Latest Agribusiness Headlines

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

Drought in High Plains the Worst Some Farmers Have Ever Seen

Jul 24 2017 // Drought in North Dakota is laying waste to fields of normally bountiful food and hay crops, and searing pastures that typically would be home to multitudes of grazing cattle.Some longtime farmers and ranchers say...

A.M. Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Georgia Farm Bureau Group Members

Jul 24 2017 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb-” of Georgia Farm Bureau...

Farmers Insurance on the Hook for $100K in 2015 Oklahoma State Homecoming Crash

Jul 24 2017 // An insurance provider whose imprisoned client drove into a crowd at Oklahoma State University’s 2015 homecoming parade will pay out $100,000 to the victims.A judge is expected to decide how the money will be divided...

Authority Wants 1952 Quake Anniversary to Remind Californians to Prepare

Jul 21 2017 // Friday marks the 65th anniversary of the 1952 magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck Kern County, Calif., considered the largest quake to strike Southern California since the 1870s.While the epicenter was on the White Wolf...

Minnesota: Farmers Insurance Exchange Overcharged Renters for Auto Coverage

Jul 21 2017 // Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman has ordered an insurance company to refund more than $300,000 to Minnesota drivers who were charged higher auto insurance rates solely because they were renters rather than...

Farmers Names Fernandez to Head Business Insurance; Kappler to Lead Bristol West

Jul 19 2017 // Farmers Insurance has named new presidents for two of its key business units. Sharon Fernandez, most recently president of Bristol West Insurance, has been appointed president of Business Insurance at Farmers. In addition,...

Mad Cow Disease Found in Alabama But No Threat to Humans Detected

Jul 19 2017 // An 11-year-old cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.The cow tested positive for the atypical...

Idaho Manure Pond Deaths Raise Concerns About Farmworker Safety

Jul 18 2017 // It was still dark the morning Ruperto Vazquez-Carrera began his shift at Sunrise Organic Dairy in Idaho.It was mid-February 2016. A winter heat wave had melted snow and ice overnight, flooding part of the rural Jerome...

High Plains Drought the Worst Some Farmers Have Ever Seen

Jul 17 2017 // Drought in North Dakota is laying waste to fields of normally bountiful food and hay crops and searing pastures that typically would be home to multitudes of grazing cattle.Some longtime farmers and ranchers say it’s...

Devastating S. Europe Drought Scorches Crops; Farmers Question Their Future

Jul 17 2017 // Italian durum wheat and dairy farmer Attilio Tocchi saw warning signs during the winter of the dramatic drought to come at his holding a mile away from the Tuscan coast.“When it still hadn’t rained at the...

Tennessee Restricts Monsanto Pesticide Use as Crop Damage Spreads

Jul 14 2017 // Tennessee on Thursday imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba, a flagship pesticide for Monsanto Co., becoming the fourth state to take action as problems spread over damage the weed killer causes to crops not...

Texas Peach Crops Affected by Mild Winter

Jul 10 2017 // Experts say the mild Texas winter hampered this year’s peach crop in parts of the state.The North Texas harvest appears to be bountiful, but growers in some other areas of the state faced challenges, the Fort Worth...

Louisiana Farmers Could be Helped by $10M Program for Flood Recovery

Jul 10 2017 // Farmers and ranchers in 51 Louisiana parishes could be eligible for grants from a $10 million program aimed to help with recovery from last year’s flooding.Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain’s office says the...

People

Jul 10 2017 // The Main Street America Group has promoted Dan Gaynor to senior vice president and chief underwriting officer.Gaynor, who has been the super-regional property/casualty insurance company’s vice president of commercial...

Michigan Court Sides with Westfield Insurance in ‘Employee/Contractor’ Case

Jul 10 2017 // The Michigan Court of Appeals has reversed the ruling of a trial court in a case involving whether a commercial insurer or a personal insurer is responsible for paying no-fault personal injury protection benefits when a...

Farmers Insurance to Pay $100K in 2015 Oklahoma State Homecoming Crash

Jul 5 2017 // An insurance provider whose imprisoned client drove into a crowd at Oklahoma State University’s 2015 homecoming parade will provide $100,000 to the victims.A judge is expected to decide how the money will be divided...

A.M. Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Georgia Farm Bureau Group Members

Jun 28 2017 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb-” of Georgia Farm Bureau...

Federal Aid Now Available to Rain-Swamped Louisiana Farmers

Jun 27 2017 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated Evangeline Parish in Louisiana as a primary natural disaster area as the result of losses and damages caused by heavy and excessive rain that occurred from April 4,...

More New York Malt Barley Farmers Eligible for Crop Insurance

Jun 27 2017 // Malt barley farmers in 44 upstate New York counties are now eligible for crop insurance from the federal government. Malt barley is a necessary ingredient in beer and spirits, and the lack of crop insurance had hindered...

Jury Says Syngenta Must Pay Kansas Farmers $217.7M in GMO Corn Case

Jun 26 2017 // A U.S. jury has ordered Syngenta AG to pay $217.7 million to more than 7,000 Kansas farmers over its decision to commercialize a genetically modified strain of corn before China approved importing it.The June 23 verdict by...