29 CFR 780.707: Establishments “commonly recognized” as country elevators.

In determining whether a particular establishment is one that is “commonly recognized” as a country elevator—and this must be true of the particular establishment if the exemption is to apply—it should be kept in mind that the intent of section 13(b)(14) is to “exempt country elevators that market farm products, mostly grain, for farmers” (107 Cong. Rec. (daily ed.) p. 5883). It is also appropriate to consider the characteristics and functions which the courts and government agencies have recognized as those of “country elevators” and the distinctions which have been recognized between country elevators and other types of establishments. For example, in proceedings to determine industries of a seasonal nature under part 526 of the regulations in this chapter, “country” grain elevators, public terminal and subterminal grain elevators, wheat flour mill elevators, non-elevator-type bulk grain storing establishments, and “flat warehouses” in which grain is stored in sacks, have been recognized as distinct types of establishments engaged in grain storage. (See 24 FR 2584; 3581.) As the legislative history of the exemption cited above makes clear, country elevators handle “mostly grain.” The courts have recognized that the terms “country elevator” and “country grain elevator” are interchangeable (the term “country house” has also been recognized as synonymous), and that there are significant differences between country elevators and other types of establishments engaged in grain storage (see Tobin v. Flour Mils, 185 F. 2d 596; Mitchell v. Sampson Const. Co. (D. Kan.) 14 WH Cases 269).