Montana commodity warehouse bonds.
From $200.
A Montana public warehouse operator storing producers’ grain and commodities must license with the Department of Agriculture and file a surety bond. The amount is set by your licensed storage capacity — a $20,000 minimum up to a $1,000,000 cap. Premiums run 1% of the bond amount, and your exact price appears at the application.
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How much does a Montana commodity warehouse bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $200 at the $20,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps to a licensed warehouse.
Your warehouse license is waiting on this bond. Here is the whole process — no broker phone tag:
Apply online
Business details, the bond amount the department set, and an effective date — plus a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. That is the application.
Reviewed & approved
Most clear quickly; larger amounts may get a quick underwriter look within 48 hours. Any credit check that runs is a soft pull that never affects your score.
E-sign & file with the Department of Agriculture
Pay online and receive the executed bond ready to file with your warehouse license application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the department insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the warehouse bond actually covers
Montana licenses public warehouse operators — businesses that store grain and agricultural commodities for producers — through the Department of Agriculture under MCA Title 80, Chapter 4. The bond protects the depositors whose commodities you store: if a warehouse loses or fails to deliver stored grain, the depositors can recover against the bond.
The amount is set by your licensed storage capacity. Under MCA 80-4-505 the bond is computed on a per-hundredweight schedule — roughly 20¢ per cwt for the first 500,000, 15¢ for the next 500,000, and 10¢ above one million — and may not be less than $20,000 or more than the $1,000,000 cap in MCA 80-4-405.
It is a three-party guarantee — you (the principal operator), the surety, and the State of Montana for the benefit of depositors (the protected parties). If the surety pays a depositor’s claim, you repay the surety. Tell us the amount on your license; premiums start from $200 and your exact price is set at application.
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 term is set on the carrier’s application; the premium covers the period shown there.
Renewal falls on the statutory date, June 30, in the year your term ends.
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
E-sign & file with the Department of Agriculture. Pay online and receive the executed bond ready to file with your warehouse license application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the department insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application: approved instantly, or after a quick credit check.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. Submit once and your bond is typically issued within 1–2 business days.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Montana bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
The Department of Agriculture is waiting on one document.
Premiums from $200, e-signed bond in 1–2 business days. Free until issued.