Corn growers in court to protest VeraSun’s corn contract woes

ST. LOUIS — National Corn Growers Association 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.

Rejection

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.

Contracts

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.