Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Commercial Farm Coverage Now Available Through California FAIR Plan
Feb 1 2022 // The California FAIR Plan on Tuesday began offering basic property insurance for farmers unable to obtain coverage from traditional insurance carriers. The new coverage fills a gap in California’s insurance...
Florida Farm Bureau Action Plan Says it Will Stop Writing New HO Policies
Feb 1 2022 // Another Florida property insurer is taking major steps to cut its losses, including suspending the writing of new homeowner policies starting this week – the latest warning sign about the state’s distressed...
Michigan Farm’s Beef Found to Contain Toxic Chemicals
Feb 1 2022 // Beef produced at a small Michigan farm was found to contain toxic “forever chemicals” after the cattle were fed crops grown with fertilizer made from contaminated wastewater biosolids, state officials said Jan....
Crop Insurance Payouts Rise as Climate Change Worsens Droughts, Floods
Jan 27 2022 // Insurance payments to U.S. farmers for crops lost to droughts and flooding have risen more than threefold over the past 25 years, according to an analysis of federal data by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released...
Appeals Court Rules Farm Bureau Must Pay in Full for Second Fire in Home
Jan 27 2022 // The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Co. must pay the policy limit in full on the claim for the second of two...
California Commissioner OKs FAIR Plan Coverage Options for Farms and Ag Businesses
Jan 21 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Friday approved the FAIR Plan to offer new commercial coverage for farm structure risks starting Feb. 1. The FAIR Plan is an association made up of all admitted insurance...
Agriculture Officials Find More Avian Flu Cases in Wild Birds, Caution Poultry Farmers
Jan 19 2022 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported two more cases of highly pathogenic avian flu in wild birds on Tuesday, raising risks for potential infections in poultry. The USDA on Friday reported the nation’s first...
People Moves: Zurich North America Changes Leadership in Captives, Crop, Construction, Customer Office
Jan 18 2022 // Zurich North America announced the following changes: Jason Meador, currently head of Captives at Zurich North America, has been appointed to lead the Rural Community Insurance Services crop insurance business following...
USDA Introduces Details of New Insurance Option for Corn Farmers
Jan 6 2022 // Corn farmers who “split-apply” nitrogen now have another option for insurance coverage after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the details of its Post...
Kentucky Adjuster Sentenced in Crop Insurance Fraud Scheme
Jan 3 2022 // An independent adjuster who helped Central Kentucky tobacco farmers file millions of dollars in fraudulent crop insurance claims is the latest member of a fraud ring to face prison time for the scheme. Timothy Douglas...
EPA to Revisit Bayer Dicamba Herbicide Risks After 3,500 Reports of Crop Damage
Dec 22 2021 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing whether the herbicide dicamba can be sprayed on soybean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without the procedure posing...
California Farm Labor Contractor Arraigned in Alleged $1.8M Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Dec 10 2021 // Alfredo Casas, 62, of Stockton, California, has been arraigned on 15 felony counts of insurance fraud, grand theft and tax evasion. Casas allegedly underreported payroll for his farm labor contracting business by over $1...
Toyota Offering Auto Insurance With Farmers’ Toggle in 5 States With More to Come
Dec 10 2021 // Automaker Toyota’s insurance arm has begun selling its first branded insurance coverage, Toyota Auto Insurance, in Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina, and will soon be offering the coverage in...
Lawsuit Says Dairy Company is Misrepresenting Hawaii Links
Dec 6 2021 // A food distributor in Hawaii has filed a federal lawsuit against a dairy company because milk from the mainland is allegedly being sold under a name that advertises local ties. The lawsuit filed by Hawaii Foodservice...
USDA Revises Rules on Crop Insurance for Hemp Producers
Dec 3 2021 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture is changing some rules around crop insurance for hemp, including making the insurability requirements more flexible. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has also added a new...
Severe Australia Floods to Worsen, Raising Costs to Farmers
Dec 3 2021 // Severe flooding episodes across vast swathes of eastern Australia this week show no signs of relenting as costs to farmers continue to mount, with another bout of heavy rain on course to hit the already sodden growing...
Hundreds of Thousands of Farm Animals Perish in Canada Floods
Dec 3 2021 // Hundreds of thousands of livestock have perished in floodwaters in Canada’s westernmost province, the British Columbia government said Thursday. Back-to-back deluges from atmospheric rivers have damaged major...
Lawsuit Says Dairy Company is Misrepresenting Hawaii Links
Nov 29 2021 // A food distributor in Hawaii has filed a federal lawsuit against a dairy company because milk from the mainland is allegedly being sold under a name that advertises local ties. The lawsuit filed by Hawaii Foodservice...
Japan’s Fukushima Farmers Fear Contaminated Water Release Will Hit Produce Prices
Nov 5 2021 // IWAKI, Japan – Farmers in Japan’s northeastern Fukushima fear the release of water from the crippled power plant there could revive concerns about contamination and again hit the price of their produce, undoing a...
California Labor Shortage Compounding Complex Agriculture Landscape for Insurance Pros
Nov 1 2021 // The labor shortage in California has hit the agriculture industry particularly hard, creating a tougher environment all around – including for insurance professionals who deal in that sector. The lack of labor in the...
