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    Title: Grain Buyer License
    Alternate Title:
    Description:

    The Grain Licensing Program licenses both grain buyers and grain warehouses and is designed to help protect grain sellers and depositors from monetary loss if they do not receive payment for grain sold or if grain stored is damaged or lost. Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)


    Subject: Grain
    Grain Buyers
    Creation Date: 9/11/2008 2:13:34 PM
    Modification Date: 2/19/2026 3:13:50 PM
    Agency Name: Agriculture (MDA), Minnesota Department of
    Agency URL: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/
    Agency Description: The mission of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is to enhance all Minnesotans’ quality of life by equitably ensuring the integrity of our food supply, the health of our environment, and the strength and resilience of our agricultural economy.
    Agency Phone: 651-201-6000
    800-967-2474
    Agency Fax: Agency URL: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/
    Agency Address:
    625 N. Robert Street

    St. Paul
    MN
    55155
    Division Name: Plant Protection
    Division URL:
    Division Description:
    Division Phone: Division Fax: Division URL:
    Audience: Hold Application URL:
    Renewal URL:
    Versa URL:
    Requirements:
    Grain Licensing

    The Grain Licensing Program licenses both grain buyers and grain warehouses and is designed to help protect grain sellers and depositors from monetary loss if they do not receive payment for grain sold or if grain stored is damaged or lost.

    License Requirements

    What are the different types of licenses?

    • Grain Buyer License: Required by anyone buying grain in Minnesota with the purpose of reselling the grain or products made from the grain.
        • This license is required for producer purchases, as well as purchases made from other grain buyers and sellers.

        • This license is required for all purchases that take place within Minnesota or where the title to the grain transfers in Minnesota, that means any purchase at a Minnesota facility, on farm, on contract where title transfers at a MN destination, etc.
    • Grain Buy & Store License: Required to operate a grain warehouse that stores grain for compensation.

    You do not need to be licensed if you sell the grain you grow, buy seed grain for crop production only, or purchase grain as feed for your own livestock or poultry.

    Definition of Grain: 

    "Grain" means all products commonly referred to as grain, including wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, rice, soybeans, emmer, sorghum, triticale, millet, pulses, dry edible beans, sunflower seed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, crambe, sesame seed, and other products ordinarily stored in grain warehouses.


    Applying for a license

    To apply for a license please contact the Department of Agriculture or learn more at Grain Licensing


    Rules: 1562.0100 - .2200

    Statutes: 223.17

    Forms:

    Forms and Resources are available at Grain Licensing


    Fees:

    Minn. Stat. § 223.17 subd. 3 Grain buyers and Grain Storage account fees

     (a) The commissioner shall set the examination fees at levels necessary to pay the expenses of administering and enforcing sections Minn. Stat. § 223.15 - .22. The fee for any license issued or renewed after June 30, 2025, is $500 for each licensed location.

    (b) In addition to the license fee required under paragraph (a), a grain buyer must pay to the commissioner an annual examination fee for each licensed location, as follows:

    (1) examination fees must be calculated based on bushel capacity of each licensed location with a charge of $0.0035 per bushel of capacity;

    (2) examination fees must not be less than $350 and must not exceed $4,000; and

    (3) a licensed location with no grain bin capacity must be charged a $200 examination fee.

    (c) Fees for each licensed location must not increase more than 150 percent above the fee for the licensed location in the previous year.

    (d) The fee for any supplemental examination required by the commissioner under section Minn. Stat. § 223.23 is $110 per hour per examiner.

    (e) A licensed grain buyer meeting the annual examination requirements under section Minn. Stat. § 223.23 is exempt from the fees under paragraph (b) if the annual examination is conducted by the Agricultural Marketing Service of the United State Department of Agriculture.

    (f) A penalty amount not to exceed ten percent of the fees due may be imposed by the commissioner for each month for which the fees are delinquent.


    Period of Issuance:

    July 1 - June 30


    Length of Determination: 4 days to 4 months.
    Other Info:
    Activity: Grain
    Grain Buyers
    License Detail URL:

    Grain Licensing

    Online list of licensed grain buyers and grain elevators

    Online Licensing System -Licensing Lookup

    Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)


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