Thomas R. Douglas, Jr. d/b/a Douglas Farms VS Louisiana Agriculture Commodities Commission of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry

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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL FIRST CIRCUIT 7 L t L 2012 CA 0313 THOMAS RAY DOUGLAS 7R A B D DOUGLAS FARMS v t J VERSUS LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE COMMODITIES COMMISSION On Appeal from the 19th udicial District Court Parish of East Baton Rouge Louisiana Docket No 597 Section 23 711 Honorable William A Morvant udge Presiding Harry Philips Jr Erin B Sayes Taylor Porter Brooks P Phillips L and Attomeys for Appellant Plaintiff Thomas Ray Douglas Jr a b d Douglas Farms Baton Rouge LA E ohn Litchfield Attorneys for Carey B Daste Berrigan Litchfield Schonekas Mann and Traina LLC Appellee Defendant Louisiana Agricultural Commodities Commission New Orleans LA BEFORE PARRO HUGHES AND WELCH J udgment rendered R 1 3 2 Pursuant to LSA 3 S Aand as noted by the defendant in its answer to plaintiff petition for R 3403 s appeal to the district court the defendanYs proper name is Louisiana Agricultural Commodities Commission Z Justice efferson D Hughes III is serving as judge ad hoc by special appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court PARRO J In a petition for judicial review of the final decision of a state agricultural commission the district court affirmed the commission denial of a corn producer s s indemnity claim that resulted from a grain dealer refusal to pay the producer in full for s a delivery of corn The corn producer appeals from the district court adverse s judgment contending the district court legally and factually erred in a the rming agricultural commission decision s We affirm the district court judgment and issue s this opinion in accordance with Rules 2 6 8 and 10 of the Uniform 5 A 16 Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal Pursuant to the Agricultural Commodity Dealer and Warehouse Law and applicable administrative rules the Louisiana Agricultural Commodities Commission LACC operates the Grain and Cotton Indemnity Fund the Fund LSA 3 S2 R 3410 Monies in the Fund are used to reimburse a producer who selis grain to a licensed grain dealer and who is not fully compensated by the licensed grain dealer as a result of its insolvency See LSA 3 F and G La Admin Code S 2 R 3410 C A 195 XXVII and 201 A producer shall be eligible to receive indemnity payments 7 A from the Fund if 1 the licensed grain dealer becomes insolvent after January 1 2008 and 2 the licensed grain dealer as a result of the insolvency does not fully compensate the producer in accordance with a sale LSA 3 S 2 R 3410 and 3 1 F 3 Louisiana Revised Statutes 3and La Admin Code 7 3425 3401 217 191 XXVII The Louisiana Agricultural Commodities Commission is a ten commission created within the member Department of Agriculture and Forestry LSA 3 S A R 3403 5 Ameans the owner tenant lessee or operator of land within this state who has an producer interest in or receives all or any part of the proceeds from the sale of agricultural wmmodities produced thereon LSA 3 S 15 R 3402 Grain 6means corn wheat oaks rye soybeans barley and grain sorghum LSA 3 S9 R 3402 grain A dealer means person who purchases any agricultural commodities from producers or any agricultural commodities S 10 R 3402 LSA 3 see La Admin represents producers in the sale of Code 7 A 193 XXVII Insolvency means the inability of a dealer to meet debts or discharge liabilities La Admin grain Code 7 A 193 XXVII 2 Any producer who wishes to assert a claim shall provide proof of a loss covered by the Fund to LACC See La Admin Code 7 and C Upon receipt of a proof B 201 XXVII of loss LACC shall review the claim to determine whether it is covered under the indemnity program See La Admin Code 7 The burden of proof to E 201 XXVII establish the loss shall be upon the producer Id s LACC decision to grant or deny a claim for payment from the Fund may be appealed to LACC itself by seeking an adjudicatory hearing to have the decision reconsidered in accordance with the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act the APA S R 950 LSA 49 et seq See La Admin Code 7 Subsequent to such a A 205 XXVII hearing LACC decision on appeal is subject to judicial review also in accordance with s the APA petition Id in the Proceedings for review of a LACC decision are instituted by filing a Nineteenth Judicial District Court Nineteenth JDC See S R LSA B 964 49 Upon review the district court functions as an appellate court and may rm a remand reverse or modify LACC decision s See LSA 49 Wild v SG R964 State Department of Health and Hosaitals 08 La App 1 Cir 12 7 So 1056 08 23 3d 1 4 A final judgment of the Nineteenth JDC rendered under the APA is appealable to this court See LSA 49 On review of the district court judgment this court S R965 s owes no deference to the district court factual findings or legal conclusions Wild 7 s 3d So at 4 Accordingly this court has conducted its own independent review of the record in this case and applied the standards of review set forth in LSA 49 S G R 964 See Id at 5 9 A claim shall be in writing and shall include 1 name and address of the producer 2 name of the grain dealer against whom the producer is asserting a loss 3 nature of the relationship and transaction between producer and grain dealer 4 the date of the loss 5 the amount of the loss and how calculated 6 a concise explanation of the circumstances that precipitated the loss and 7 copies of those documents relied upon by the producer as proof of said loss See La Admin Code 7 B 201 XXVII and C also see La Admin Code 7 a licensee for purposes of the subchapter dealing A 193 XXVII with the Fund includes a dealer as defined in LSA 3 grain S 10 R 3402 See La Admin Code 7 a claimanY means a producer as defined in La Admin Code A 193 XXVII A 101 XXVII by 7 reference which in turn contains the same general definition of producer found in S 15 R 3402 LSA 3set forth in footnote 4 of this opinion Under LSA 49 proceedings for judicial review are instituted by filing a petition in the S B R 964 district court of the parish in which the agenty is located The Nineteenth DC is the district court in East Baton Rouge Parish where LACC is domiciled See LSA 3 S I R 3403 3 Thomas Ray Douglas Jr d Douglas Farms Douglas is the producer in this a b case who sought an indemnity payment from the Fund because Central Louisiana Grain Cooperative Inc Central a licensed grain dealer allegedly did not fully compensate Douglas for a sale of corn Douglas had the burden of proving that Central became insolvent afrer January 1 2008 and that as a result of the insolvency Central did not fully compensate Douglas in accordance with the sale of corn See S R LSA F 2 3410 3and La Admin Code XXVII LACC denied Douglas indemnity claim E 201 when it was initially submitted After an adjudicatory hearing to reconsider that decision LACC again denied Douglas claim On appeal the district court held a hearing on the matter and by judgment dated October 17 2011 affirmed LACC decision s which had denied Douglas indemnity claim Based on our independent review of the record and applying the standards of review set forth in LSA 49 we conclude as did the district court that the S G R 964 record does not sufficiently demonstrate as is required by LSA 3 S 2 R 3410 F that Central failure to fully compensate Douglas for the sale of corn was as a result of s sinsolvency Central Accordingly under Rules 26 8 and 10 of the Uniform Rules of 5 A 16 Louisiana Courts of Appeal we a the district court October 17 2011 judgment rm s that affirmed the Louisiana Agricultural Commodities Commission decision denying the s indemnity claim of Thomas Ray Douglas Jr d Douglas Farms Costs of this appeal a b are assessed to Thomas Ray Douglas Jr d Douglas Farms a b AFFIRMED 4

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