Iowa farmers won’t have to pay into state fund starting this fall

Starting in September, Iowa farmers won’t have to pay 1/4 of a cent for every bushel they sell to grain dealers in the state. That quarter went to the Grain Indemnity Fund to pay farmers if the grain warehouse or grain dealer they sold to went belly-up. The Iowa legislature put this fund into place after the Farm Crisis in 1986 to provide a safety net to farmers. The law ensures that if the fund dipped below $3 million, farmers would have to start paying the assessment until it reached $8 million. The fund currently has over $10 million. Because of this, farmers no longer have to pay the 1/4 of one cent assessment per bushel starting September 1.