52-501. Thresher's, combiner's, cornsheller's, or mechanical cornpicker's lien; perfection; financing statement; filing; enforcement; fee.

(1)(a) The owner or operator of any threshing machine or combine used in threshing, combining, or hulling grain or seed, (b) the owner or operator of any mechanical cornpicker or mechanical cornhusker used in picking or husking corn, and (c) the owner or operator of any cornsheller used in shelling corn shall have and hold a lien upon such grain, seed, or corn which he or she shall thresh, combine, hull, pick, husk, or shell with such machine to secure the payment to him or her of the charges agreed upon by the person for whom the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done or, if no charges are agreed upon, for such charges as may be reasonable for such threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling.

(2) A lien created under this section shall be perfected as provided in article 9, Uniform Commercial Code. Any financing statement filed to perfect such lien shall contain or have attached thereto (a) the name and address and the social security number or federal tax identification number of the owner or operator claiming the lien, (b) the name and address and the social security number or federal tax identification number, if known, of the person for whom the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done, (c) the amount due for such threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling, (d) the amount of grain, seed, or corn covered by the lien, (e) the place where the grain, seed, or corn is located, and (f) the date on which the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done. Such financing statement shall be filed within thirty days after the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done. The failure to include the social security number or federal tax identification number shall not render any filing unperfected. At the time the lien is filed, the lienholder shall send a copy to the person for whom the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done.

(3) In the event the person for whom the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling was done desires to sell or deliver the grain, seed, or corn so threshed, combined, hulled, picked, husked, or shelled to a grain elevator or to any other person, such person desiring to sell or deliver the grain, seed, or corn shall notify the consignee or purchaser that the threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling bill has not been paid, and the lien created under this section on such grain, seed, or corn shall shift to the purchase price thereof in the hands of the purchaser or consignee. In the event the grain, seed, or corn is sold or consigned with the consent or knowledge of the person entitled to a lien created under this section within thirty days after the date of such threshing, combining, hulling, picking, husking, or shelling, such lien shall not attach to the grain, seed, or corn or to the purchase price thereof unless the person entitled to the lien notifies the purchaser in writing of the lien.

(4) A lien created under this section shall be treated in all respects as an agricultural lien as provided in article 9, Uniform Commercial Code, and may be enforced in the manner and form provided for the enforcement of secured transactions as provided in article 9, Uniform Commercial Code, except that such enforcement shall be instituted within thirty days after the filing of the lien. The fee for filing, amending, or releasing such lien shall be the same as set forth in section 9-525, Uniform Commercial Code.

(5) Effective January 1, 2015, this section applies to a lien created under this section regardless of when the lien was created.

Source

Annotations

An action to declare a lien void because there is no underlying debt is an action at law. Lone Cedar Ranches v. Jandebeur, 246 Neb. 769, 523 N.W.2d 364 (1994).

The sole and only purpose of the thresher's lien law is to give notice of the existence of a lien by the person who combined the grain to all prospective purchasers of grain and to owners thereof within 30 days after completion of combining. The holder of a thresher's lien has the same rights of enforcement given to owners of secured interests, including the remedy of replevin. A thresher's lien is remedial in nature and requires liberal construction so that a purchaser may not escape the statute by merely paying the seller in advance. Honstein Trucking v. Sandhills Beef, Inc., 209 Neb. 422, 308 N.W.2d 331 (1981).