Latest Agribusiness Headlines

All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Der Manouel Insurance Names Gibbs, Newman Consultants

Apr 16 2009 // Der Manouel Insurance & Financial Services announced that Jim Gibbs and Guy Newman have joined the commercial lines unit as risk consultants. Gibbs brings 30 years experience to the agency will work on developing...

Farmers To Acquire AIG’s Personal Auto Group for $1.9 Billion

Apr 16 2009 // Los Angeles-based the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies has announced it will acquire American International Group’s (AIG’s) Personal Auto Group, which includes 21st Century Insurance Co.The acquisition...

Gordon Joins Der Manouel Insurance Group

Apr 10 2009 // Greg Gordon has joined Der Manouel Insurance Group to lead the Agribusiness practice. Gordon began his insurance career in the 1970s in central California. In 1979, he purchased an agency in Dinuba, Calif., which merged...

USDA Extends Crop Insurance Deadline for West Virginians

Apr 8 2009 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving West Virginia farmers who lost crops due to natural disaster last year more time to apply for crop insurance and other assistance. The agency says farmers have until May 18 to...

After Flooding, Midwest Farmers Fear Repeat Of ’97

Apr 8 2009 // Recent floods are receding for now, but farmers and ranchers in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota are worried they’re on track to repeat the dismal year of 1997.That was the year spring blizzards and record...

Kevin Dahlke Offers Professional Liability Program for Farmers Agents

Apr 8 2009 // Professional Liability coverage for the Agents of Farmers Insurance Group, Inc.The United Farmers Agents Association has introduced a group professional liability program exclusively for agents of Farmers Group Inc. The...

Farmers Insurance Washington Promotes Bithell to VP

Apr 6 2009 // Farmers Insurance has appointed Susan Bithell, formerly Farmers Washington State executive director, to vice president of field operations in Washington. Bithell began her career with Farmers in 1983 as an auto underwriter...

Farmers Appoints Harwood Vice President

Apr 2 2009 // Jim Harwood, former assistant vice president over Agency Training at Farmers Insurance has been promoted to the position of vice president, University of Farmers. He will be responsible for the strategic direction and...

U.S. Health Secretary Nominee Sebelius Vows Food Safety Upgrade

Apr 1 2009 // Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius vowed Tuesday to make the Food and Drug Administration a “world class” regulatory agency and to work with industry to improve food safety if she is confirmed as health and...

Illinois Tells Crop Insurer to Cease ‘Improper Rebate’

Mar 31 2009 // The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s (IDFPR) Division of Insurance has ordered First Farm Credit Services to discontinue its Patronage Program, calling the program an “improper...

Nevada Irrigation District Faces Flood of Trouble

Mar 31 2009 // The failure of a century old earthen canal in northern Nevada that sent flood waters into hundreds of homes on a frigid night in January 2008 was only the beginning of a nightmare for a rural irrigation district.The flood...

Florida’s New VanDyke Norman Insurance Agency Thinks Big

Mar 25 2009 // Kevin VanDyke and Andy Norman opened their St. Augustine agency around Thanksgiving last year but already they are thinking big. They plan to grow their business in the Jacksonville metropolitan area not just by outselling...

Travelers Agribusiness Introduces New Automated System for Agents

Mar 25 2009 // Travelers launched a new automated system that allows agents to rate, quote and issue policies electronically and more efficiently for agribusiness insurance.The new interface — Travelers Agribusiness System (TAgS)...

Farm-based Biogas, a Neglected Asset in Greenhouse Gas Fight

Mar 19 2009 // John Ibbett and pigs go back a long way. “The pig manager pushed me round in a pram,” recalls Ibbett, whose family has been farming on the same site since 1939.Now he’s proud his family farm can turn muck...

Salmonella Recall Could Cost Peanut Producers $1 Billion

Mar 12 2009 // The effects of the widespread peanut butter recall could cost rural America’s peanut producers $1 billion in lost production and sales, according to testimony at a House subcommittee hearing.That could be just the...

Readiness of Some Rebuilt Levees in Midwest Questioned

Mar 10 2009 // With the prospect of another season of spring flooding fast approaching, the Army Corps of Engineers insists the earthen flood levees outmatched by the Mississippi River last summer are rebuilt and ready. Not...

People

Mar 9 2009 // Jeff Grace has been named president of IMA of Wichita, officials for The IMA Financial Group Inc. announced.Grace joined IMA in 1997 in business development, focusing on the construction practice, and was promoted to sales...

Alabama Seeks to Reduce Farm Traffic Collisions

Mar 6 2009 // D.C. Thornton knows that as well as anyone because he has been in the cab during one of those near collisions.“We’ve had instances where people had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting us while we were...

W.R. Berkley Forms Agribusiness Insurance Unit; Names Shaw President

Feb 24 2009 // W. R. Berkley Corp. announced the formation of Berkley Agribusiness Risk Specialists, a new division of its Continental Western Group, LLC.Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Berkley Agribusiness Risk Specialists will operate...

Missouri Deals with Rash of Cattle Thefts; Farm Bureau Offers Reward

Feb 24 2009 // A rash of cattle thefts in southwest Missouri has prompted two organizations to offer a total of $10,000 in rewards for help catching the crooks.Authorities report that hundreds of animals have been loaded onto trucks and...