Ohio Code 926.16 – Agricultural commodity depositors fund
(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the agricultural commodity depositors fund. The state shall not be held liable for any claims presented against the fund under section 926.18 of the Revised Code. The fund shall consist of a per-bushel fee remitted by licensed handlers under this section, any sums that the director of agriculture may collect by any legal action on behalf of the fund, and any property or securities acquired through the use of moneys in the fund. All investment earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund. The moneys in the fund shall be used exclusively to indemnify depositors as provided in section 926.18 of the Revised Code and to pay the examination and administrative costs of this chapter as provided in division (E) of this section.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 926.16
- Agricultural commodity: means corn, soybeans, wheat, or any other agricultural crop that the director of agriculture may designate by rule. See Ohio Code 926.01
- agriculture: includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 1.61
- Bailment agreement: means a bailor-bailee agreement between a depositor and a licensed handler as stated in the terms of a receipt that is issued for an agricultural commodity in storage and subject to the requirements of this chapter governing the use of a receipt. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- handler: means any person who is engaged in the business of agricultural commodity handling. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Producer: means any person who grows an agricultural commodity on land that the person owns or leases. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Receipt: means a warehouse receipt issued by a licensed handler. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Storage: means the deposit of an agricultural commodity into a warehouse either for the account of the licensed handler operating the warehouse or for the account of a depositor. See Ohio Code 926.01
(B) All licensed handlers shall remit the fee determined by the director in accordance with section 926.17 of the Revised Code on:
(1) All agricultural commodities delivered to them for storage under a bailment agreement or for sale, exchange, or negotiation or solicitation of sale by depositors who produced them or caused them to be produced;
(2) All agricultural commodities delivered to them for storage under a bailment agreement, regardless of who produced the commodities, if a receipt is to be issued for the commodities;
(3) All agricultural commodities that are being stored by licensed handlers who own them solely, jointly, or in common with others and who are issuing a receipt for them in accordance with section 926.25 of the Revised Code. The maximum number of bushels on which a licensed handler shall be required to pay the fee under division (B)(3) of this section between the first day of July and the thirtieth day of June of any marketing year shall be the greatest number of bushels of all commodities for which receipts are outstanding at any one time during that period.
(4) All agricultural commodities that are not involved in a transaction described in division (B)(1), (2), or (3) of this section and the monetary proceeds of which are controlled by a handler who is not involved in the production of the commodities and who serves as an intermediary between the producer and a handler receiving the commodities. In such a situation, the handler responsible for paying the producer shall remit the fee.
(C) All licensed handlers shall account for and remit moneys under division (B) of this section to the director in such manner and using such forms as the director shall prescribe by rule.
(D) All disbursements from the fund shall be paid by the treasurer of state pursuant to vouchers authorized by the director.
(E) At the request of the director of agriculture, the director of budget and management shall transfer not more than five hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year from the agricultural commodity depositors fund to the commodity handler regulatory program fund created in section 926.19 of the Revised Code to pay the examination and administrative costs of this chapter.