The Minnesota Livestock Market Agency & Dealer Licensing Act is designed to provide economic protection and fair trade practices to Minnesota livestock producers, licensed livestock market agencies, licensed livestock dealers, and any business entity that engages in the marketing process. As part of the licensing process, livestock dealers, market agencies, processors, and their agents must obtain a surety bond that can be used for reimbursement if payment is not made. 

Who Needs To Be Licensed?

Any person, including packing companies, that engage in the business of buying or selling livestock on a regular basis for the person’s own account or for the account of others. Livestock includes:

• Cattle
• Sheep
• Swine
• Horses intended for slaughter
• Mules
• Farmed cervidae
• Llamas
• Ratitae
• Bison
• Goats

No license is needed if the person is primarily a retailer of meats, operates a frozen food processing plant, or engages in farming where the livestock purchases have been for herd replacement and the livestock sales have been of livestock they have owned and raised.

How to Obtain a License

A person wishing to become a licensed livestock dealer must notify the Packers & Stockyards Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture, Des Moines, Iowa of their intent. Phone number 515-323-2579. The Packers & Stockyards Administration will send the person the necessary paperwork to become registered and bonded.

Once the bond has been attained, the bond is sent to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. MDA will send out the necessary forms on which to apply for the appropriate license. Current license fees are:

• $300 for each livestock market agency and public stockyard
• $100 for each livestock dealer
• $100 for each meat packing company
• $50 for each agent of a livestock dealer or meat packing company

Check the Licensing Information System

Buyers and sellers of livestock should check to see if the person or company they are dealing with is licensed. Accessing the Licensing Information System and looking up the dealer’s name is a good first step.

How to File a Bond Claim or Make a Complaint

A person may file a bond claim or make a complaint against a livestock dealer, market agency or packer by calling Livestock Law Compliance Representative Kelly Anderson (651-201-6509) or USDA’s Packers & Stockyards Administration (515-323-2579), or send a written complaint to Livestock Dealer Licensing, 625 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55155-2538. The department will verify the claim or complaint and determine the amount of payment to be made by the surety or what other remedy is available to the complainant.