Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Watch Out Finance, Business, Tech Workers. Artificial Intelligence Is Coming.
Nov 21 2019 // Artificial intelligence is coming for America’s high-paid professions as it creates winners and losers across the labor market like never before. White-collar jobs and better-educated occupations along with...
Hail Has Damaged Insurance Market for Car Dealers. Parametric Insurance May Help.
Nov 14 2019 // Nick Pacifico has been working at his family’s Cadillac dealership in Denver since 2003. He’s never seen insurance costs this bad. “Getting coverage is nearly impossible,” said Pacifico, vice...
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Pennsylvania’s Farmers
Nov 13 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (good) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “bbb-” of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of...
Ben & Jerry’s Is Sued by Environmental Advocate Over ‘Happy Cows’ Claim
Nov 12 2019 // Ben & Jerry’s has been sued by an environmental advocate who said it deceived consumers by touting that the milk and cream it uses to make ice cream came exclusively from “happy cows.” In a complaint...
Farmers Hit by Hurricanes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia to Get $800M in Federal Aid
Nov 12 2019 // The federal government announced $800 million in aid Friday to farmers in three southern states that were devastated by last year’s hurricanes. Nearly half that money will go to Florida, where timber farmers suffered...
Kaufman Group, Burns & Wilcox Promote 23 Associates Including D’Antoni
Nov 8 2019 // Global insurance services firm H.W. Kaufman Group and its subsidiary Burns & Wilcox, a North American wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager, have announced numerous leadership promotions. Twenty-three...
Vermont Farm Loses 2K Chicken and Turkeys in Flooding, Estimates $60K Loss
Nov 7 2019 // A Vermont farmer says he lost more than 2,000 chickens and turkeys when last week’s flood waters inundated their Richmond farm. Bruce Hennessey, of Maple Wind Farm, says they had moved the animals to higher ground...
AIR Worldwide Launches Multi-Peril Crop Insurance Model for India
Nov 4 2019 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) announced it has released a Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) Model for India to help support probabilistic assessments of potential losses caused by yield shortfalls...
3 Kentucky Farmers Plead Guilty to Crop Insurance Fraud
Nov 1 2019 // Three Kentucky farmers have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to crop insurance fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Lexington says 34-year-old Bradley Price pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money...
Benefitfocus Adds Toggle, a Renters Insurance Subscription Product from Farmers
Nov 1 2019 // Benefitfocus, a cloud-based benefits platform, has added Toggle, a Farmers company, is to its BenefitsPlace offering. BenefitsPlace allows employers, brokers and medical insurance carriers to offer specialty benefits...
Farm Bankruptcies Up 24% on Strain from Trump Trade War
Oct 31 2019 // U.S. farm bankruptcies in September surged 24% to the highest since 2011 amid strains from President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and a year of wild weather. Growers are also becoming increasingly dependent on...
Chubb Continued Performing at ‘High Level’ in Q3
Oct 30 2019 // Global insurer Chubb reported a banner 2019 third quarter, even though the company’s net income took a hit largely from losses relating to an accounting adjustment. Net income for the insurer reached $1 billion...
Hemp and CBD Remain Risky Businesses in Uncertain Legal and Gig Climate
Oct 30 2019 // Executives at Kirby Co.’s home office noticed an odd trend: Its door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salespeople were increasingly involved in the same side gig — pitching CBD oil. Kirby, whose parent company is owned...
Sheriff Says Midwest Crop Thefts Are a ‘Major League Operation’
Oct 24 2019 // A “well-organized machine” of thieves appears to be behind the theft of tons of apples and pumpkins from orchards and farms in Michigan and Indiana, according to authorities. An estimated 7,000 pounds (3,175...
Kansas Farmer Pleads Guilty to Nearly $500K in Crop Insurance Fraud
Oct 23 2019 // Federal officials say a Kansas farmer has pleaded guilty to federal charges of crop insurance fraud and bankruptcy fraud. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said Kevin W. Struss, 63, Wakeeney, Kan., pleaded guilty to one...
4th Person Dies from North Carolina Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak
Oct 21 2019 // North Carolina health officials say a fourth person has died from Legionnaires’ disease. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Resources said in a statement on Friday that its Division of Public Health has...
Timber Farmers in Florida Panhandle Face Tough Choices Year After Michael
Oct 16 2019 // The sunsets are a sight to behold in Joe Leonard’s neck of the woods these days. A year ago, lush stands of towering pines obscured the horizon, he said as he drove his pickup along a dusty Florida Panhandle road....
Illinois Bill Would Require Lab Testing of CBD Items Sold in State
Oct 16 2019 // A proposed bill would require all CBD products sold in Illinois to meet testing requirements that would be developed by the state Department of Agriculture. CBD is a cannabis extract that does not cause a high but is...
Cannabis Banking Challenges in Legal States Go Far Beyond Pot
Oct 16 2019 // Kat Merryfield was ready to share her farm-to-home oils, chocolates and creams with the rest of the country. But banks and credit card processors weren’t ready to work with her small business. “We started out...
Western Growers in California Names Reininger Senior Account Manager
Oct 16 2019 // Western Growers Insurance Services has named Marlo Reininger senior account manager. Reininger will work with the WGIS sales team in developing relationships with food and agriculture customers, and identifying risk and...
