(1)(a) All assessments, penalties, interest, and costs not paid by a cotton grower shall constitute and operate as a lien in favor of the department. The lien shall arise as of the time the assessments become due and payable and shall cover all real and personal property owned by the grower from the date the lien arises until paid. The lien shall secure all unpaid assessments, penalties, interest, and costs which are due and which may accrue subsequent to the recording of the claim of lien and prior to entry of a final judgment of foreclosure. The lien may be recorded in the public records of any county where the grower owns real and personal property and shall state the name of the cotton grower and the amount due.
(b) The department may enforce the lien upon real property in the manner a mortgage of real property is foreclosed. The lien may also be enforced against personal property in the manner provided for the enforcement of other liens on personal property in this state. Enforcement of a lien for assessments, penalties, interest, and costs shall not operate as a waiver of any other remedies available to the department, including an action to recover a money judgment for the unpaid assessments, penalties, interest, and costs, or enforcement of the lien provided in subsection (2).
(2)(a) In addition to the lien provided in paragraph (1)(a), the department shall have a special lien on cotton, including the cottonseed and any other extracted product. Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary under chapter 697, any special lien on cotton for assessments, penalties, interest, and costs, which assessments, penalties, interest, and costs accrue before December 31, 1994, shall have equal dignity and the same priority as liens for taxes in favor of the state as described in s. 197.122. The special lien shall arise as of the time the assessments become due and payable and shall cover all cotton grown by the cotton grower from the date the lien arises until paid. The lien shall secure all unpaid assessments, penalties, interest, and costs which are due and which may accrue prior to the enforcement of the lien. (b) The department may provide notice of a claim of lien to potential buyers by tagging the cotton as being subject to a lien or by mailing a copy of a claim of the lien. The claim of lien shall state the name of the cotton grower, the year or years of the unpaid assessment, and the amount of assessments, penalties, interest, and costs that is due.
(c) The special lien on cotton may be enforced in the manner provided for the enforcement of other liens on personal property in this state. The lien shall also extend to the proceeds of a sale of the cotton to a buyer. If a buyer has not received written notice of the lien and the cotton is not tagged, then such buyer takes free of the lien. A buyer of cotton other than a person buying cotton from the grower takes free of the lien created by this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to operate as a waiver of other remedies available to the department for unpaid assessments, penalties, interest, and costs, including an action to recover a money judgment for the unpaid assessments, penalties, interest, and costs, or enforcement of the lien provided in paragraph (1)(b).
(3) The department is authorized to assign any judgments and liens for assessments, penalties, interest, and costs in its favor to a certified cotton growers’ organization.
