St. Louis, Missouri
November 25, 2008
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Chairman Ron
Litterer and others have filed a formal objection with the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Delaware regarding the proposed disposition
of corn contracts by VeraSun Energy Corporation.
Litterer, a corn grower from Greene, Iowa, has an outstanding
contract to deliver corn to VeraSun. He filed the objection with
and on behalf of corn growers in at least seven other states
that have similar situations and are concerned with VeraSun’s
proposed procedures to reject outstanding contracts.
“It is doubtful that we can influence the courts to require
VeraSun to pay the contracted price for our corn. However, we do
hope to influence other issues of concern to growers,” Litterer
said.
The objection filed indicates specific concerns with VeraSun’s
proposed procedures under bankruptcy, which may allow VeraSun to
wait until 10 days before contracted delivery date to notify
growers of their rejection of the contract. This would
essentially leave corn suppliers in a state of limbo while
VeraSun is free to determine the market price for corn before
deciding whether to accept deliveries under a contract or
summarily reject the contract. Litterer believes this would be
fundamentally unfair to corn growers and other corn suppliers.
Litterer notes that by filing this objection, he and a committee
of producers from other states hope to serve as a voice for corn
growers in the case and advocate for corn suppliers’ interests
with the Court. Further, they hope to help keep members of NCGA
and state affiliates informed regarding the process and
activities of VeraSun.
According to information available to NCGA, potentially
thousands of corn growers from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,
Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and other
states have contracts with VeraSun. |
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