Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Despite China Deal, U.S. Farmers Still Dependent on Government Aid: Analysis
Mar 12 2020 // As U.S. President Donald Trump touted the signing of a U.S.-China trade deal in January, he told cash-strapped farmers they would soon need bigger tractors and “a little more land” to meet additional Chinese...
Return-to-Work Rates on the Rise in Texas Workers’ Comp System: Report
Mar 12 2020 // The return-to-work (RTW) rate for employees in the Texas workers’ compensation system who received temporary income benefits (TIBs) for their injuries increased by 5% over the decade from 2007 to 2017. That’s...
16 Additional North Dakota Counties Named Agriculture Disaster Areas
Mar 11 2020 // U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has designated 16 North Dakota counties as natural disaster areas due to extreme weather last year ranging from drought to excessive moisture. The announcement, combined with a...
North Dakota Creamery Recalls 1% Milk Pending State Investigation
Mar 9 2020 // Cass-Clay Creamery in North Dakota has recalled 1% milk that may have been contaminated with a sanitizing agent that’s used to sterilize and clean equipment, the state department of agriculture said Friday. The milk...
Smith to Retire from Indiana Farmers Insurance; Search on for New CEO
Mar 9 2020 // Kimberly O. Smith, J.D, president and CEO of Carmel, Indiana-based Indiana Farmers Insurance, has announced she will retire effective January 2022. The board of directors has engaged the Carlisle Group, an executive search...
One U.S. State May Look at Insurers’ Fossil Fuel Investments and Underwriting to Combat Climate Change
Mar 5 2020 // A Connecticut lawmaker has plans for a bill that not only calls for the state to look at which insurers have fossil fuel investments – a growing trend among government entities as of late – but also which ones are...
USDA Adds New Hurricane Insurance Endorsement for 2020 Crop Year
Mar 5 2020 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) has implemented a new crop insurance endorsement, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI), the agency announced. HIP-WI covers a...
Insurance Office Of America Adds Bridges, Johnson to Georgia Team
Mar 4 2020 // Insurance Office of America (IOA) has hired Louis Bridges to its property and casualty practice as a senior risk consultant. Bridges joins IOA’s growing team in Georgia and will be responsible for new business...
America’s Farmers Brace for Another Season of Costly River Flooding
Mar 3 2020 // For the second year in a row, much of the U.S. is primed to suffer multi-billion dollar flood losses, with farmers already steeling themselves for planting delays. Relentless storms that have marched across the Midwest and...
USDA’s Wildfire Indemnity Program Offers Possible Drought Assistance for California Farmers
Feb 28 2020 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers. California...
Georgia to Receive $347M in Long-Awaited Hurricane Michael Relief
Feb 28 2020 // Georgia’s governor and agriculture commissioner on Wednesday announced that $347 million in federal disaster relief funding would soon be available to farmers, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Michael caused...
Cannabis Power Brokers Tackle Five Pressing Insurance Questions
Feb 27 2020 // The cannabis business is a frontier industry that continues to offer no shortage of unique challenges to regulators, as well as boundless questions for industry watchers and ancillary businesses like insurance. Key...
Newfront in California Names Cannabis Specialist Word Head of Agribusiness
Feb 25 2020 // Newfront Insurance in San Francisco, Calif., has named Seth Word principal and head of agribusiness. At Newfront, he’ll oversee all aspects of cannabis as well as agriculture and horticulture coverage. Prior to...
Agricultural Industry Looks to Dogs as the Next Crop Inspectors
Feb 24 2020 // Dogs specially trained by the federal government’s Agricultural Research Service scientists have proven to be the most efficient way to detect huanglongbing — also known as citrus greening — according to...
Beyond Farming: Agritainment and Farm Liability Coverage
Feb 24 2020 // The business of operating a farm has evolved significantly in the past several years. It’s not just about planting, caring for, harvesting and selling crops. It’s often about other ways that the land can be...
Examining the Higher Death Rate for Older Workers: Viewpoint
Feb 21 2020 // U.S. workplaces have gotten a lot safer over the course of the past century. In 1913, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that there were 23,000 “industrial deaths,” or 61 for every 100,000 workers. In...
Farmers Insurance Expands Into South Carolina with Online Auto Insurance Policy
Feb 20 2020 // Farmers Insurance has launched its first auto insurance product in South Carolina, delivered exclusively through a new digital and customizable auto insurance policy available on Farmersdirect.com. The digital auto...
Jury Awards $265M to Farmer Claiming Drifting Herbicides Damaged His Orchard
Feb 17 2020 // A Missouri jury’s $265 million award to peach grower Bill Bader in his lawsuit against herbicide providers Bayer and BASF has raised the stakes for the two companies as at least 140 similar cases head to U.S. courts...
SCOR Buys Majority Stake in Brazil MGA with Agricultural Specialty
Feb 14 2020 // Global reinsurer SCOR said it has acquired a majority stake in AgroBrasil, an MGA focused on distributing fruit and grain loss of crop quality and yield insurance protection to Brazilian farmers. Neither side disclosed...
Insured Losses for Europe’s Storm Ciara-Sabine Could Hit $2 Billion: Modeling Firms
Feb 14 2020 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses due to wind from Europe’s winter storm Ciara (also known as Sabine) will range between €1.1 billion and €1.9 billion (US$1.2 billion and...
