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Committee approves bill loosening financial review rules for small grain buyers after testimony from feed‑mill owners
Summary
House file 1063 passed the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee after testimony that 2019 reporting requirements had imposed onerous CPA review costs on small grain buyers; the bill sets tiered reporting thresholds and keeps Department of Agriculture oversight and indemnity recoupment authority.
The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday passed House File 1063, a bill that changes financial reporting requirements for licensed grain buyers and allows less burdensome financial statements for smaller purchasers.
Chair Anderson moved the bill and the committee voted by roll call. The motion passed with nine yes votes and four no votes and the bill was re‑referred to the General Register. Yes votes were recorded from Representatives Anderson, Harder, Akbate, Buerkle, Frederick, Gander, Jacob, Lawrence and Nelson; no votes were recorded from Representatives Hansen, Smith, Lee and Vang.
The bill revises statutory reporting tiers for grain buyers and, for smaller buyers, permits compilations or tax‑basis financial statements in lieu of higher‑cost CPA reviews. The Department of Agriculture and stakeholders said the change is intended to reduce compliance costs for small, locally focused buyers without removing the department's ability to monitor financial position.
Nick Malinowski, Fruit, Vegetable & Grain Program Supervisor at MDA, told the committee the language allows different reporting structures by threshold and "gives the department the ability to monitor these...grain buyers, from year to year." He said the department will continue annual inspections and can escalate oversight or refer suspected illegal activity to enforcement partners.
Small business owners who testified said the current CPA review requirement is often cost‑prohibitive. Donovan Storey, owner of Feed Mill Inc. in Barnesville, said his business was denied license renewal because his accountant's review was not performed by a certified public accountant; after months of searching, he said he found a CPA in another state whose review would cost $18,000. "Applying the same financial review standard to all grain buyers regardless of their size is an unjust application of the law," Storey told the committee, and said the cost and delay put the business at risk.
Jim Falk of Falk Seed Farm and other small buyers supported the bill, describing prior annual review costs in the low thousands and saying the 2019 change that required more stringent reports had driven some small operations to surrender licenses. MDA staff and testifiers emphasized that grain indemnity protections established in recent legislation remain in place and that MDA can seek recovery from bad actors and the indemnity fund when losses occur.
Representative Jacob and several members praised industry and agency collaboration on the draft language; Representative Vang and others urged caution, noting past elevator failures and the purpose of earlier, stricter reporting to protect farmers. MDA told the committee it believes existing staff resources are sufficient to monitor the tiered reporting structure implemented by the bill.
Chair Anderson renewed the motion to pass and requested a roll call. The Committee Legislative Assistant recorded the votes and the bill was advanced to the General Register.
