Lawyers for more than 20 farmers in eastern South Dakota who lost millions of dollars for unpaid grain want a state agency to become receiver for the failed seller, reports the Rapid City Journal.
The state Public Utilities Commission shut down H and I Grain, Hetland, SD, last year.
Farmers from Kingsbury, Clark, Beadle, Brookings, Lake and Minnehaha counties see the agency as their way to get money from commodities company CHS Hedging.
The commission could decide at its next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 7, whether to ask a state judge to designate the agency as the receiver.
That would mean the commission could pursue money from CHS Hedging that would be returned to farmers.
CHS Hedging filed a lawsuit in 2017 against Duane and JoAnn Steffensen, owners of H and I Grain, for more than $1.9 million. Their son, Jared Steffensen, opened a grain-trading account in 2011 with the Minnesota-based hedging company; the parents signed a guaranty for the account.
Read the full report here.
