Latest Agribusiness Headlines

All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Oregon’s Building Backlog of Food Inspections Increasing Disease Risk

Nov 17 2016 // Rodents, insects and microscopic bacteria: All these hazards can exist in food and where it is stored, and it is up to the Oregon Department of Agriculture to ensure they’re not there. But the department’s Food...

County Farmers in South Carolina Uncertain of Future After Devastating Disasters

Nov 17 2016 // The Double R Farm in South Carolina has produced abundant crops for four generations of Rabon family farmers here, and despite the double whammy of record rains during the October harvest last year and last month’s...

Some Form of Drought Now Covering More than 86% of Arkansas

Nov 14 2016 // More than 86 percent of Arkansas is in some form of drought ahead of a warm, dry winter forecast, meaning there’s little chance of immediate relief. Because of the drought, ranchers are turning to alternate sources...

Hurricane Matthew Could Cost US & Caribbean Economies $15B: Aon Benfield

Nov 10 2016 // Hurricane Matthew, which swept through parts of the Caribbean and United States, had total economic losses of up to US$15 billion, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development...

Louisiana Ag Department: Wildfire Risk High in State

Nov 7 2016 // Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is warning Louisiana residents that the state’s wildfire risk remains higher than normal because of dry conditions. The state agriculture department says 19 parishes have enacted...

Farmers to Pay $225K to Settle EEOC Race Discrimination Case in California

Nov 3 2016 // Farmers Insurance Exchange will pay $225,000 to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Northern California, the federal agency announced. The suit...

Lower Cotton, Sweet Potato Yields Attributed to Louisiana Rains

Nov 1 2016 // Louisiana’s cotton and sweet potato harvests have been negatively affected by the flooding rains in August, state agricultural specialists say. Based on reports, Dan Fromme, LSU AgCenter cotton specialist, said in a...

Drought in Southeast States Wreaking Havoc on Crops, Increasing Fire Risk

Oct 31 2016 // Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South. The very worst conditions – what forecasters call...

Drought Committee Address Dryness in Western Carolinas as Floods Subside

Oct 28 2016 // As the last river finally falls below major flood stage near the coast, a rapidly worsening drought is killing crops and causing hard-to-fight wildfires in rugged terrain in western North Carolina and South Carolina. The...

Western Growers Hires Luis to Help Expand in California’s Central Valley

Oct 28 2016 // Western Growers Insurance Services Inc. has named Matt Luis as a sales executive to help expand property/casualty insurance services in California’s Central Valley region. Luis’ experience will be leveraged to...

Louisiana’s Pointe Coupee Parish Designated Agricultural Disaster Area

Oct 27 2016 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Pointe Coupee Parish as a primary natural disaster area due to damages and losses caused by severe storms and flooding that occurred in August. Farmers and ranchers in...

Damage to South Carolina Crops from Hurricane Matthew May Rival 2015 Flooding

Oct 24 2016 // South Carolina Department of Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers says crops in some areas of the state may have sustained as much damage from Hurricane Matthew as they did from last year’s historic flooding. The...

North Carolina Recovery Continues More Than 2 Weeks After Matthew

Oct 24 2016 // More than two weeks after Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina, some areas are still flooded and others are beginning the long process of recovery. In North Carolina, the hurricane dumped more than a foot of rain 100 miles...

Midwest Study: More Lighting Would Cut Farm Vehicle Crashes by 60%

Oct 21 2016 // Traffic accidents involving farm vehicles in the Midwest would drop by more than 60 percent if state policies required more lighting and reflection on those vehicles, according to a study from the University of Iowa...

South Dakota Senator Requests Federal Aid for Ranchers Impacted by Fire

Oct 19 2016 // U.S. Sen. John Thune is requesting federal disaster aid for ranchers affected by a large prairie fire in western South Dakota that has destroyed buildings and killed livestock. Thune wrote to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom...

Hurricane Matthew Devastates Georgia Pecan, Cotton Crops

Oct 17 2016 // Georgia’s top agriculture official says Hurricane Matthew hit the state’s pecan and cotton farmers hard. Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black says he toured farms in three counties this week following...

Decline in Kansas Crop Yields Attributed to Corn Disease, Weather

Oct 12 2016 // A corn disease that is new to the heartland is infecting Kansas crops and may be contributing to this year’s decline in yield. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service...

Michigan Officials Seeking Food Safety Education And Training Grant Proposals

Oct 11 2016 // Michigan agriculture officials are seeking proposals for food safety education and training grants. The Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development says grants from the Food Safety Education Fund are...

Ag Cooperatives’ Profits Rise in 2015 to a Record $7B

Oct 7 2016 // Agriculture cooperatives posted record profits last year highlighting the business model the U.S. Department of Agriculture says provides more than 2 million jobs. The USDA says in a report on Oct. 4 net income for the...

You Should Be Able to Buy Stock in This Climate-Friendly Beer

Oct 6 2016 // Beer and coffee make nice bookends. One before the other can put you in the right frame of mind – I usually like coffee before beer, but whichever comes first all depends on what frame you want to be in. The top climate...