Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cadwell Named Grinnell Mutual Crop Hail Vice President
Dec 20 2011 // Verne Cadwell has been named vice president of the crop hail division at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. located in Grinnell, Iowa. Cadwell’s promotion follows a 12-year career at Grinnell Mutual, where he has served...
Missouri Farm Bureau to Take over 3 Insolvent Insurers
Dec 19 2011 // The state insurance department says the Missouri Farm Bureau will take over the operation of three small insurance companies that became insolvent after paying claims from the deadly Joplin tornado. The three insolvent...
Montana Farmers Get Hail Insurance Refund
Dec 15 2011 // The state says that Montana farmers who bought hail insurance will be getting a 25 percent refund. The Montana Hail Board made the decision after reviewing at a recent actuarial report at its annual meeting. The Montana...
Crop Insurance Rates Skyrocket After Summer Floods
Dec 15 2011 // Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow...
India’s Private Insurance Market Keeps Growing – Slowly but Surely
Dec 13 2011 // Even though China gets most of the headlines, there’s been slow, but steady, progress for private insurers in Asia’s other billion plus people country – India. Although its rate of growth has slowed recently,...
U.S. Court Affirms $50M Verdict for Rice Farmers
Dec 12 2011 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has affirmed a nearly $50 million verdict for farmers who say they lost money because Bayer’s genetically altered rice seeds contaminated the food supply and drove down global crop...
Iowa Agent Pays $835K to End Crop Insurance Case
Dec 12 2011 // After five years of litigation, an Iowa insurance agent will pay $835,000 to settle allegations that he filed false federal crop insurance claims. The Justice Department announced the settlement with Russell Hawley of...
Zurich Names Dailey to Executive Committee; Farmers Group CEO
Dec 8 2011 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that Jeff Dailey (54, U.S. citizen) has been appointed as a member of the Group Executive Committee effective January 1, 2012. He is currently President and COO of Farmers Group,...
Risk Management Agency Starts Olive Program in 12 California Counties
Dec 7 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency on Wednesday announced a new pilot insurance program for table and oil olives in 12 California counties beginning with the 2012 crop year. The sales closing...
Utah Prepares for Spring Flooding
Dec 6 2011 // After coming out of this year’s spring flooding with damage limited mostly to Utah farmlands, state and county officials are beginning preparations for next year with a wary eye toward the state’s...
Insurers Finally Get Right to Jury Trial in New Jersey
Dec 5 2011 // Forty years ago the New Jersey Supreme Court in Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of America, 65 N.J. 474, 323 A.2d 495 (1974), recognized a cause of action against an insurance company in situations where the...
Camelina Crop Insurance Available in Selected Montana Counties
Dec 2 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a pilot program to provide crop insurance for camelina in selected counties in Montana and North Dakota beginning with the 2012 crop year. Oil from crushed camelina seeds...
USDA Sets up Pilot Program to Insure Biofuel Crops
Dec 2 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency will insure camelina through a pilot program in 2012. It will be available in Montana and North Dakota, and sales will close Feb. 1, 2012. The USDA has...
ACE Completes $107M Acquisition of Agribusiness Insurer Penn Millers
Dec 1 2011 // ACE Limited announced on Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of Penn Millers Holding Corp. for approximately $107 million in cash. The two companies first announced the deal in September. Penn Millers...
James River Still Above Flood Stage in Parts of South Dakota
Nov 30 2011 // South Dakota officials say some stretches of the James River remain well above flood stage heading into the winter freeze, setting the stage for more flooding next spring. The James, which has been out of its banks for...
Feds Say Farmers in Upstate New York Can Get Flood Loans
Nov 29 2011 // Federal authorities say farmers in eight upstate New York counties are primary natural disaster areas eligible for assistance recovering from tropical storm Lee. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also said 16 counties...
Ohio Businesses Awarded More Than $273K for Workplace Safety
Nov 23 2011 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) awarded 13 businesses safety intervention grants totaling more than $273,000 during October to make Ohio workplaces safer, the agency announced. BWC designed the Safety...
Deadline at Hand in $750M Rice Settlement
Nov 21 2011 // Rice growers who lost sales after genetically modified rice seed mistakenly entered the U.S. market five years ago have until today to sign on to a $750 million settlement proposed by the company blamed for the...
Congress Eyes New Income Insurance for Farmers
Nov 8 2011 // Farm-state lawmakers are moving to create a whole new subsidy that would protect farmers when their revenue drops — an unprecedented program that critics say could pay billions of dollars to farmers now enjoying...
State Fund Announces Rate Filings, Incentives for California Farm Bureau
Nov 7 2011 // The government-controlled State Compensation Insurance Fund announced it has filed a new rating plan with the California Department of Insurance. The plan adopts the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...
