Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drought, Flooding Cause Hard Times for Farmers in Arkansas, Louisiana
Oct 18 2011 // In a year when severe drought scorched the Southwest, a hurricane drowned crops in the East, and river flooding swamped farms in the Midwest, one of the worst places to be a farmer may be just west of the Mississippi...
Reduced North Dakota Crop Harvest Expected to Hurt Economy
Oct 18 2011 // Reduced yields in some crops will hurt North Dakota’s economy, officials say. The U.S. Agriculture Department has reported that floods, hail, wind and early frost will mean farmers will harvest about half as much...
Thailand: Bangkok Escape Floods as Waters Recede
Oct 17 2011 // The government expressed confidence Sunday that Bangkok will escape Thailand’s worst flooding in decades, as the capital’s elaborate barriers held strong and floodwaters receded from submerged plains to the...
Nationwide, Harleysville CEOs Say Merger All About Growth
Oct 17 2011 // The merger of insurer Nationwide Mutual with regional carrier Harleysville Mutual is all about growth, not only for the companies but also for their independent agents, according to the CEOs of the two...
US Congress OK’s Korea, Panama, Colombia Trade Pacts
Oct 13 2011 // Congress Wednesday approved long-delayed trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that are expected to lift exports by about $13 billion a year and give U.S. employment a boost. Republicans and Democrats joined...
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Group Ratings Downgraded
Oct 12 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B- (Fair) from B (Fair) and issuer credit ratings to “bb-” from “bb” of Oklahoma Farm Bureau Group (Oklahoma Farm Bureau) and its...
North Dakota’s Dorgan Joins Board of The Climate Corporation
Oct 12 2011 // Weather insurance provider WeatherBill has changed its name to The Climate Corporation and added former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota to its board of directors. The San Francisco-based company says the name change...
Farmers’ Filing Would Raise Homeowners Rates in Texas by Nearly 10%
Oct 11 2011 // Farmers Insurance plans to hike homeowner premiums in Texas by nearly 10 percent next year. The increase will apply to about half of the Farmers Insurance customers across Texas, according to a report in The Dallas Morning...
Farmers Insurance Names Linton Chief Marketing Officer
Oct 11 2011 // Michael A Linton has been named enterprise chief marketing officer for Farmers Insurance. Linton, who most recently worked as executive vice president of marketing for Silicon Valley start-up, FreeMonee Network, has spent...
North Dakota Farmers Get Older, More Prosperous
Oct 4 2011 // North Dakota farmers on average are older and more prosperous than they were a decade ago, and running bigger operations, a new study shows. The North Dakota State University study is based on the more than 500 farms of...
Deadline Nears to Submit Claims in Bayer Rice Case
Oct 4 2011 // The deadline is approaching for rice farmers to submit claims in order to share in the settlement of a lawsuit against Bayer CropScience over genetically modified rice that was inadvertently introduced into the U.S....
Despite National Recession, South Dakota Sees Growth
Oct 3 2011 // Agriculture and manufacturing have spurred the South Dakota economy to moderate prosperity in the backwash of the national recession. Gains on the farm and in some factories have offset soft times in housing and the...
Agriculture Losses from Texas Wildfires Adding Up
Sep 30 2011 // In addition to the $5.2 billion in agricultural losses as a result of the drought in Texas this year, an additional $150 million in losses can be attributed to wildfires, according to state agriculture experts. Dr. Andy...
Nationwide, Harleysville CEOs Reassure Agents: Merger All About Growth
Sep 30 2011 // The merger of insurer Nationwide Mutual with regional carrier Harleysville Mutual is all about growth, not only for the companies but also for their independent agents, according to the CEOs of the two...
Families of Two Who Died at Michigan Farm Sue
Sep 27 2011 // The families of two young people who died after falling into a tank at a dairy farm in Michigan’s Barry County have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the farm. The lawsuits were filed last week in Barry County...
Receding Missouri River Reveals Badly Damaged Land
Sep 26 2011 // As the Missouri River slowly recedes, farmers seeing their fields for the first time since June are encountering sand dunes, strange debris and deep gouges the floodwaters carved into their once-fertile land. The soil...
Swiss Re Policies Help Cholera Victims in Haiti, Poor Farmers in Africa
Sep 26 2011 // Global reinsurer Swiss Re is introducing business interruption coverage in case of cholera outbreaks for women entrepreneurs in Haiti. Swiss Re, together with Mercy Corps and Fonkoze, the largest microfinance organization...
Obama Deficit Plan Targets Farm Subsidies, Crop Insurance
Sep 20 2011 // President Barack Obama on Monday proposed to end a “direct payment” subsidy that gives $5 billion a year to farmers regardless of need, as part of his larger effort to reduce the federal budget deficit. Direct...
North Carolina Senate Panel Learns Hurricane Irene’s Costs
Sep 16 2011 // The state agency overseeing North Carolina’s response to Hurricane Irene estimates the price tag on helping individuals and governments recover from Hurricane Irene so far at about $125 million. The Division of...
New Mexico Drought Matter of Perspective, Risk
Sep 16 2011 // Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective. If you’re a cattle rancher in New Mexico without enough grass to feed your stock, it’s a drought. If you’re a satellite orbiting a couple of hundred miles away...
