Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

Southern Drought Creeping Northward to West Virginia

Oct 20 2008 // Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.“The last three...

Hurricanes, Credit Crunch Hit Louisiana, Texas Agriculture

Oct 20 2008 // Like farmers and ranchers across the United States, agriculture producers in Texas and Louisiana have been impacted by rising fuel and fertilizer costs, and they fear the credit squeeze gripping the nation will make it...

Armed & Ready to Outsell the Competition

Oct 20 2008 // Top 100 Agency ProfileRanking: 12 Agency Name: InterWest Insurance Services Inc. Headquarters: Sacramento, Calif. Year Founded: 1992 Additional Locations: 9 locations in California 2007 Property/Casualty Premium: $519.6...

From Seed to Supermarket

Oct 20 2008 // Agribusiness insurance has grown significantly as food production has become a global commodity. Since World War II there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of family farms and acreage being cultivated for food...

Corn-Filled Silo Collapses on Pennsylvania Dairy Farm

Oct 17 2008 // A silo filled with chopped corn came crashing down on an eastern Pennsylvania dairy farm, bringing electric and phone lines with it — but no one was injured.It happened about 11:30 p.m. Monday at a farm owned by...

Ike is Costliest Storm in Texas History; Price Tag Now More Than $11B

Oct 13 2008 // A month after Hurricane Ike pounded the island, piles of sheetrock, appliances, furniture and family mementos dot most streets in Galveston. Electronic road signs in Southeast Texas flash, “Watch for cows next 20...

Louisiana Senator Says State Declared Agricultural Disaster

Oct 8 2008 // U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced that Louisiana has been declared an agricultural disaster by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On Sept. 10, Sen. Landrieu and the rest of the Louisiana delegation wrote...

National Group Honors Faga as 2008 Professional Farm Mutual Manager

Oct 7 2008 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) recently awarded Patrick Faga, president/CEO, Central Iowa Mutual Insurance Association, Story, Iowa, the Professional Farm Mutual Manager of the Year Award...

Louisiana’s Crops, Forests, Fisheries Suffered From Hurricanes

Oct 6 2008 // Louisiana agriculture, forestry and fisheries suffered an estimated $950 million in losses and damages from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, according to the Louisiana State University AgCenter. The figure is expected to rise as...

Federal Grant will Help with West Virginia Farm Safety Initiative

Sep 30 2008 // Reducing farm accidents, specifically those involving young people, is the goal of a two-year federal grant awarded to the West Virginia University Extension Service. The $221,000 grant from the U.S. Department of...

Gustav and Ike Blasted Louisiana’s Crops, Forestry and Fisheries

Sep 29 2008 // Louisiana agriculture, forestry and fisheries suffered an estimated $950 million in losses and damages in this month’s hurricanes, according to the Louisiana State University AgCenter. And the figure, officials say,...

Kentucky Seeks Federal Assistance for Drought-affected Farmers

Sep 23 2008 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear sent a request to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture disaster assistance be made available to farmers across the commonwealth due to crop...

Gustav Damages to Louisiana Crops, Fisheries Hits $419M

Sep 22 2008 // Hurricane Gustav caused an estimated $372 million in damage to Louisiana crops, agriculture officials said. The storm overflowed crawfish and catfish ponds, causing an estimated $46 million in damages to fisheries.Gustav...

Texas Seeks Federal Help for Farmers and Ranchers Impacted by Ike

Sep 19 2008 // Texas’ top agriculture official has asked his federal counterparts for money to help Southeast Texas ranchers and farmers deal with the long-term needs created by Hurricane Ike.No dollar amount was specified but it...

20,000 Cattle, Horses Wandering in Southeast Texas

Sep 17 2008 // At least 20,000 head of livestock are roaming loose throughout several Southeast Texas counties, said state officials who are working to get feed and water to the cattle and horses that have been without either since...

Louisiana Still Mopping up From Gustav as Ike Enters Gulf

Sep 10 2008 // Hurricane Ike entered the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 9 and the latest path projected by the National Hurricane Center has the storm making landfall in Texas, possibly near Corpus Christi. Meanwhile, Louisiana is still mopping...

Weather, Fuel, Chief Factors in ’07 Idaho Wildfire

Sep 8 2008 // A state and federal report concluded that last summer’s lightning- and cheatgrass-stoked Murphy Complex fire that torched 1,000 square miles of Idaho and Nevada backcountry would have overwhelmed efforts by ranchers...

Hudson Insurance Takes Over CropUSA Agency

Sep 3 2008 // Hudson Insurance Group, the U.S. insurance division of Odyssey Re Holdings Corp., has purchased the assets pertaining to the crop insurance business of CropUSA Insurance Agency, Inc.Since 2006 CropUSA has acted as managing...

Farmers Appoints Toohey VP of Media Relations

Aug 25 2008 // Mark Toohey has been promoted to senior vice president of media relations for Los Angeles-based, Farmers Insurance Co. In his new role, Toohey will be responsible for leading and managing all media relations, external...

More Farm Deaths in California Heat

Aug 22 2008 // California, the nation’s leader in heat-related deaths among farmworkers, sought to turn that trend around three years ago with new laws aimed at ensuring people toiling in sweltering fields had such basics as a...