Latest Agribusiness Headlines

All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.

House Passes Farm, Crop Insurance, Food Stamps Bill

Jan 29 2014 // The U.S. House passed and sent the Senate a much-delayed bill to set agricultural policy for five years, as a coalition of rural Republicans and urban Democrats overcame objections about farm subsidies and food-stamp...

Dairy Lien Lawsuit Reversed by Idaho Supreme Court

Jan 29 2014 // The Idaho Supreme Court says a lien on cattle feed only lasts as long as the feed does, and doesn’t apply to the animals that consume the food. The ruling reversed a lower court’s decision in a lawsuit between...

Capital Names Stanwood Northwest Regional Field Executive

Jan 29 2014 // Capital Insurance Group named Bryan Stanwood regional field executive for the Northwest region. Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah have been combined to form the Northwest Region for CIG, with Stanwood overseeing...

Bipartisan Farm Bill Increases Crops Insurance, Trims Food Stamps

Jan 29 2014 // Editor’s Note: The House of Representatives passed the bill this morning. For the update, read here. House and Senate negotiators on Monday reached a bipartisan agreement on the long-overdue U.S. farm bill that ends...

Bipartisan Farm Bill Saves Food Stamps, Crop Insurance

Jan 28 2014 // Editor’s Note: The House of Representatives passed the bill this morning. For the update, read here. Deep cuts in U.S. food-stamp spending sought by House Republicans were averted in a tentative agreement on a...

Capital Insurance Names Batozech Northern California Field Executive

Jan 28 2014 // Capital Insurance Group named Jeff Batozech as the regional field executive of Northern California. CIG has combined its North Coast, Bay Area and Sacramento regions into the newly formed Northern California Region and...

Key Flood and Crop Insurance Votes Could Come This Week

Jan 27 2014 // This week could see important Senate votes on a bill on the federal flood insurance program that is linked with an agent and broker licensing measure, as well House approval of a farm bill that includes crop insurance and...

Drought Emergency Proclaimed by California Governor

Jan 27 2014 // Jerry Brown California Gov. Jerry Brown in mid-January proclaimed a state of emergency and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare for drought conditions. “We can’t make it rain, but...

Alabama Jury Awards Farmhand $4M for Genital Injury

Jan 24 2014 // A south Alabama jury has decided a farm owner should pay a former worker $4 million in damages for an on-the-job accident that left the man with skinned genitals. AL.com reported that Gerald Lymon was holding onto the boom...

Disaster Declarations Issued for 11 States with Severe Drought Conditions

Jan 23 2014 // Federal officials have designated portions of 11 drought-ridden western and central states as primary natural disaster areas, highlighting the financial strain the lack of rain is likely to bring to farmers in those...

Florida Citrus Crop Weathers Overnight Cold

Jan 17 2014 // Cold weather overnight did not harm oranges and other fruit across Florida’s citrus-growing regions, the state’s leading growers association said on Friday. “Came through in good shape. No reports of...

Congressional Negotiations on Farm Bill Said Close to Deal

Jan 16 2014 // Negotiations in Congress on the long overdue U.S. farm bill could be completed this week after progress was stalled by a disagreement over a dairy price support program, a senator said on Wednesday. The five-year farm...

PCI Elects Southern Farm Bureau Casualty’s Wallace to Board of Governors

Jan 15 2014 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has elected Duff Wallace, president and chief executive officer of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., to its board of governors. Wallace assumed the...

Farmers Told to Expect Crop Insurance Program to Expand

Jan 13 2014 // The federal crop insurance program is expected to expand in 2014, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) official told farmers at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention. Tim Hoffmann, director of...

Supreme Court Nixes Organic Farmers’ Appeal on Monsanto Seed Patent

Jan 13 2014 // The U.S. Supreme Court refused to let organic farmers and seed sellers challenge Monsanto Co.’s patents on genetically modified seeds. The justices today left intact a federal appeals court decision that threw out a...

U.S. Crops Escaping Cold Snap with Little Damage

Jan 8 2014 // U.S. crops are escaping record- setting cold weather with little damage, while the arctic blast drove cattle prices to a record as animals struggle to gain weight. The coldest spots in Florida citrus groves were near...

Florida Oranges Dodge Bullet, Escape Damage From Freezing Temperatures

Jan 7 2014 // Orange groves in Florida, the world’s biggest grower after Brazil, escaped cold weather damage overnight as frigid air set records across the Midwest. The coldest spots in Florida citrus groves were near freezing,...

Toole Named President of Worth Casualty

Jan 7 2014 // Michael G. Toole (Mike) has accepted the position of president of Fort Worth, Texas-based Worth Casualty Co., effective Jan. 1, 2014, the company announced. Worth Casualty Co. and its affiliated companies –...

Environmental Group Says $7.8 Billion Wasted by Crop Insurance Program

Jan 6 2014 // A report commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) says that the federal crop insurance program over-compensated Corn Belt farmers by $7.8 billion during the 2012 drought. Insurance payouts that year totaled...

Australia Swelters from Record Heat Wave; Bushfire Warnings Issued

Jan 3 2014 // A searing heat wave is baking central and northern Australia, piling more misery on drought-hit cattle farmers who have been slaughtering livestock as Australia sweltered through the hottest year on record in...