Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Mandates New Farmworker Housing Emergency Rules for Pandemic
May 13 2020 // New emergency rules adopted on Wednesday regarding temporary farmworker housing are designed to help increase worker safety and reduce the spread of COVID-19, those who created the rules say. The rules detail specific...
Wildfires Rage in Florida Panhandle; More Than 1K People Evacuated
May 8 2020 // Firefighters in the Florida Panhandle have been battling wildfires that forced some 1,600 people to evacuate from their homes, and a stretch of Interstate 10 remained closed in both directions Thursday morning due to...
Ben & Jerry’s Scoops a Win in ‘Happy Cows’ Lawsuit
May 8 2020 // Ben & Jerry’s won the dismissal on Thursday of a lawsuit by an environmental advocate who claimed the company deceived consumers by saying it used milk and cream from “happy cows” on “Caring...
How Coronavirus Shutdown Impacts Bayer Stance in Glyphosate Settlement
Apr 29 2020 // Bayer said the economic downturn and the need to preserve cash means it is taking a tougher stance in talks to settle claims over accusations that its glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer, even as its earnings...
Firm ‘Devastated’ by Fire at Large Ohio Egg Farm, Official Says
Apr 23 2020 // Authorities say a fast-moving fire at a large egg farm in Ohio destroyed one large building and also killed hens in other buildings. The blaze reported shortly before 3:30 a.m. at the Trillium Farms facility in Croton sent...
Sompo Int’l Forms Agricultural Insurance Partnership with Portuguese MGA ATLAS
Apr 22 2020 // Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced that its global agriculture platform, AgriSompo, has entered into a partnership with...
North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance to Give Insureds 20% Dividend on Auto Premiums
Apr 22 2020 // North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance will provide a 20% dividend payment to its automobile policyholders for April and May 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company announced the “Here for You...
Lawsuit Seeking Greater Protections for Washington Farmworkers
Apr 20 2020 // Advocates for farm workers in Washington state have filed a lawsuit against the state seeking safer working conditions as the harvest season begins amid a coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of workers are already pruning...
Tyson Foods: 2 Iowa Pork Plant Employees Dead After Virus Outbreak
Apr 17 2020 // Two employees have died following a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened scores of Tyson Foods workers at a large pork plant in southeastern Iowa, the company said. The deaths of the workers at Tyson plant in Columbus...
Damage to Iowa Ag Industry from Virus Will Be Huge, Economists Say
Apr 16 2020 // A group of agriculture economists said on April 15 the coronavirus pandemic will cause billions of dollars in damage to Iowa’s crop and livestock industries. In a report released from Iowa State University’s...
Farmers in California Names Conte Head of Exclusive Agent Distribution
Apr 15 2020 // Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Farmers Insurance has named Krista Conte head of exclusive agent distribution. Conte joins Farmers after more than 15 years at Allstate, where she was most recently field vice president in the...
Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee to Distribute $30M to Policyholders
Apr 15 2020 // Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee said it will issue $30 million in special payments to its auto policyholders in the state in response to economic stresses caused by the coronavirus emergency. The special payment is...
Meat Plant Closures, Absenteeism Rise With Workers’ Fear of Coronavirus, Lack of Safety
Apr 15 2020 // CHICAGO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba — At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat...
Smithfield’s South Dakota Pork Plant Closed After 100s Test Positive for Virus
Apr 14 2020 // Virginia-based Smithfield Foods announced Sunday that it is closing its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, until further notice after hundreds of employees tested positive for the coronavirus — a step...
GEICO, Farmers, Liberty Mutual Join Insurers Giving Breaks to Drivers, Businesses
Apr 7 2020 // More auto insureds and small businesses are getting a break on their insurance premiums to help them through the coronavirus crisis. Auto insurer GEICO said it will give back approximately $2.5 billion in the form of a 15...
A Coronavirus Outbreak Among Farm Workers Would Be Catastrophic: Viewpoint
Apr 3 2020 // There is no evidence that Covid-19 has been transmitted by food or food packaging, according to U.S. federal health agencies. How the virus fares among food workers may be a different story. By law, food manufacturers must...
Srna Named CEO at Oklahoma’s American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual
Apr 1 2020 // Oklahoma City-based American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Co. (AFRMIC) has appointed Jon D. Srna as the company’s next chief executive officer. He assumes the leadership position on April 20. Srna brings...
Wisconsin High Court Rules Against Farm Over Pay for Time Workers Spend Dressing
Mar 23 2020 // Workers can’t negotiate away their right to compensation for time spent donning and removing protective gear, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in a long-running legal battle between a Jefferson County farm and its...
Southeast Insurance Regulators Issue Industry Guidance for Coronavirus Outbreak
Mar 20 2020 // Insurance departments across the Southeast are notifying industry representatives of updated procedures and expectations in response to the coronavirus outbreak, while also acknowledging the potential for a serious impact...
Cattle Ranchers Worry Despite Having Tech to Track Diseases
Mar 17 2020 // Before June 2018, finding cattle that were potentially exposed to diseases was time-consuming and complicated, requiring a patchwork of information from auction houses, feedlots, producers and meatpacking...
