Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

Lingering Texas Drought Has Ranchers Reducing Herds

Aug 16 2018 // A growing number of Texas ranchers and farmers are trimming their livestock, or selling them altogether, as the persistent drought has eliminated water supplies and forage for the animals.Some landowners describe a...

Mississippi Woman Sues Pepperidge Farm Over Contaminated Goldfish Crackers

Aug 15 2018 // A Mississippi woman is making a federal case out of a life-threatening bout with salmonella that she blames on Goldfish crackers. The Clarion Ledger reported Friday that 26-year-old Bailey Finch is accusing Pepperidge Farm...

4 Oklahoma Counties Declared Disaster Areas Due to Drought

Aug 13 2018 // Gov. Mary Fallin’s office says four counties in northeastern Oklahoma have been designated disaster areas because of drought, making farmers and ranchers eligible for federal assistance.Fallin’s office said...

Feds: Missouri Farmworkers Kept in Inhumane Conditions

Aug 13 2018 // A Florida company kept more than 100 temporary farmworkers in “inhumane” and “unsanitary” working conditions while not paying them what they were due as they harvested watermelons in southeast...

Court Orders Pruitt’s EPA to Reverse Course and Ban Crop Pesticide

Aug 10 2018 // A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban a widely-used pesticide that critics say can endanger children and farmers.The 2-1 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court...

July’s Droughts, Wildfires, Floods Caused Billions in Global Economic Losses: Aon

Aug 10 2018 // Many countries across the globe saw worsening in drought-related and wildfire conditions during July, which have led to hundreds of deaths and created a significant financial impact – particularly in the agriculture,...

Jury Orders Pork Producer to Pay $473.5M in North Carolina Nuisance Lawsuit

Aug 6 2018 // A federal jury decided Friday that the world’s largest pork producer should pay $473.5 million to neighbors of three North Carolina industrial-scale hog farms for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors,...

Atlantic Hurricane Season Had Early Start, but Fewer Storms Are Expected

Aug 3 2018 // The Atlantic hurricane season may have gotten off to an early start this year, but it’ll probably end with a whimper — at least when it comes to the total number of storms.Twelve named storms are likely to form...

Lopata to Take Over as President, CEO at Farmers Alliance Companies

Jul 30 2018 // Brian D. Lopata has been named president and chief executive officer for McPherson, Kansas-based Farmers Alliance Companies, effective Aug. 27, 2018.As president and CEO, Lopata will have day-to-day responsibility for all...

Alabama Farmer Pleads Guilty in $919K Crop Insurance Scam

Jul 18 2018 // Authorities say an Alabama farmer has acknowledged falsifying documents that allowed him to receive $919,000 in crop insurance money he wasn’t entitled to.The Dothan Eagle reported last month that Dexter Day Gilbert...

Workers’ Comp ‘Disruptor’ Launching in California for Injured Farm Employees

Jul 16 2018 // An insurtech startup says it will disrupt California’s workers’ compensation system with “technology-enabled triage and care coordination” for California Farm Management.ChronWell, a mobile platform...

Ben & Jerry’s Hasn’t Cleaned Up Its Act, Consumer Group Claims

Jul 13 2018 // It’s summer in America, and that means action-packed movies, piles of hot dogs and plenty of ice cream. But according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a consumer food-advocacy group, if your choice of ice cream is Ben...

Will California Wildfires Be Worse This Year?

Jul 13 2018 // As blame for California’s wildfires rises over Sacramento like smoke from last year’s blazes, the state is being forced to confront the possibility that it’ll happen again in 2018.California’s...

Investigators: Excessive Speed Caused Florida Roller Coaster Derailment

Jul 12 2018 // Excessive speed caused a roller coaster to derail at a Florida boardwalk, according to a preliminary investigative summary released Tuesday.Two riders fell 34 feet (10 meters) when the front car of the Sand Blaster Roller...

North Dakota Farmers Want Crop Insurance Changes in Ag Bill

Jul 9 2018 // North Dakota’s largest farm group is pushing for adjustments to crop insurance payments to protect farmers from international trade retaliations.The U.S. House and Senate versions of a new Farm Bill are heading to...

Pork Giant Smithfield Foods Ordered to Pay $25M in Nuisance Lawsuit

Jul 5 2018 // A federal jury in North Carolina has punished the world’s largest pork producer, deciding Smithfield Foods should pay two neighbors more than $25 million for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors, flies and...

Almost Half of South Asia Vulnerable to Climate ‘Hotspots’: World Bank

Jul 3 2018 // Changes in temperature and rainfall will impact almost half of South Asia in the coming decades, reducing economic growth in one of the world’s poorest regions, the World Bank said.A World Bank report released on...

New York Attorney General Leads Suit Against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Jul 2 2018 // New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood, joined by Attorneys General Xavier Becerra of California and Brian Frosh of Maryland, has led a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for...

Senate Passes Farm, Crop Insurance Bill with Flood Insurance Extension

Jun 29 2018 // The U.S. Senate passed (86-11) a Farm Bill that continues subsidies for farmers along with the federal crop insurance and food stamp programs for five years.The $867 billion Senate bill also contains an amendment to...

China Formalizes Easing of Foreign Investment Curbs on Range of Industries

Jun 29 2018 // China is slowly following through on pledges to open up to foreigners, as an impending trade war with the U.S. focuses attention on Beijing’s grip over doing business in the world’s second-largest economy.On...