Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

Colorado Farmers Must Pay $6.5M for Defrauding Federal Crop Insurance Programs

Mar 12 2024 // Two Colorado Farmers must pay more than $6.5 Million for defrauding federal crop insurance programs, according to U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan.Finegan’s office announced that Patrick Esch and Ed Dean Jagers of...

Plan Takes Shape in Rural California to Provide Farm Workers Shade From Heat

Mar 4 2024 // When Limba Contreras moved to the desert community of Oasis, California, about 50 years ago, her family relied on a water cooler to keep temperatures inside their home comfortable. Other times, they sprayed each other with...

Horse Race Authority Says Equine Deaths Are Lower at Tracks Under its Watch

Feb 29 2024 // LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Horse racing’s federal oversight body says racetracks under its jurisdiction experienced 1.23 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts in 2023, a much lower rate than at tracks...

WEATHER Act Aims to Reduce Hurdles for Small Farmers

Feb 19 2024 // In December, a group of legislators, including Vermont U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, pitched the Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting...

Extreme Weather, Cyber Risks Top Concerns When Insuring Farms

Feb 19 2024 // As risks from extreme weather, technology glitches and cyberattacks rise, so does the need for agricultural insurance that can cover a rapidly diversifying and evolving industry.“With the interest rates, production...

Brazil Subsidized Rural Insurance for Deforested Farms: Report

Feb 9 2024 // Brazil subsidized rural insurance for farmers who deforested protected areas, engaged in slavery-like labor or planted in indigenous lands, according to a report from a nonprofit group.An investigation by Repórter Brasil...

EU Recommends Ambitious 2040 Climate Target, Goes Light on Farming

Feb 6 2024 // The European Commission recommended on Tuesday that the EU slash net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, an ambitious target that will test political appetite for the region’s fight against climate change ahead...

French Farmers Head Home but Anger Spreads Elsewhere in Europe

Feb 2 2024 // Protesting farmers demanding just prices and less red tape blocked the border between Belgium and the Netherlands on Friday, whilst their peers in France started lifting blockades countrywide after the government made...

Farmer Protests Disrupt Belgian Supermarkets’ Supply Chain

Feb 1 2024 // Protesting farmers have blocked the distribution centers of Colruyt, one of Belgium’s biggest supermarket chains, a spokesperson confirmed, while local media reported that distribution centers of discount supermarket...

Avian Flu Is Devastating Farms in California’s ‘Egg Basket’

Jan 31 2024 // Last month, Mike Weber got the news every poultry farmer fears: His chickens tested positive for avian flu.Following government rules, Weber’s company, Sunrise Farms, had to slaughter its entire flock of egg-laying...

Small Farmers Hit by Extreme Weather Would be Helped by New Crop Insurance Program

Jan 30 2024 // Since catastrophic flooding hit Vermont in July and waterlogged crops, some farmers are trying to figure out how to get through the next season.Water washed away seeds planted in the summer at Bear Roots Farm, which grows...

Residents Fight Planned Monkey-Breeding Farm in South Georgia

Jan 29 2024 // BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — Some local residents and an animal-rights group are protesting plans for a monkey-breeding facility in southwest Georgia.Opponents recently urged the Bainbridge City Council to block plans by a...

AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Farmers Mutual Fire of Pennsylvania

Jan 26 2024 // Ratings firm AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Marble, Pennsylvania.At the same time, it has affirmed the insurer’s Financial Strength Rating of A...

Allstate Doesn’t Owe for Diminished Value; Farm Bureau Barred from Subro, Courts Say

Jan 17 2024 // Two court rulings in Southeastern states have underscored insurers’ responsibilities under uninsured motorist laws.In a Mississippi class-action lawsuit, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Allstate...

Rokstone Launches Kentucky-based TPA for U.S. Agricultural Claims

Jan 11 2024 // Rokstone, a specialty insurance and reinsurance managing general agency, has launched a new third-party administrator service based in Kentucky. Part of the Aventum Group, Rokstone said its new Verus TPA will manage...

Update: Floods Strand Cows, Damage Crops as Wild Weather Hits Australia

Jan 9 2024 // Heavy rains and flooding across Australia’s southern state of Victoria has damaged crops and stranded cattle as a months-long run of wild weather on the nation’s east coast leaves a trail of destruction.Severe...

Climate Change Makes Forecasting Harder, Australia’s Agriculture Minister Says

Jan 2 2024 // Climate change is making it harder to accurately predict extreme weather events, said Australia’s agriculture minister Murray Watt, amid criticism the country’s meteorology department failed to provide timely...

Farmers Direct Asks for 20% Auto Rate Increase in West Virginia

Dec 15 2023 // The West Virginia Insurance Commissioner’s Office is accepting comments on a proposed 19.9% auto liability insurance rate increase for Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Co. The proposed increase is one...

Massachusetts Farmers Get $20 Million in State Disaster Relief After Rough Year

Dec 15 2023 // It was a rough year for many Massachusetts farmers who experienced a deep February freeze, a late May frost event, and catastrophic flooding in July.To help them recover from the damage, the Healey-Driscoll Administration...

North Carolina Hog Farms Were Properly Permitted, State Appeals Court Says

Dec 7 2023 // RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Several hog farms in North Carolina were properly allowed to collect energy from the animals` waste, a state appeals court said Tuesday, ruling that their permit applications were scrutinized...