Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Crop Insurer Reaches $10 Million Agreement
Dec 29 2000 // Rain and Hail Insurance Service, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based insurance company, has reached an agreement to pay $10 million to the federal government to settle claims that the company misrepresented the condition of...
Angels of the Industry Argonaut, Alaskas National
Dec 11 2000 // Far from being uncaring, the insurance industry contributes millions of dollars every year to charitable causes. Following are just a few of the ‘angels’ of our industry-those who took the time and energy to...
Farmed Out for Fraud
Nov 27 2000 // On Nov. 1, a Tehama County Superior Court Judge sentenced former Red Bluff insurance agent David Michael Chene to nine years in state prison. Chene was also ordered to pay $273,000 in restitution plus 10 percent interest...
Farm Family Cos. Under Review
Nov 27 2000 // The “A” ratings of Farm Family Life Insurance Co., Farm Family Casualty Insurance Co. and United Farm Family Insurance Co. were placed under review with developing implications by A.M. Best. The rating actions...
PRODUCERS LLOYDS GOES ONLINE
Nov 20 2000 // Amarillo, Tex.-based Producers Lloyds Insurance Co., one of the country’s largest crop insurance companies, has begun offering farmers their crop insurance policy information over the Internet. Producers Lloyds was...
MOLD in Buildings
Nov 20 2000 // Creates New Frontier in Construction Defect Litigation, Definition of Pollution At the center of what could become one of the fastest growing areas of both construction defect litigation and toxic tort litigation is an...
Evolving Weather Risk Market AttractsGrowing Number of Participants
Nov 13 2000 // Since its emergence just three years ago, the market for weather risks has become a significant new development on the radar screen of the reinsurance industry. “Weather is essentially a new class of risk that is now...
Corraling The Horse Market
Oct 23 2000 // With only 17 percent of the nation’s 6 million horses insured, the equine market is ripe for picking In today’s steady economy, equine insurance could be one of the best markets you’ve never thought about...
Unistar Charter to Be Sold;Lawsuit Action Heats Up
Sep 25 2000 // Plans are underway for Unistar Insurance Co.’s charter to be sold to Agricultural Workers Mutual Auto Insurance Co., a 52-year-old mutual based in Fort Worth for $50,000. Negotiation of the sale began in the weeks...
Crop Insurance Investigated
Sep 22 2000 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies are investigating claims that farmers in Darke and other Ohio and Indiana counties are conspiring with insurance agents to defraud the federal crop insurance...
Kelso Issues Cease & Desist Order to Winters Group
Sep 18 2000 // A Cease & Desist Order, issued by acting California Insurance Commissioner J. Clark Kelso, was served Aug. 30 on the Winters, Calif.-based Puget’s Sound Agricultural Society Ltd. (aka: Jesus Christ...
Old Guard Group Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Ohio Farmers
Sep 13 2000 // Old Guard Group, Inc. has received shareholder approval for its acquisition by Ohio Farmers Insurance Company. With more than 71% of the outstanding stock voting, 92% were voted in favor of the transaction. The transaction...
S&P Takes Rating Actions on Farmers Group and
Aug 14 2000 // Standard & Poor’s removed from CreditWatch and affirmed its ratings on Farmers Group Inc. (FGI) and the interactively rated members of the Farmers Insurance Exchange Intercompany Pool (Farmers). These ratings...
Farmers Ins. to Close Maryland Phone Center, Eliminate 114 Jobs
Aug 4 2000 // Farmers Insurance Group will close an insurance call center in Timonium, Maryland by the end of this year, a company official said. The move, done for financial reasons according to Carol Siegfried, Farmers’...
IGF Offers Online Crop Insurance Quoting Service
Jul 31 2000 // WebQuote users are guided through a step-by-step process that lets them select the insurance plans they are considering for crops in their local area or anywhere in the United States. The new online quoting system is...
FEMA Study Predicts Massive Coastal Erosion
Jul 10 2000 // One out of every four houses within 500 feet of the U.S. shoreline will become a casualty of erosion within the next 60 years. This hard-hitting fact is among many included in the report, Evaluation of Erosion Hazards,...
Farmers Ins. Group Gets ‘A+’
Jul 10 2000 // The financial strength rating of the Farmers Insurance Group was upgraded from ‘A’ to ‘A+’ by A.M. Best. The upgrade is applicable to the 18 members which comprise the group.
Iowa Co. Settles With Rice Farmers
Jul 6 2000 // American Agrisurance Inc has agreed to a $3.7 million settlement with rice farmers from around the country who accused the company of reneging on a price agreement. Previously, the company, based in Council Bluffs, Iowa,...
Farmers Insurance Upgraded to A+
Jun 26 2000 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating of the Farmers Insurance Group to A+ from A. The rating applies to the 18 members of the group and acknowledges Farmers Insurance Group as a core and integral...
Clinton Signs Law for $7.1 Billion in Farm Aid
Jun 21 2000 // The bill, now law, also restructures federal crop insurance to make it cheaper for growers to buy policies. The package provides for American farmers to receive an average $3,750. The first round of payments, $5.5 billion...
