A group of Mississippi Delta farmers is suing Missouri-based UMB Bank in federal court after the bank seized their fall harvests as collateral from Express Grain, a Greenwood, Miss., grain elevator and biodiesel refinery.
The Clarion Ledger reports the farmers, in a class action lawsuit, claim UMB Bank knew Express Grain was teetering on financial collapse and propped the company up through the fall soybean and corn harvest until it could fill its silos at the end of September.
Once the silos were full, the bank called the approximately $70 million in loans owed by Express Grain, forcing it to offer up the harvested grain as collateral, according to the complaint filed Nov. 8 in U.S. District Court.
The farmers claim they have not been paid for their harvests, and are suing to recoup their losses.
