Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Dakota Bill to Protect Farms From Spying Could Limit Access to Data
Jan 22 2025 // Proposed legislation aimed at protecting South Dakota farmers from potential “agro-terrorism” activities could have a secondary effect of limiting access to some information about the state’s largest...
Deere & Co. Accused of Forcing Farmers to Use Authorized Dealers for Equipment Repair
Jan 17 2025 // Deere & Co. unfairly forces farmers to visit authorized dealers to repair their equipment, resulting in higher prices than if they could fix it themselves or get help from independent shops, the Federal Trade...
Damaging Megadroughts Are Spreading Around the World
Jan 17 2025 // Severe drought conditions have helped fuel the Los Angeles wildfires. But a new study, released Thursday in the journal Nature comes with a warning: Climate change is making catastrophic, multiyear...
France Steps Up Checks After Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak in Germany
Jan 17 2025 // France has reinforced checks for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and issued alerts to veterinarians after an outbreak of the highly contagious virus was detected in cattle in Germany last week, prompting trade bans from...
Perdue Farms to Pay $4 Million For Letting Children Work Hazardous Jobs
Jan 17 2025 // Perdue Farms will pay $4 million in restitution after it employed children in hazardous occupations at a Virginia plant and let them work past 7 p.m. during the regular school week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced...
A Los Angeles Actuary on Lessons From the Palisades Fire
Jan 16 2025 // I watched as the skies over my home in Los Angeles turned an apocalyptic orange on January 7, 2025, as wildfires raged across the state. Among the most devastating, the Palisades Fire consumed thousands of acres, leaving a...
USDA Halts Mexican Cattle Imports, Impacting Millions in Texas Livestock Industry
Jan 13 2025 // A single cow in Mexico and a pest the size of a housefly have held up pens full of Texas-bound cattle worth millions of dollars for the past six weeks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has banned Mexican cattle imports...
Winter Weather Wallops US Farmers
Jan 10 2025 // A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers. And more is on the way, with the polar air expected to...
Texas Farmers Look to New Congress to Update Crucial Farm Bill
Jan 9 2025 // Texas farmers tepidly celebrated last month after Congress barely managed to extend a package of laws meant to aid the nation’s agriculture industry and feed low-income Americans. The clock is now ticking for federal...
Farmers Still Reeling After Hurricane Helene Ravaged Crops Across the Southeast
Dec 23 2024 // LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Twisted equipment and snapped tree limbs still litter Chris Hopkins’ Georgia farm more than two months after Hurricane Helene made its deadly march across the South. An irrigation sprinkler system...
Farmers Now Eyeing California Favorably and Will Expand Its Coverage Options
Dec 11 2024 // Farmers Insurance said on Wednesday it will resume offering coverage for multiple lines of insurance in California to new customers. The lines include condominium, renters, umbrella, landlord, vacant and manufactured home....
Oklahoma Farm Fined $72K for Denying Workers Overtime Pay
Dec 3 2024 // The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction to recover $72,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 20 workers whose Oklahoma employer misapplied the agriculture exemption to retail...
Texas Farmers Say Forever Chemicals in Fertilizer Poisoned Their Land
Dec 2 2024 // JOHNSON COUNTY — Tony Coleman recognizes the signs all too well. A cow drools strings of saliva. Then it starts to limp, each step slower. Then it grows stiff. Then it’s quick. There’s nothing to be done. The...
Missouri Farmer Who Stars in TV Series Admits to Crop Insurance Fraud
Dec 2 2024 // A Missouri farmer who appears in a reality TV show about his family’s farming operation pleaded guilty this week to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme involving federal crop insurance benefits. Steve A. McBee, 52,...
Wisconsin Man Charged With Crop Insurance Fraud
Nov 27 2024 // A Wisconsin man has been charged with defrauding the Federal Crop Insurance Program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced. Lance G. Meier, 52, Ogema, is charged with defrauding...
New ‘Revolution’ in Firefighting, Crop Protection: Unmanned Helicopters?
Nov 22 2024 // When Hector Xu was learning to fly a helicopter in college, he recalled having a few “nasty experiences” while trying to navigate at night. The heart-stopping flights led to his research of unmanned aircraft...
Washington Farm Labor Contractor Fined $140K for Withholding Info From Workers
Nov 18 2024 // A Pasco farm labor contractor faces nearly $140,000 in fines for violations uncovered during a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation that include withholding information from worker. According...
Missouri Farmer Who Stars in Reality TV Series Pleads Guilty to Crop Insurance Fraud
Nov 7 2024 // A Missouri farmer who appears in a reality TV show about his family’s farming operation pleaded guilty this week to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme involving federal crop insurance benefits. Steve A. McBee, 52,...
Company Vows to Sue Over Damages After New Mexico Police Destroy Cannabis Crops
Nov 7 2024 // State police have destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico, marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of cannabis in New Mexico since new...
AM Best Withdraws Credit Rating of Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. of Michigan
Nov 4 2024 // AM Best has revised the outlook to negative from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of C++ (Marginal) and the Long-Term ICR of ‘b+’...
