Media contact:
Misti Preston
Phone: (573) 751-8596
Misti.Preston@mda.mo.gov

For Immediate Release: April 10, 2007

Department of Agriculture’s Regulatory Work Assured Missouri Farmers were Compensated

(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) – In response to a complaint made by a Missouri farmer, the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Grain Regulatory Services began an investigation in Sept. 2006 to gain restitution of more than $78,000 for grain that was not paid to two southwest Missouri farmers.

Last week, a settlement agreement was reached with CGB Diversified Services of Covington, La. resolving concerns that James Eckhart, a CGB franchisee in Bartlesville, Okla., never forwarded payments to farmers for their crops as agreed to in prior signed contracts.

“This company has agreed to pay more the $78,000 to two of our state’s farmers and I commend our Grain Regulatory Services program for investigating the complaint and presenting their findings to the Attorney General’s office,” said Matt Boatright, interim director of MDA. “Our audit staff recognized that the situation was not a direct violation of the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s laws but were able to find that laws were being broken.”

Brian Steward, an auditor with the Grain Regulatory Services, obtained evidence that CBG Diversified Services was not making payments to Missouri grain farmers as it had contracted. These violations were presented to the Attorney General’s office and referred to the consumer fraud division. Steward logged 127 hours of investigative work to assist farmers in collecting payments for the grain that they sold through CBG Diversified Services.

“It is this type of investigative and regulatory work that assures Missouri farmers have a financially sound marketplace to both warehouse and market their grain production,” said Boatright. “We are happy to see this matter is resolved and the producers received their payments.”

For more information regarding MDA’s Grain Regulatory Services, visit www.mda.mo.gov or call (573) 751-5515.

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