Latest Agribusiness Headlines

Insurers Urge Surcharges, Reforms to Fix North Carolina Beach Plan

Dec 3 2008 // Property/casualty insurers are urging North Carolina officials to impose surcharges on policies in the state’s residual market property insurer, the Beach Plan, and take other financing and mitigation steps to...

RenRe’s WeatherPredict Acquires Assets of Commodity Hedgers

Dec 1 2008 // Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings announced that its U.S. affiliate, WeatherPredict Consulting Inc., has acquired the primary technology assets of Commodity Hedgers, Inc. RenRe described the company as a...

Nov 30 2008 // Peter Lauve, of Abilene, Texas, has been named president of Texas-based Insurors Group. As Insurors Group president, Lauve, also a partner with CBS Insurance located in Abilene, will lead a network of Texas agents that...

Former Iowa Governor Says He Won’t be Next Agricultural Secretary

Nov 26 2008 // Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack says he won’t be the next Agriculture Secretary, according to a report on the Des Moines Register Web site on Nov. 23. Vilsack says in an e-mail that he has never been contacted by aides...

XL Insurance Revamps Equine Team

Nov 25 2008 // XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Capital, announced from London the appointment of Neil Robertson as head of its global Equine operation, and Ian Hull as Equine Underwriter in London. “The Equine...

California Labor Commissioner Issues Fines of $267,600 During Statewide Enforcement Activity

Nov 21 2008 // Investigators from the California Labor Commissioners’ Office issued 71 citations totaling $267,600 in fines in a two-day statewide enforcement sweep of businesses in the agricultural industry including nurseries,...

Study Links Parkinson’s, Agricultural Fungicide

Nov 20 2008 // A new study has made a connection between Parkinson’s disease and residents in California’s San Joaquin Valley who have experienced long-term exposure to certain pesticides. A University of California, Los...

Farmers Group Inc. Names Hopkins Chairman, Woudstra CEO

Nov 18 2008 // Farmers Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services Group, has promoted Paul Hopkins to Chairman of the Board. In addition, Hopkins will assume responsibilities overseeing Zurich’s Latin...

Illinois’ Archer Daniels Midland Co. Acquires Shares of Agriserve Inc.

Nov 12 2008 // Archer Daniels Midland Company announced on Nov. 11 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Agrinational Insurance Company, has acquired 50 percent of the shares of Agriserve Inc. (ASI). Agrinational has also acquired an option...

Farmers Insurance Partners with Utah Gang Investigator Association

Nov 10 2008 // Recognizing the growing menace of gangs in Utah, Farmers Insurance Group of Companies has partnered with the Utah Gang Investigator Association and Law enforcement agencies through the sponsorship of a parent guidebook to...

Farmers Plans to Raise Rates in Texas

Nov 10 2008 // Farmers Insurance has filed for an average rate increase of 9.9 percent for homeowners insurance policies in Texas effective in February, state and company officials said. The Texas Department of Insurance says it is...

Oregon Organic Farmer Warns of Genetic Contamination

Nov 3 2008 // An organic farmer from Philomath, Ore., says he plans a legal challenge to genetically modified crops because he fears contamination. Frank Morton says he is concerned about modified sugar beet seeds that scientists with...

Kentucky Farm Bureau Deploys Guidewire ClaimCenter

Oct 31 2008 // Louisville, Ky.-based Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. deployed Guidewire ClaimCenter as its next generation claims management system. ClaimCenter replaces KFB’s legacy claims system. KFB said it deployed...

Business Income And Dependent Property Coverage Rescues More Than Just Dairy Farmers

Oct 28 2008 // Eighty-eight dairy farmers in western Vermont and New York have taken a major economic hit from a Sept. 29 fire at the Saputo Cheese USA plant in Hinesburg, Vt. (about 12 miles southeast of Burlington). Ten to 12 percent...

Farmers Insurance Launches Web Site for Women

Oct 24 2008 // Nine in 10 women in America participate in or direct the financial decisions for their families. In addition, many are looking after their families’ everyday needs and have careers outside the home. With that in...

Farmers Insurance Opens Business Development Center in Riverside

Oct 20 2008 // Farmers Insurance whas opened a new Business Development Center in Riverside, Calif. The company expects more than 250 new agents will be appointed from this facility in the next few years. The company said opening the...

Southern Drought Creeping Northward to West Virginia

Oct 20 2008 // Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. “The last...

Hurricanes, Credit Crunch Hit Louisiana, Texas Agriculture

Oct 20 2008 // Like farmers and ranchers across the United States, agriculture producers in Texas and Louisiana have been impacted by rising fuel and fertilizer costs, and they fear the credit squeeze gripping the nation will make it...

Armed & Ready to Outsell the Competition

Oct 20 2008 // West Coast’s Interwest Insurance Services Remains Militant on Sales Top 100 Agency Profile Ranking: 12 Agency Name: InterWest Insurance Services Inc. Headquarters: Sacramento, Calif. Year Founded: 1992 Additional...

From Seed to Supermarket

Oct 20 2008 // Agricultural Risks Require the Knowledge and Skill of Specialty Agents Agribusiness insurance has grown significantly as food production has become a global commodity. Since World War II there has been a dramatic reduction...