Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Reform-Minded Farm Law Needed: American Farm Bureau
Jan 14 2013 // U.S. farmers want a new reform-minded farm law even if it means the end of a popular $5 billion-a-year subsidy that is paid regardless of need, the president of the largest U.S. farm group said on...
Is the WTO About to Abandon Dream of Global Free Trade?
Jan 14 2013 // As it seeks a new chief to lead it out of a negotiating death-spiral, the World Trade Organization looks doomed to be fatally undermined by new global carve-ups that will leave many of the world’s poorest...
South Dakota Tree Farms Agree to Pay $170K in Insurance Fraud Case
Jan 14 2013 // The owners of two South Dakota tree farms linked to a Federal Crop Insurance Program fraud case have agreed to pay the federal government $170,000 to settle the case. The payment settled allegations Black Hills Tree Farm...
Munich Re: Sandy Tops 2012 Disasters
Jan 14 2013 // A series of severe weather-related catastrophes led to higher-than-normal losses in the United States last year. The world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re took a close look at these catastrophes in its “2012...
Drought-Ridden Wheat Belt Declared Disaster; Record Crop Insurance Claims Seen
Jan 10 2013 // The government declared much of the central and southern U.S. Wheat Belt a natural disaster area on Wednesday due to persistent drought that imperils this year’s winter wheat harvest. In its first disaster...
Louisiana: All Racehorses from Illinois Must Be Checked for Virus
Jan 9 2013 // Any horse coming into Louisiana from Illinois must have a health certificate showing that it has not been at Hawthorne Race Course in the past 30 days because nearly 70 horses at Hawthorne have tested positive for a very...
Aon Benfield December Cat Report: Philippines Typhoon, Extreme Weather
Jan 9 2013 // In its latest Global Catastrophe Recap report Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, focuses on Super Typhoon Bopha, which killed 1,901 people and injured 2,666 others...
FDA Proposes New Food Safety Rules
Jan 4 2013 // U.S. regulators proposed new food safety rules on Friday that aim to make food processors and farms more accountable for reducing foodborne illnesses that kill or sicken thousands of Americans annually. The new rules,...
Drought Persists in U.S. Plains; Slight Improvement in Midwest
Jan 3 2013 // Snowfall in parts of the U.S. Plains last week had little impact on historic drought gripping the region, but parts of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin showed slight improvement, weather experts said. A weekly...
Munich Re 2012 Cat Report Underscores Extreme Weather in U.S.; Sandy Losses
Jan 3 2013 // The figures for natural catastrophse that occurred in 2012 are “dominated by weather extremes in the USA,” according to a report from Munich Re. The reinsurers said the U.S. “accounted for a higher...
Colorado University Seeks Farmers’ Experience With Drought
Dec 31 2012 // Researchers at Colorado State University want to hear from farmers across the state who have been affected by this year’s drought. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported CSU agricultural economists want to gauge the...
Farmers Agents Sue Carrier Over Contracts, Taking Client Info
Dec 27 2012 // A group of Farmers Group Inc. agents have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging the Los Angeles, Calif.-based carrier has undercut them by sharing their data with a competing subsidiary and several...
N.C. Farmer Pleads Guilty to Million Dollar Crop Insurance Fraud
Dec 26 2012 // Federal authorities announced last week that a North Carolina farmer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud on the federal crop insurance program for payments worth over $1 million. According to authorities, Harry...
Issuer Credit Ratings of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. Downgraded
Dec 20 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “a” from “a+” and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. (Grinnell) and its...
Zurich Estimates Sandy Losses at $700 Million; $40 Million for Farmers Re
Dec 18 2012 // Zurich Insurance announced that it currently estimates aggregate claims net of reinsurance of about $700 million relating to Storm Sandy. “This includes $40 million related to Farmers Re in connection with the...
Crop Insurance Juicy Target in ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal
Dec 17 2012 // Rural lawmakers worry that $9 billion in annual federal crop insurance subsidies are an easy target for spending cuts in a “fiscal cliff” deal so they’re shopping around for a late compromise on a farm...
Critics Call for More Cuts in Farm Bill, Crop Insurance
Dec 10 2012 // Congress should slash at least $100 billion in costs from the U.S. farm bill – three or four times more than cuts currently proposed – and resist calls for a hurry-up vote this week, a dozen anti-deficit and...
Alabama Insurer Alfa Seeks to Reverse Business Decline
Dec 10 2012 // The new president of the Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance is fine with where the sister organizations are politically. It’s the huge drop in insurance customers he wants to change. Chilton County farmer...
Time Running Out for Senate on Farm, Crop Insurance Bill
Dec 7 2012 // With a week left to act, agricultural leaders in Congress are still deadlocked on two major issues for a new U.S. farm bill, cuts in crop subsidies and reductions in food stamps, said two of the four key negotiators on...
Univ. of Rhode Island Gets $206K Grant for Crop Insurance Education
Dec 6 2012 // The University of Rhode Island has been awarded a $206,000 federal grant to help educate the state’s agricultural producers on crop insurance. U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin announced the grant from the U.S. Department of...
