Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Bill to Shield Farmers from Nuisance Suits Advances in Nebraska
Apr 12 2019 // A bill that would expand protections for Nebraska farmers against public nuisance lawsuits has advanced in the Legislature despite objections that it could infringe on neighbors’ property rights. Lawmakers gave the...
French Court Rules Bayer’s Monsanto Weedkiller Liable for Farmer’s Health Problems
Apr 11 2019 // A French appeals court ruled on Thursday that Bayer’s Monsanto business was liable for the health problems of a farmer who had inhaled a weedkiller product. The ruling in favor of farmer Paul Francois was announced...
Lloyd’s Syndicate Ascot Insures Farmers in 16 Nations Against Crop-Price Volatility
Apr 11 2019 // Farmers can now for the first time insure their produce against price volatility as easily as insuring their homes, with a global platform based on hundreds of niche commodity indexes, underwritten by a Lloyd’s of...
AM Best: Most Homes in Midwest States Uninsured for Flooding
Apr 9 2019 // In a commentary on the recent Midwest flooding, AM Best said the states hit hardest by these floods — such as Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota — generally have National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) insured...
Kansas Lawmakers OK Bill Allowing Farm Bureau Non-ACA Compliant Health Plan
Apr 7 2019 // Republican lawmakers in Kansas pressed ahead with allowing the state Farm Bureau to offer health coverage to members that doesn’t satisfy the Affordable Care Act, a state-level effort to circumvent an Obama-era law...
Government Relief Bypasses Farmers Who Lost Stored Crops in Floods
Apr 2 2019 // The Black Hawk military helicopter flew over Iowa, giving a senior U.S. agriculture official and U.S. senator an eyeful of the flood damage below, where yellow corn from ruptured metal silos spilled out into the muddy...
1 Million Acres of Midwest Farmlands Flooded as Corn Planting Deadlines Approach
Apr 1 2019 // At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by...
A Mix of Flood Insurance Reforms
Apr 1 2019 // Conservation, CarFax-Like Disclosure, Means-Test for Rates Up for Discussion The federal flood insurance program has a knack for inspiring ideas from reformers across the political spectrum on how to improve government. If...
Africa Re Joins World Bank’s IFC to Build Crop Insurance Market for Nigeria’s Farmers
Mar 29 2019 // The International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced it has signed an agreement with Africa Re, the pan-African reinsurance company, to help small holder Nigerian farmers more easily access...
California Commissioner Yet to Move on Petition from Climate Activists for More Insurer Regs
Mar 28 2019 // Nobody’s saying much as California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara considers how he will respond to a petition submitted by climate change activists urging him to place new regulations on insurers to disclose...
Report: Farm Income Continues to Drop in Minnesota
Mar 27 2019 // A report finds Minnesota farm income continues to drop and hit a new low last year. University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota State tracked the past 23 years of data and found after adjusting for information,...
In ‘Trump Country’ Farm Belt, Flooding Woes Add to Trade War Stress
Mar 26 2019 // Nebraska grain farmer Ryan Ueberrhein was barely breaking even after the U.S.-China trade war pushed prices for his soybean crop to a decade low. Then the nearby Elkhorn River burst its banks as flooding swept across the...
Governor Signs South Dakota Law That Targets Labeling of ‘Fake Meat’
Mar 26 2019 // Gov. Kristi Noem has signed legislation that requires “fake meat” products to be correctly labeled, hoping to reduce the impact of lab-cultured products on the local beef market. A product is misbranded if it...
Arkansas ‘Truth in Labeling’ Bill Signed by Governor
Mar 22 2019 // Food manufacturers will soon have to comply with “truth in labeling” legislation that aims to protect Arkansas’ meat and rice producers from outlets who, the bill’s sponsor says, mislead consumers...
Missouri, Kansas Residents Rush to Fill Sandbags as Floodwaters Move Downstream
Mar 22 2019 // Floodwaters that devastated swaths of Nebraska and Iowa rolled downstream on Thursday, swamping more Midwestern farmland as waterfront communities in Missouri and Kansas hurried to shore up strained levees. Flooding of the...
Most of Country at Risk for Major Flooding This Spring
Mar 22 2019 // The deluge that devastated so much of the Midwest over the last week could be a preview for one of the worst years for flooding in the U.S., according to federal weather officials. Now flooding is occurring at St. Joseph,...
Conservation, CarFax-Like Disclosure, Means-Test in Mix of Flood Insurance Reforms
Mar 21 2019 // The federal flood insurance program has a knack for inspiring ideas from reformers across the political spectrum on how to improve government. If some of today’s reformers get their way, flood insurance will become a...
‘Devastation Is Everywhere’ in Flooded Communities Along Missouri River
Mar 20 2019 // A string of small Missouri towns prepared for the next deluge along the raging Missouri River on Wednesday after flooding wreaked nearly $1.5 billion in damage in Nebraska, killing at least four people and leaving another...
Farm Bureau: Flooding-Related Ag Losses in Nebraska Nearing $1B
Mar 20 2019 // The Nebraska Farm Bureau president says farm and ranch losses to the devastating flooding could reach $1 billion in the state. President Steve Nelson estimates $400 million on crop losses because of crops that will be...
Washington Blizzard Killed 1,850 Cows, Yakima Farmers Reeling
Mar 20 2019 // The unexpected blizzard that swept through the Yakima Valley on Feb. 9 was just one more clobbering for the region’s dairy farms. The number of dairy farms in the state has plummeted from 2,500 in 1993 to 377 in...
