Plymouth Energy hearing for grain dealer license postponed

The Merrill ethanol plant has another 2 1/2 months to make their financial system comply with state standards.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) temporarily revoked Plymouth Energy's license to purchase grain as a dealer in early May because of "deficiencies" in the company's financial system and accounting with grain transactions, according to Rich Wahl, of the IDALS.

A hearing set for this week to decide whether the license would be permanently revoked was postponed until Aug. 31 in Des Moines, Wahl said.

"We met with the company officials informally early this week and they asked for an extension to fix the problems and get back in compliance," Wahl said. "The hearing date was set for Aug. 31 with the intention that before that date gets here, they'll file documents to show they're back in compliance."

Dave Hoffman, Plymouth Energy CEO, earlier said the issue was with the company's accounting system, which was a Canadian system that didn't operate in the way state officials required.

"The records were not up to snuff," Wahl said. "Whether it was personnel or computers, they have to figure out how to fix it."

IDALS revokes a grain dealer license to protect grain farmers selling grain to the company in question from any problems, Wahl said.

Plymouth Energy, he said, has continued operation by purchasing corn from other licensed grain dealers, which is an acceptable option.