Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A.M. Best Upgrades Pennsylvania’s Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance
Dec 20 2017 // A.M. Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Marble, Penn., to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from...
California Pot Sold Jan. 1 Could be Tainted
Dec 18 2017 // That legal weed you’ll be able to buy in California on New Year’s Day may not be as green as it seems. Any marijuana sold when recreational sales become legal Jan. 1 in the nation’s most populous state...
Arkansas Lawmakers Want Panel to Reconsider Dicamba Ban
Dec 15 2017 // Arkansas lawmakers have recommended a regulatory panel look at revising its proposed ban of an herbicide farmers in several states say has drifted onto their crops and caused damage, nearly a month after a maker of the...
Farmers Reports $1.2B in Claims from Northern California Wildfires
Dec 15 2017 // Farmers Insurance reported it has received more than 4,000 claims from the Northern California wildfires to date at an estimated gross cost of $1.2 billion. With reinsurance, the Los Angeles-based carrier estimates its...
Uncertainty Hangs Over Florida Citrus Growers After Irma’s Damage to Crops
Dec 13 2017 // Although the 2017-18 citrus harvest has barely begun, growers are already planning for the 2018-19 season, and they have critical decisions to make in the coming months that will affect next season’s crop and perhaps...
Schumer Seeks Help for N.Y. Craft Beer Industry with Crop Insurance Program
Dec 12 2017 // U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wrapped up another tour of New York’s 62 counties Friday with a call for greater federal help for the state’s craft beer industry. During a stop at a brewery in the Columbia County...
Nebraska Corn Crop Diminished by Strong Winds in Late October
Dec 11 2017 // Several days of strong winds in late October arrived at the wrong time for many farmers who saw their crops shrink as ears of corn fell to the ground in Nebraska and western Iowa. The extent of the damage varied, but in...
Arkansas Farmers Get $466M in Payments for Crop Losses in 2016
Dec 11 2017 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Arkansas farmers received $466 million in federal “safety net” payments this year for their crop losses in 2016, third highest in the nation. The Arkansas...
Harvey-Related Woes Linger on Some Texas Farms
Dec 11 2017 // For days after Hurricane Harvey flooded her Sour Lake, Texas, neighborhood, Deanna Coburn’s farm was silent, without its usual chorus of bleating goats and crowing roosters. The Beaumont Enterprise reports her...
Judge Orders North Carolina-Based Pork Producer to Clean Up Water Pollution
Dec 8 2017 // A major pork producer must live up to an agreement it signed 11 years ago and work on cleaning up water pollution tied to almost a dozen industry-scale hog operations, a federal judge ruled this week. Murphy-Brown LLC must...
Monsanto Moves to Stop Arkansas from Banning its Dicamba Weed Killer
Dec 8 2017 // Monsanto has asked a judge to prevent Arkansas from enforcing a proposal going before lawmakers next week that would ban the use of a weed killer that farmers in several states have said drifts onto their crops and causes...
Los Angeles Wildfires Close Roads, Threaten Crops, Force Evacuations
Dec 7 2017 // Wildfires raging across Southern California have shut a major commuter artery in Los Angeles, suspended filming, wiped out more than $3 billion of market value for regional utility Edison International and are threatening...
COUNTRY Financial Appoints Thorpe VP of Commercial/Agribusiness Underwriting
Dec 6 2017 // Andrea Thorpe, of Bloomington, Illinois, has been named vice president of Commercial/Agribusiness Underwriting at COUNTRY Financial. She replaces Sheri Bane who will retire in January 2018. Thorpe will lead the...
California Seeking $4.4B in Federal Aid for Wildfires
Dec 4 2017 // California’s 53 U.S. House members are requesting $4.4 billion in federal aid to help the state recover from its deadliest wildfires ever. That’s down sharply from the $7.4 billion originally sought by Gov....
Harvey Flooding Put Some Texas Christmas Tree Farms Out of Business
Dec 1 2017 // For more than two decades, Deidra Marler and her family piled into pickup trucks after Thanksgiving lunch and headed over to the K&K Evergreen Farm to pick out their annual Christmas tree. The Beaumont Enterprise...
Florida’s Hurricane Irma Recovery: The Cost, The Challenges, The Lessons
Nov 30 2017 // The hurricane season is officially over, but it didn’t go by without leaving a major mark on Florida and its insurance industry. Hurricane Irma, a name most in the state won’t soon forget, first hit the Florida...
Texas’ Hochheim Prairie Farm Mutual Ratings on CreditWatch; Harvey Cited
Nov 29 2017 // S&P Global Ratings has placed its ‘B+’ financial strength ratings for Hochheim Prairie Farm Mutual Insurance Assoc. (HPFMIA) and its subsidiary, Hochheim Prairie Casualty Insurance Co. (HPCIC; collectively...
Hurricane Harvey Caused More than $200M in Crop, Livestock Losses in Texas
Nov 20 2017 // Hurricane Harvey caused more than $200 million in crop and livestock losses, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Hurricane losses by agricultural commodity include: livestock – $93 million; cotton...
Agribusiness Contributes $23B to Arizona’s Economy, Report Shows
Nov 20 2017 // Researchers with the University of Arizona say agricultural businesses contribute more than $23 billion in sales to the state’s economy. A report released in early November by the university’s Cooperative...
Canada’s Economical Restructures to Strengthen Broker Relationships, Profits
Nov 17 2017 // Economical Insurance announced the creation of a new organizational structure, with three market-facing regions. The restructuring is designed to improve profits, strengthen relationships with broker partners, capture more...
