Iowa’s Grain Indemnity Fund needs to be modernized to adequately protect farmers placed at risk by a grain elevator failure, Farm Bureau members told legislators last week at the Iowa Capitol.

More than 130 Farm Bureau members from across the state visited face-to-face with their legislators during the annual statehouse visit to build support for the organization’s key issues. In addition to the indemnity fund, the members asked lawmakers to enhance landowner protections and restore the capital gains deduction for breeding livestock.

The Grain Indemnity Fund pays claims to farmers who haven’t received payment for sold or stored grain at a licensed grain warehouse that fails. Crop yields and prices have increased significantly since the Iowa Grain Indemnity Fund was established in 1986, 

exposing today’s farmers to significantly more risk, said Jason Nees, a Carroll County Farm Bureau member. 

“It’s very outdated. The levels of the indemnity fund are not where they need to be in order to protect farmers,” he said. 

The Iowa Department of...