A state insurance fund created to protect Illinois farmers who store grain at failed facilities has seen its first claims in years.
Illinois Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Rebecca Clark says the state's Illinois Grain Insurance Fund has had its first claims since April 2012. The claims stem from the state's revocation last week of the operating license of Keller Grain Co., which operates in Anna and Jonesboro in southern Illinois.
The other license revocation was in November for SGI Agri-Marketing LLC in Gibson City in central Illinois. The state agriculture department seized grain stored at the elevators for later sale.
Clark says the failures are why the state created the insurance fund, ``to protect farmers against losses associated with failed grain dealers and warehouses.''
