Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Chartis Hires Farmers Insurance Executive as Chief Science Officer
Jan 9 2012 // Chartis has appointed Murli Buluswar to the newly created position of chief science officer. In this role, Buluswar will be responsible for establishing a research and development function to study corporate business and...
South Dakota Jury Says County Not Covered for Dairy Lawsuit
Jan 9 2012 // A jury ruled Aurora County doesn’t have insurance coverage for a lawsuit filed by a South Dakota dairy farming family. Thompson Farms says the southeastern South Dakota county put them out of business by imposing a...
People
Jan 9 2012 // Verne Cadwell has been named vice president of the crop hail division at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. located in Grinnell, Iowa. Cadwell’s promotion follows a 12-year career at Grinnell Mutual, where he has served...
Insolvent Missouri Insurers to Be Managed by Farm Bureau
Jan 9 2012 // A Barton County, Mo., judge in December 2011 approved a proposal to allow Missouri Farm Bureau to assume operations of three small insurance companies that became insolvent after paying claims from the May 22 Joplin...
Momentous Insurance Brokerage Launches Equine Specialty Practice
Jan 6 2012 // Momentous Insurance Brokerage has formed an equine specialty practice to provide insurance coverage for horse-related businesses and private horse owners. The equine practice launched at the start of the year and will...
La Nina to Linger to Spring
Jan 5 2012 // La Nina, the weather phenomenon widely blamed for withering drought in the southwestern United States and South America, may last longer than expected, into the Northern Hemisphere spring, the U.S. Climate Prediction...
North Carolina Farm Bureau Weighs Cutback in Homeowners Policies
Dec 29 2011 // One of North Carolina’s largest homeowners’ insurers says it is considering canceling the coverage of up to 70,000 homeowners unless the state Legislature makes changes allowing it to charge higher rates. North...
Cadwell Named Grinnell Mutual Crop Hail Vice President
Dec 20 2011 // Verne Cadwell has been named vice president of the crop hail division at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. located in Grinnell, Iowa. Cadwell’s promotion follows a 12-year career at Grinnell Mutual, where he has served...
Missouri Farm Bureau to Take over 3 Insolvent Insurers
Dec 19 2011 // The state insurance department says the Missouri Farm Bureau will take over the operation of three small insurance companies that became insolvent after paying claims from the deadly Joplin tornado. The three insolvent...
Montana Farmers Get Hail Insurance Refund
Dec 15 2011 // The state says that Montana farmers who bought hail insurance will be getting a 25 percent refund. The Montana Hail Board made the decision after reviewing at a recent actuarial report at its annual meeting. The Montana...
Crop Insurance Rates Skyrocket After Summer Floods
Dec 15 2011 // Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow...
India’s Private Insurance Market Keeps Growing – Slowly but Surely
Dec 13 2011 // Even though China gets most of the headlines, there’s been slow, but steady, progress for private insurers in Asia’s other billion plus people country – India. Although its rate of growth has slowed recently,...
U.S. Court Affirms $50M Verdict for Rice Farmers
Dec 12 2011 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has affirmed a nearly $50 million verdict for farmers who say they lost money because Bayer’s genetically altered rice seeds contaminated the food supply and drove down global crop...
Iowa Agent Pays $835K to End Crop Insurance Case
Dec 12 2011 // After five years of litigation, an Iowa insurance agent will pay $835,000 to settle allegations that he filed false federal crop insurance claims. The Justice Department announced the settlement with Russell Hawley of...
Zurich Names Dailey to Executive Committee; Farmers Group CEO
Dec 8 2011 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that Jeff Dailey (54, U.S. citizen) has been appointed as a member of the Group Executive Committee effective January 1, 2012. He is currently President and COO of Farmers Group,...
Risk Management Agency Starts Olive Program in 12 California Counties
Dec 7 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency on Wednesday announced a new pilot insurance program for table and oil olives in 12 California counties beginning with the 2012 crop year. The sales closing...
Utah Prepares for Spring Flooding
Dec 6 2011 // After coming out of this year’s spring flooding with damage limited mostly to Utah farmlands, state and county officials are beginning preparations for next year with a wary eye toward the state’s...
Insurers Finally Get Right to Jury Trial in New Jersey
Dec 5 2011 // Forty years ago the New Jersey Supreme Court in Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of America, 65 N.J. 474, 323 A.2d 495 (1974), recognized a cause of action against an insurance company in situations where the...
Camelina Crop Insurance Available in Selected Montana Counties
Dec 2 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a pilot program to provide crop insurance for camelina in selected counties in Montana and North Dakota beginning with the 2012 crop year. Oil from crushed camelina seeds...
USDA Sets up Pilot Program to Insure Biofuel Crops
Dec 2 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency will insure camelina through a pilot program in 2012. It will be available in Montana and North Dakota, and sales will close Feb. 1, 2012. The USDA has...
