Prairie Pride motion hearing set for March 9

There are a lot more questions than answers in the closing of the Prairie Pride biodiesel production plant, near Eve. Kent Engelbrecht, commodity manager for Prairie Pride, said Friday no one from the group could comment until a hearing before Judge James Bickel Tuesday.

"The problem is there was a hearing today and will be one Tuesday and we just can't say anything yet. We want to get our story out there but we just can't until after the hearing Tuesday."

The Missouri Department of Agriculture has been named as trustee for Prairie Pride, Inc., after the company ran up debts for grain of $2.4 million while having a grain dealer bond of only $300,000 according to paperwork filed with the 28th Judicial Circuit Court on Feb. 23.

"Jon Hagler, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and his designated representatives, are hereby appointed trustee of Prairie Pride, Inc. for the sole purpose of liquidating grain related assets and determining the validity of grain related claims, within the parameters of the Missouri Grain Dealer Law," the petition filed with the court states.

Prairie Pride suspended operations Feb. 17 and notified the Department of Agriculture it had voluntarily ceased receiving additional grain because it was unable to make timely payment for grain already purchased. The next day the department requested business records from Prairie Pride and it is those documents that revealed the $2.4 million debt. On Feb. 19, Prairie Pride stated to the department it could not satisfy the payables or the additional grain it is contracted to buy in March and April 2010.

The file for the case has grown very large in a short amount of time. In addition to motions from the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Prairie Pride motions from Tenaska Biofuels and Hankins Grain Company, with accompanying exhibits, have swelled the file.

Tenaska Biofuels has had an agreement in place with Prairie Pride where Prairie Pride would purchase soybeans from producers and sell them to Tenaska, which sells crude soybean oil and soybean meal to companies in the food industry and to companies engaged in refining such oils into fuel. Prairie Pride would then process the soybeans into soybean oil, soybean meal and pelletized soybean hulls for Tenaska.

Tenaska's motion states that Prairie Pride failed to pay Tenaska more than $700,000 for soybean oil purchases.

The motion also states Tenaska entered into an agreement with the Department of Agriculture to pay it as trustee $2.45 million for soybeans that have already been processed into products currently held at the Prairie Pride facility.

The motion states that if the agreement proceeds, Prairie Pride and the Department of Agriculture would be in the same position as if there had been no default of the original agreement and all farmers and grain dealers who delivered grain to the facility would be paid. The motion also asks for expeditious handling to avoid spoilage of the products already produced.

The motion hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., March 9. in the Vernon County Court.