail with return receipt requested. Reentry requires board approval and repayment of all previous premium refunds, plus interest set by the board. Coverage begins when payment is complete, but license-revocation claims remain barred for six months after reentry requirements are met.
Grain enforcement shifts toward license revocation
Beginning July 1, 2025, grain enforcement includes informal meetings and consent agreements with compliance deadlines and requirements. After a hearing finds a violation, the director must revoke or deny the license rather than suspend it. Imminent insolvency or irreparable depositor harm requires an immediate cease-and-desist order without advance notice, lasting through administrative proceedings. The agency must refer suspected grain-law crimes to a county prosecutor or the Indiana attorney general. The law removes a separate penalty allowing up to $20,000 in fines, five years of suspension, or both for specified noncompliance.
Grain firms face revised financial filings
Beginning July 1, 2025, initial grain license applications need reviewed-or-better financial statements dated no more than 15 months before application. The director can no longer waive that documentation for hardship. Renewals require current reviewed or audited statements from independent Indiana-certified accountants following U.S. accounting rules. Businesses offering deferred pricing, delayed payment, or futures- or options-linked contracts cannot use specified substitute documents. The law removes the separate filing deadline 90 days after fiscal year-end and late fines of 50% of renewal fees for 1–60 days late, or 100% beyond 60 days.
Grain firms get revised financial safeguards
Beginning July 1, 2025, the law removes the former 80% unpaid-grain asset rule and the former licensing net-worth clause. Replacement rules still require minimum net worth and, upon inspection, unencumbered assets covering at least 85% of unpaid grain bills. The asset shortfall has a 90-day cure period. Buyer-warehouses may cover net-worth shortfalls with extra bonds, letters of credit, or cash if they retain $50,000 in tangible net worth. They need $100,000 instead if storage capacity or annual purchases reach 1 million bushels; added security does not count toward either floor.
Grain inspection funding and rules change
Beginning July 1, 2025, the law repeals the former moisture-equipment inspection section and supports a new inspection program. The program requires annual inspections, accuracy seals, and a $200 fee per device per inspection. The licensing fee fund receives moisture-inspection fees and can pay to administer the inspection program. The law also voids listed rules covering licensing, bonding, fees, inspections, stored grain, contracts, hearings, and indemnity administration. The section voiding those rules expires July 1, 2026.
Grain operators face licensing checks and fees
Beginning July 1, 2025, nearby warehouses with the same owner and operator count as one warehouse for licensing unless contrary information exists. Buyer and warehouse applicants must provide a financial statement dated within 15 months before their first application materials, plus required security, insurance, scale, business-authority, and sample-document records. The director must review complete applications within 90 days, inspect each applicable Indiana facility, and deny noncompliant applications. Annual reports, financial statements, and applicable fees are due within 120 days after fiscal year-end; annual fees are also due before the license anniversary. Capacity changes between renewals cost $250, and the director may prorate application fees for license changes at least 30 days after the anniversary.
Grain security failures bring fines first
Beginning July 1, 2025, specified grain security or insurance failures bring a $1,000 fine instead of automatic license suspension. Failures include missing the 90-day replacement-security deadline, missing the 30-day insurance-evidence deadline, or not maintaining required coverage. The agency must revoke the license unless the business pays the fine and meets requirements within 90 days. Required bonds must remain active during violations and cease-and-desist orders.
Farm contracts explain grain coverage limits
Beginning July 1, 2025, the director may require updated notices in grain purchase contracts, excluding flat-price and seed-production contracts. The notice explains crop-year pricing deadlines and coverage for grain delivered to a licensed first purchaser within 15 months before revocation. Seed-production contracts must carry a conspicuous warning that contractor ownership of seed and its products can prevent indemnity eligibility. The law removes the former January 1, 2000, contract-date limitation on that seed notice.
Grain buyers and advisors lose requirements
Beginning July 1, 2025, the director loses authority to require risk-related training or licensing evidence from certain grain buyers. Paid grain-marketing advisors also no longer face the repealed state registration requirement. That repeal removes the requirement to give the agency proof of specified federal commodity-market registration; it does not repeal federal rules.
Grain board receives confidential risk reports
Beginning July 1, 2025, the director must report licensees facing significant revocation risk or failing minimum requirements to the indemnity board. Reports cover license status and inspection results, exclude identifying details, and occur in closed sessions. Only members who signed confidentiality agreements may receive them. A member who knowingly breaks that agreement commits a Class A misdemeanor and loses board eligibility upon conviction.
Grain business buyers need new licenses
Beginning July 1, 2025, grain licenses cannot be transferred or assigned, including to a successor owner. The buyer must obtain a new license. The original licensee's legal duties continue until the successor is properly licensed and signs a successor agreement with the agency.
Grain credit security holds end sooner
Beginning July 1, 2025, the required hold on grain-license letters of credit falls from 18 months to 15 months. The director cannot release a party from its letter-of-credit obligations during those 15 months after license termination. Earlier release becomes possible, shortening the required period of continued security for potential claimants.
Grain fines keep thirty-day deadlines
Beginning July 1, 2025, a net-worth deficiency found before the next agency audit must be corrected within 30 days. The director may fine an operator up to $1,000 for missing that deadline. The law removes the temporary suspension that could follow another 60 days after the fine. Fine notices must state reasons, amounts, payment methods, and a deadline for full payment within 30 days after sending. Nonpayment can bring further authorized penalties, including license revocation.
Grain records shorten, ticket details expand
Beginning July 1, 2025, grain businesses keep transaction records for at least five years after final settlement, down from six. Delivery tickets must identify the licensee, owner, delivery date, grain type, net weight, grade factors, and sale or storage arrangement. Tickets must also include director-required details, and the director can no longer exempt grain types from these rules. The board and agency must provide online explanations of common grain marketing terms to producers, buyers, and warehouse operators.
Grain subsidiaries gain financial reporting options
Beginning July 1, 2025, subsidiaries without ordinary-course financial statements can seek approval to use specified alternatives. Options include a qualifying compilation statement or a parent's reviewed or audited statement with an unconditional guaranty lasting at least one year. Another option uses tax returns, accounting records, a five-year business plan, a risk-management agreement, and related materials. When preapproval is required, materials must arrive at least 45 days before the statement deadline, and approval must come before that deadline.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Jean Leising
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
Beau Baird
Republican • House
Kendell Culp
Republican • House
Mike Aylesworth
Republican • House
Susan Glick
Republican • Senate
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 4/16/2025
Senate concurred with House amendments
Yes: 41 • No: 0
House vote • 4/9/2025
Third reading: passed
Yes: 95 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/11/2025
Third reading: passed
Yes: 44 • No: 4
Actions Timeline
Signed by the Governor
4/30/2025SenatePublic Law 114
4/30/2025SenateSigned by the President of the Senate
4/23/2025SenateSigned by the Speaker
4/22/2025HouseSigned by the President Pro Tempore
4/17/2025SenateSenate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 464: yeas 41, nays 0
4/16/2025SenateMotion to concur filed
4/10/2025SenateReturned to the Senate with amendments
4/10/2025HouseThird reading: passed; Roll Call 413: yeas 95, nays 0
4/9/2025HouseSecond reading: ordered engrossed
4/7/2025HouseCommittee report: do pass, adopted
4/3/2025HouseRepresentative Culp added as cosponsor
4/1/2025HouseRecommitted to Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 126.3
3/20/2025HouseCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
3/20/2025HouseFirst reading: referred to Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
3/3/2025HouseReferred to the House
2/12/2025SenateHouse sponsor: Representative Baird
2/11/2025SenateThird reading: passed; Roll Call 112: yeas 44, nays 4
2/11/2025SenateCosponsor: Representative Aylesworth
2/11/2025SenateSecond reading: amended, ordered engrossed
2/10/2025SenateAmendment #2 (Leising) prevailed; voice vote
2/10/2025SenateCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
2/6/2025SenateSenator Glick added as second author
1/30/2025SenateCommittee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations
1/28/2025SenateFirst reading: referred to Committee on Agriculture
1/13/2025Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed Senate Bill (H)
Enrolled Senate Bill (S)
Introduced Senate Bill (S)
Senate Bill (H)
Senate Bill (S)
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