B<b>y TIM ALEXANDER<br>
Illinois Correspondent</b> </p><p>

CANTON, Ill. — An informational hearing was held Thursday night for the more than 350 central Illinois farmers with a financial interest in the bankrupt Central Illinois Energy (CIE) ethanol plant. They attended to hear the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s (IDOA) plan to liquidate some 1.5 million bushels of yellow corn being stored at the plant in order for the stakeholders to recover some of their grain’s value.</p><p>
IDOA officials said farmers can file claims at CIE, where examiners from the state are on site protecting and preserving the grain, or by mailing a claim to the IDOA before March 19. However, since most of the grain was delivered under a price-later contract, some farmers may only recover around 85 percent of its value.</p><p>
“The (IDOA) will liquidate all the grain in the facilities of Central Illinois Grain Company (the grain-handling arm of CIE), turn that over and use that cash for the benefit of the grain depositors,” said Stuart Selinger, IDOA warehouse examiner supervisor.</p><p>
Not all the claimants who attended the meeting were satisfied with recovering only a portion – albeit a large one – of their investments. </p><p>
“You work all year for something, you want to get what you’re due,” local farmer Steve Bucco said at the meeting.</p><p>
Bucco said the IDOA is holding 3,000 bushels of his grain at the CIE plant, which he said is worth approximately $12,000, considering the closing rate of grain ($4.035/bushel) on the day CIE surrendered its grain dealer and warehouse licenses.</p><p>
Anyone holding a warehouse receipt should receive a full reimbursement for the value of their grain, said IDOA Assistant Director Tom Jennings. When questioned by several in the audience, Jennings confirmed that Cargill, Inc., the company that bought the grain after Central Illinois Grain surrendered their license, was given a warehouse receipt while most farmers were not.</p><p>
“They told me before they priced it that they were not issuing warehouse receipts,” said an attendee, according to a Gatehouse Media report. Jennings responded that the issue was between the grain company and the claimants.</p><p>
Selinger said if the sale of the corn doesn’t cover the 85 percent owed to farmers, the Illinois Grain Insurance Fund would cover the rest.</p><p>
IDOA spokesman Jeff Squibb told the Peoria Journal Star on Dec. 22 that “most of (the claimants) will probably be receiving more favorable terms under the Illinois Grain Code than they would have under their contracts.”</p><p>
Selinger said the cold weather should help preserve the grain until it is moved. The value of the grain is placed at around $6 million.</p><p>
Timeline of CIE’s closure</p><p>

Though CIE’s Canton ethanol plant was near completion, five liens filed against the cooperative in November alleged the plant was up to $26 million behind in payments to contractors. The largest filing was by Lurgi PSI, the Memphis company that designed and built the plant. Lurgi is seeking nearly $10 million in payments for work rendered. Several local contractors also filed liens.</p><p>
On Dec. 13, CIE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to attorney Barry Barash. By then, more than $30 million in liens had been filed at the Fulton County Clerk’s office for unpaid invoices. Around $130 million had been invested in the plant’s construction.
That same day, the IDOA moved to seize the grain held by Central Illinois Grain, freezing the company’s assets and suspending its licenses. The department suspended the licenses because of technical violations of the Illinois Grain Code by the company, Squibb said, adding that warehouse inspectors had been sent to the area to protect the grain.</p><p>
On Dec. 18, CIE officials met with bankers in New York in order to attempt to procure as much as $30 million in loans to finish the plant. The meetings were to no avail.</p><p>
On Dec. 19, the company voluntarily surrendered its grain license to the IDOA. The agency was conducting an administrative hearing to determine whether to revoke the grain company’s licenses when company President Lyle Wachtel notified them the licenses would be surrendered.</p><p>
“With the State’s recent suspension of the Company’s license, it is not possible to liquidate the assets without the help of another grain dealer,” read a letter from Wachtel to the IDOA, in part. “The Company has not been able to locate a viable successor for the grain in this short period of time and believes that, in the interest of the corn producers, the best course of action is to let the State assist in the orderly liquidation of the inventory as provided by law.”</p><p>
By surrendering their licenses, CIE/Central Illinois Grain cleared the way for the IDOA’s Dec. 27 creditors’ meeting in Canton.