Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Farms Were the Deadliest Workplaces in Montana Last Year
Dec 30 2020 // An annual report made public by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry has shown that 2019 was slightly more deadly than the previous year in workplaces, with farming the most dangerous industry. The Census of Fatal...
Sompo Acquires Diversified Crop Insurance, Forms AgriSompo North America
Dec 29 2020 // Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (SIH), a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property/casualty insurance and reinsurance, has acquired Lenexa, Kan.-based Diversified Crop Insurance Services (DCIS), a subsidiary of CGB...
Washington Farm Fined $2M for Virus Rule Violations
Dec 28 2020 // An investigation into the COVID-19 deaths of two workers at a Central Washington farm has reportedly found dozens of safety and health violations. As a result, the Washington state Department of Labor & Industries has...
Mink Captured Outside Oregon Farm Tests Positive for Virus
Dec 28 2020 // The Oregon Department of Agriculture said among animals captured during wildlife surveillance near a mink farm that recently had a coronavirus outbreak, a mink believed to have recently escaped confinement tested positive...
Insuring Cannabis Summit: There Were Crop Risks Aplenty in 2020
Dec 21 2020 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles based on panels and presentations during Insurance Journal’s 2020 Insuring Cannabis Summit on Nov. 19. Is there a lot of risk...
Fire Kills 240K Chickens at Florida Farm
Dec 18 2020 // A fire early Thursday killed as many as 240,000 chickens at a Florida farm operated by one of the nation’s largest egg producers. The Pasco County fire department reports that three barns each containing up to 80,000...
Zurich and Farmers Agree to Buy MetLife’s U.S. P/C Business for $3.94 Billion
Dec 11 2020 // Zurich Insurance and Farmers Exchanges have agreed to buy MetLife’s U.S. property and casualty business for $3.94 billion, the insurers said on Friday, after the COVID-19 pandemic made motor and home insurers more...
France Vows to Help Farmers Who Stop Using Glyphosate Weedkiller
Dec 8 2020 // France will give financial aid to farmers who agree to halt use of glyphosate, the farm ministry said on Monday after President Macron said he had failed with efforts to ban use of the weedkiller by 2021. Glyphosate, first...
Migrant Farm Workers from Texas Allege Pesticide Exposure in Illinois
Dec 7 2020 // More than two dozen migrant workers from Texas allege they were sprayed with toxic pesticides while working in Illinois cornfields, according to a federal lawsuit. The workers, including teenagers, senior citizens and a...
Farmers in 21 Louisiana Parishes May Qualify for Hurricane Laura Aid
Dec 4 2020 // Farmers in 21 north and central Louisiana parishes may qualify for low-interest loans to cover losses from Hurricane Laura in August. These are parishes which did not already qualify under President Donald Trump’s...
Supreme Court Justices Tackle Company Liability for Human Rights Abuses
Dec 2 2020 // U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared wary of barring lawsuits against American companies over alleged human rights abuses abroad but signaled they could toss out a case accusing Cargill Inc. and a Nestle SA...
Outlooks Revised to Positive for Bremen Farmers Mutual Insurance in Kansas
Dec 1 2020 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb+” of Bremen Farmers Mutual...
Virus Outbreak Reported Among Animals and Staff at Oregon Mink Farm
Dec 1 2020 // An Oregon mink farm has reported an outbreak of COVID-19 among animals and staff. The Statesman Journal reports the farm has been placed under quarantine, meaning no animals or animal products can leave the farm. The state...
Meatpacking Plants Linked to Up to 8% of Early U.S. COVID Cases
Nov 27 2020 // As many as one in 12 cases of Covid-19 in the early stage of the pandemic in the U.S. can be tied to outbreaks at meatpacking plants and subsequent spread in surrounding communities, according to a study. The findings...
Louisiana Ag Commissioner Pushing Farmers, Ranchers to Apply for Virus Aid
Nov 24 2020 // Louisiana’s agriculture commissioner is urging the state’s farmers and ranchers to turn in their applications for federal coronavirus assistance ahead of next month’s deadline, and he’s worried some...
Pork Producer Smithfield Settles Nuisance Lawsuits in N.C. as Court Affirms Verdict
Nov 24 2020 // A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a 2018 jury verdict that led to awarding monetary damages to neighbors of a North Carolina industrial hog operation for smells and noise they said made living nearby...
Louisiana a Founding Member of ‘Cannabis Regulators Association’
Nov 20 2020 // Louisiana is one of 19 states that are now part of the newly formed non-partisan organization called the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA). The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) is a founding...
20 Farms in Washington Fined for Not Protecting Workers From COVID-19
Nov 17 2020 // Three Mid-Columbia farms are among those receiving the biggest fines in the state from the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries for serious violations of agriculture regulations to prevent the spread of the...
Kansas Farmers Will Be Disproportionately Affected by Rising Temps, Study Finds
Nov 2 2020 // Growing corn and soybeans will become increasingly challenging for Kansas farmers as the climate warms, according to a Kansas State University study. The study found that drought and heat are the biggest reason for crop...
EPA Denies Ban; Permits Farmers’ Use of Dicamba-Based Weed Killers for Five Years
Oct 28 2020 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it will allow farmers to spray crops with weed killers based on the chemical dicamba that are sold by Bayer AG and other companies, after a U.S. appeals court...
