Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study Says South Dakota Agriculture Has $21B Impact
Jan 25 2013 // An associate professor at South Dakota State University says agriculture and related industries had a $21.4 billion impact on South Dakota’s economy in 2010. Gary Taylor, an associate professor of economics, says the...
Swiss Re Announces Aviation, Agriculture Management Changes
Jan 24 2013 // Swiss Re announced that its reinsurance business unit is undertaking changes in its organizational set-up of special lines. “Agriculture and Aviation Reinsurance will be no longer under the same roof and will be...
Kansas, Missouri Could Be Hit by Disaster Aid Fight
Jan 18 2013 // Midwesterners accustomed to generous government aid after ice storms, floods and tornadoes may soon have to look somewhere else for help when disaster strikes. Even as the U.S. House on Jan. 15 passed a $50.7 billion aid...
No Relief In Sight for Drought-Stricken Plains States
Jan 18 2013 // Dry weather should continue through at least the end of January in the drought-stricken U.S. Plains and a blast of Arctic cold air in the Midwest early next week poses a threat to unprotected livestock and possibly some...
Swiss Re Study Examines Agricultural Insurance Role in Global Food Production
Jan 16 2013 // A new sigma study – Partnering for food security in emerging markets – from Swiss Re concludes that “global agricultural production must increase by 60 percent to feed the world’s population, which...
Obama Administration Urges Congress to Pass Farm, Crop Insurance Bill
Jan 15 2013 // Congress should reform U.S. farm subsidies, and end a $5 billion a year “direct payment,” as part of delivering an overdue overhaul of the farm program this year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on...
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...
