LD 2245
pg. 40
Page 39 of 493 An Act to Adopt the Model Revised Article 9 Secured Transactions Page 41 of 493
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LR 1087
Item 1

 
"farm products," and "inventory." The revisions are
primarily for clarification.

 
The classes of goods are mutually exclusive. For example, the
same property cannot simultaneously be both equipment and
inventory. In borderline cases-a physician's car or a farmer's
truck that might be either consumer goods or equipment-the
principal use to which the property is put is determinative.
Goods can fall into different classes at different times. For
example, a radio may be inventory in the hands of a dealer and
consumer goods in the hands of a consumer. As under former
Article 9, goods are "equipment" if they do not fall into another
category.

 
The definition of "consumer goods" follows former Section 9-
109. The classification turns on whether the debtor uses or
bought the goods for use "primarily for personal, family, or
household purposes."

 
Goods are inventory if they are leased by a lessor or held by
a person for sale or lease. The revised definition of
"inventory" makes clear that the term includes goods leased by
the debtor to others as well as goods held for lease. (The same
result should have obtained under the former definition.) Goods
to be furnished or furnished under a service contract, raw
materials, and work in process also are inventory. Implicit in
the definition is the criterion that the sales or leases are or
will be in the ordinary course of business. For example,
machinery used in manufacturing is equipment, not inventory, even
though it is the policy of the debtor to sell machinery when it
becomes obsolete or worn. Inventory also includes goods that are
consumed in a business (e.g., fuel used in operations). In
general, goods used in a business are equipment if they are fixed
assets or have, as identifiable units, a relatively long period
of use, but are inventory, even though not held for sale or
lease, if they are used up or consumed in a short period of time
in producing a product or providing a service.

 
Goods are "farm products" if the debtor is engaged in farming
operations with respect to the goods. Animals in a herd of
livestock are covered whether the debtor acquires them by
purchase or as a result of natural increase. Products of crops
or livestock remain farm products as long as they have not been
subjected to a manufacturing process. The terms "crops" and
"livestock" are not defined. The new definition of "farming
operations" is for clarification only.

 
Crops, livestock, and their products cease to be "farm
products" when the debtor ceases to be engaged in farming
operations with respect to them. If, for example, they come into


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