Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

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...

Implications of the 2008 Farm Bill

Feb 22 2009 // The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill) authorizes farm programs for the next five years. The Act’s provisions encompass a range of issues, including commodity price supports, conservation,...

Top 5 Insurance Issues for Farmers in a Soft Economy

Feb 22 2009 // Thanks in part to commodity prices that are still higher than average and, thankfully, less volatile than in 2008, the agricultural economy has not yet felt the same contractions the general economy is reeling from today....

France’s Winter Storm Klaus Property Losses Pegged at $1 Billion Euros

Feb 20 2009 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide has updated its insured loss estimates of property losses in France from winter storm Klaus to between 500 million and 1 billion Euros.These losses represent damage to buildings...

Georgia Senate Panel Advances Food Safety Measure

Feb 13 2009 // A sweeping new food safety measure proposed in the wake of the salmonella outbreak easily passed its first key legislative hurdle this week as Georgia lawmakers sought to reassure antsy residents.The Senate Agriculture...

Start-Up Stories: How New Agencies Are Competing

Feb 8 2009 // The independent insurance agency system is enjoying a resurgence. For years, the number of agencies in the country had been declining but that trend, while not reversed, has been halted. The number in 2008 was 37,500...

America First Appoints Stricklen to Head Farm & Ranch Division

Feb 5 2009 // America First Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company based in Richardson, Texas, has appointed Stephen Stricklen to assistant vice president, Specialty Products. In this position Stricklen will manage...

Farm Bureau County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas Downgraded

Feb 5 2009 // A.M. Best Co. announced it has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to A- (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a-” from “aa-” of Farm Bureau County Mutual...

Salmonella Outbreak Exposes Gaps in Peanut Product Inspection Process

Jan 30 2009 // Food regulators didn’t consider salmonella a threat to most peanut products before they traced an outbreak to a peanut butter plant in Georgia two years ago. Officials in the nation’s top peanut-producing state...

People

Jan 25 2009 // American International Group Inc. (AIG) named Russell Johnston president and CEO of AIG Environmental, a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance.Johnston joined AIG in 1990 serving in senior management positions within...

London’s Reach Bolsters U.S. Specialty Lines

Jan 25 2009 // Find a need, then fill it,” is a hoary business principle, but making it work is often harder than it looks. However, a number of British insurers have taken it to heart and have built substantial profit centers...

Blaze at Western New York Farm Causes $2M in Damage

Jan 23 2009 // Authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed two barns at a western New York farm, causing about $2 million in damage.The fire broke out about 3 a.m. Monday at McCormick Farms in the Wyoming County town...

Ironshore Creates U.S. P/C Operation Run By Former AIG Execs

Jan 22 2009 // Ironshore Inc. has appointed Steven England as executive vice president responsible for running its newly created U.S. Property/ Casualty underwriting operations based in St. Louis, Missouri.The new unit, Ironshore...