HB 1375 -- Agricultural Production Contract Code

Sponsor:  Crawford

This bill creates the Agricultural Production Contract Code.
Provisions of the code include:

(1)  The exemption of any production contract under which the
producer is required to deliver the commodity within 30 days of
the production agreement;

(2)  The form in which the production contract is to be written;

(3)  The indexing requirements for a production contract;

(4)  A listing of exceptions to a confidentiality requirement and
the option to include a confidentiality requirement in a
production contract; and

(5)  A required explanation of any special production or handling
guidelines to be included in a production contract.

The bill also prohibits with certain exceptions the cancellation
or termination of a production contract by the contractor.
Production contracts which require a capital investment by the
producer will not be terminated without at least a 60-day prior
notification, and the contracted producer is to be reimbursed for
the value of the remaining useful life of any capital investment
items.  A contractor may terminate a production contract
requiring a capital investment if the producer voluntarily
abandons the contract relationship, fails to meet the provisions
of the contract or satisfactorily remedy the failure, or is
convicted of fraud or theft against the contractor.

The Attorney General is primarily responsible for enforcement of
the bill.  Persons in violation of certain provisions are guilty
of a class A misdemeanor and subject to civil liability for any
resulting damages.

A claim that a production contract violates a provision of the
bill is to be filed within four years of the date the party
alleging the violation knew or should have known of the
violation.

Any provision of the bill will supercede the federal Uniform
Commercial Code.

Missouri House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 23, 2004 at 11:15 am