State officials have temporarily suspended the license of a southwestern Iowa grain dealer after he bounced a very large check.
Richard Wahl, chief of the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s grain warehouse bureau, says both the grain dealer and warehouse licenses for "Feeder’s Grain" in Corning have been suspended.
Wahl says the case started with a $71,000 check for the purchase of over 9000 bushels of beans. The check was written to the Adams County FSA office, but it bounced. Investigators determined the president and owner of the company, Ellis Houk of Corning, had a negative bank balance. The bureau also found the elevator was short about 1100 bushels of oats, grain than it was supposed to have on the premises.
A license revocation hearing has been tentatively set for July 26 in Des Moines. That could change, though, if Houk can prove his company is financially stable and viable.
The state’s grain warehouse bureau regulates and examines the financial solvency of grain dealers and grain warehouse operators.