Offered January 23, 1996.

Senate Substitute adopted, January 23, 1996.

Taken up for Perfection January 23, 1996. Bill declared Perfected and Ordered Printed, as amended.

TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

S2315.03P

To repeal sections 274.030, 274.220 and 274.230, RSMo 1994, relating to cooperatives, and to enact four new sections relating to the same subject.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 274.030, 274.220 and 274.230, RSMo 1994, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 274.030, 274.220, 274.230 and 274.310, to read as follows:

274.030. 1. Eleven or more persons, except corporations excluded from engaging in farming under the provisions of section 350.015, RSMo, a majority of whom are residents of this state, engaged in the production of agricultural products, may form a nonprofit cooperative association without capital stock, under the provisions of this chapter, for the following purpose or purposes: To engage in any activity in connection with the marketing or selling of the agricultural products of its members or with the harvesting, preserving, drying, processing, canning, packing, grading, storing, handling, shipping or utilization thereof or the manufacturing or marketing of the by-products thereof; or in connection with the manufacturing, selling or supplying to its members of machinery, equipment or supplies; or in the financing of the above enumerated activities; or in any one or more of the activities specified herein.

2. Five or more owners or operators of a family farm or a family farm corporation as those terms are defined in section 350.010, RSMo, all of whom are residents of this state, engaged in the production of agricultural products, may form a nonprofit cooperative association without capital stock, under the provisions of this chapter, to engage in the production of livestock.

274.220. 1. An association may organize, form, operate, control, have an interest in, or be a member of [any other] a corporation or [corporations, without capital stock,] other entity and engage in preserving, drying, processing, canning, packing, storing, handling, shipping, utilizing, manufacturing, marketing or selling of the agricultural products handled by the association, or the by-products thereof.

2. If such corporations are warehousing corporations, they may issue legal warehouse receipts to the association against the commodities delivered by it, or to any other person and such legal warehouse receipts shall be considered as adequate collateral to the extent of the usual and current value of the commodity represented thereby.

3. In case such warehouse is licensed or licensed and bonded under the laws of this or any other state or the United States, its warehouse receipt delivered to the association on commodities of the association or its members, or delivered by the association or its members, shall not be challenged or discriminated against because of ownership or control, wholly or in part, by the association.

274.230. Any association may, upon resolution adopted by its board of directors, enter into all necessary and proper contracts, and arrangements with [any other cooperative] a corporation, [association or associations, formed in this or in any other state] person or other entity, for the [cooperative and] more economical carrying on of its business or any part or parts thereof. Any two or more associations may, by agreement between them, unite in employing and using or may separately employ and use the same personnel, methods, means and agencies for carrying on and conducting their respective business.

274.310. 1. The department of agriculture shall provide assistance to persons engaged in agricultural production in the f ollowing areas:

(1) Cooperative mark eting of agricultural products;

(2) Cooperative processing of agricultural products;

(3) Development of regional and niche markets for the marketing of agricultural products; and

(4) Dissemination of the most modern information and technology related to agricultural production, processing and marketing.

Such assistance shall have as its primary focus the provision of assistance to small, independent family-owned or operated agricultural producers or processors.

2. An annual report on the activities engaged in, number of persons served and evaluation of project effectiveness shall be submitted by the department of agriculture to the general assembly, no later than December 1, 1996, and each year thereafter by December first.