Iowa timber buyer bonds.
From $100.
Iowa requires a timber buyer (or buyer’s agent) to file a surety bond with the Department of Natural Resources before cutting any trees, under Iowa Code § 456A.36. The amount scales from $500 up to a $10,000 maximum by your prior-year purchases. Premiums are 0.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — your exact price appears in the on-page calculator.
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How much does an Iowa timber buyer bond cost?
0.5% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard timber bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with the DNR. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your business details, the bond amount your purchases require, and the effective date — that is the application.
Issued on the spot
Most applications are issued as soon as you pay — no credit check up to $100,000.
File with the DNR
Submit the executed bond with your timber buyer application to the Iowa DNR Forestry Bureau before cutting. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the timber bond actually covers
Iowa requires anyone buying standing timber for resale to register as a timber buyer and file a surety bond with the Department of Natural Resources before cutting, under Iowa Code § 456A.36. Buying or cutting without a bond on file is a serious misdemeanor.
The bond is conditioned on honest cutting and accounting, on payment to the timber growers, and on protecting growers against fraudulent acts in the purchase and cutting of Iowa timber. If a buyer shorts or defrauds a grower, the grower can recover against the bond.
The amount is $500 for a buyer who paid growers $5,000 or less last year, plus $100 for each additional $1,000 paid — capped at $10,000. A buyer may, with DNR approval, post a bank certificate of deposit instead of a corporate surety. Enter your figure — premiums start from $100 and no credit check up to $100,000.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the DNR. Submit the executed bond with your timber buyer application to the Iowa DNR Forestry Bureau before cutting. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 0.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $100,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued on the spot for most.
Submit the application with your required bond amount — most executed bonds generate instantly, ready to file with the DNR.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Iowa bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Timber bond, issued today.
Premiums from $100. Enter your amount and file with the DNR the same day.