East Central Illinois Grain Company Closes

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A financially-troubled Piatt County grain company has voluntarily surrendered its operating licenses.  Mansfield Grain, Inc., a country elevator located at Columbia and Short in Mansfield, Ill., surrendered its grain dealer and grain warehouse licenses Monday, Nov. 1, and has been ordered to cease and desist doing business.
 
The Illinois Department of Agriculture has assumed control of the company, including its grain assets, and begun the process of settling claims and paying creditors. Anyone who has sold grain to the company and not been paid in full or has grain stored in the 600,000 bushel facility should either stop by Mansfield Grain or contact the department's Bureau of Warehouses to file a claim.  The bureau can be reached either by calling (800) 654-0882 or by writing to:  Illinois Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Warehouses, State Fairgrounds, P.O. Box 19281, Springfield, Ill., 62794-9281.

The deadline to file claims is Feb. 6, 2011, or seven days from the date notice was mailed to a particular claimant, whichever is later.    

Mansfield Grain was a member of the Illinois Grain Insurance Fund, which means valid claimants at the facility are protected under the Illinois Grain Code.