Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

North Dakota Livestock Producers Say Trucking Mandate Will Cost Them

Jan 16 2018 // A federal mandate requiring many motor carriers to install electronic logging devices could cost be costly to North Dakota’s cattle industry.Warren Zenker, who runs a cattle feeding operation near Elgin, told the...

Independent Insurance Agents of Plainview, Texas, Merges with Higginbotham

Jan 9 2018 // Fort Worth, Texas-based retail insurance broker, Higginbotham, and Independent Insurance Agents of Plainview (IIAP) have merged operations.With the addition of IIAP in Plainview, Higginbotham now has 27 offices in Texas....

Trump Promises Farmers He’ll Back Crop Insurance

Jan 9 2018 // U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told farmers gathered in Tennessee that he supports crop insurance, signaling a possible shift from his proposals last year to shrink a program that many farmers rely on for funding...

Review of Ride Safety Urged in Ohio After Fatal Fair Accident

Jan 8 2018 // A state advisory board has agreed to form a new committee to review the amusement ride inspection process in an effort to improve the public’s perceptions about ride safety after a deadly accident last summer at the...

Nebraska Bill Would Criminalize Drone Use to Spy on People, Harass Cows

Jan 8 2018 // Using a drone to spy on neighbors, drop drugs into prisons or harass cows could lead to criminal charges under a new bill Nebraska lawmakers will consider later this year.The measure would impose new safety and privacy...

Declarations

Jan 8 2018 // No Consensus“Until we have some kind of a consensus, or there’s an outcry from everyday business people, it just seems the issue languishes.” — Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says there is no...

A.M. Best Upgrades Pennsylvania’s Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance

Jan 8 2018 // A.M. Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Marble, Penn., to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from...

People

Jan 8 2018 // Grinnell, Iowa-based property and casualty insurer/reinsurer, Grinnell Mutual, named Dave Wingert, executive vice president and chief operating officer, to serve as acting president.Larry Jansen retired on Dec. 15, 2017,...

Rockingham Group, FarmAssure Launch Oklahoma Farmowners Insurance Program

Jan 5 2018 // The Rockingham Group has partnered with Edmond, Oklahoma-based FarmAssure LLC to offer a Farmowners Insurance Program in Oklahoma. This partnership will offer farm, ranch, and country home insurance in the state.FarmAssure...

Idaho Ban on Secret Farm Videos Voided by Court

Jan 5 2018 // A federal appeals court has declared unconstitutional Idaho’s bans on shooting secret videos and lying to enter factory farms to expose animal abuse, but revived other parts of the state’s law to curb...

Arkansas Board Stands by Plan to Limit Controversial Dicamba Herbicide

Jan 4 2018 // Arkansas agricultural regulators stuck with a proposal on Wednesday to prohibit sprayings of a controversial weed killer after mid-April, despite a lawsuit over the plan by manufacturer Monsanto Co.The state’s plant...

Top Insurance Journal Midwest Stories of 2017

Dec 29 2017 // A bad broker, classic cars that got destroyed in a fire and insurer rating downgrades were among the most widely read news stories in Insurance Journal’s Midwest region in 2017.One story that generated much interest...

Update: Argentine Grains Hub Blast Kills One, Injures Others; Food Exports Hit

Dec 28 2017 // An explosion at a grains terminal in Argentina owned by China’s COFCO International on Wednesday killed one employee, injured others and affected shipping activities from one of the world’s top food suppliers,...

Unions Sees Worker Growth Potential in California’s Marijuana Industry

Dec 27 2017 // Unions have caught a whiff of a rare opportunity to organize a whole new set of workers as recreational marijuana becomes legal in California.The United Farm Workers, Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers are...

EPA Clears Monsanto Roundup Chemical of Health Risks to Humans

Dec 27 2017 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto Co.’s top-selling weed killer Roundup, is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, contradicting a World Health...

A.M. Best Upgrades Pennsylvania’s Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance

Dec 20 2017 // A.M. Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Marble, Penn., to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from...

California Pot Sold Jan. 1 Could be Tainted

Dec 18 2017 // That legal weed you’ll be able to buy in California on New Year’s Day may not be as green as it seems.Any marijuana sold when recreational sales become legal Jan. 1 in the nation’s most populous state...

Arkansas Lawmakers Want Panel to Reconsider Dicamba Ban

Dec 15 2017 // Arkansas lawmakers have recommended a regulatory panel look at revising its proposed ban of an herbicide farmers in several states say has drifted onto their crops and caused damage, nearly a month after a maker of the...

Farmers Reports $1.2B in Claims from Northern California Wildfires

Dec 15 2017 // Farmers Insurance reported it has received more than 4,000 claims from the Northern California wildfires to date at an estimated gross cost of $1.2 billion.With reinsurance, the Los Angeles-based carrier estimates its...

Uncertainty Hangs Over Florida Citrus Growers After Irma’s Damage to Crops

Dec 13 2017 // Although the 2017-18 citrus harvest has barely begun, growers are already planning for the 2018-19 season, and they have critical decisions to make in the coming months that will affect next season’s crop and perhaps...