Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Private Crop Insurers Win As Taxpayers Lose in New Farm Program, Say Critics
Mar 17 2014 // U.S. farmers last week finalized their crop insurance plans for spring planting with critics of the government-subsidized program saying insurers are set up for a bonanza after passage of the new five-year farm bill last...
Farmers to Add More Than 500 Agency Owners in California
Mar 12 2014 // Farmers Insurance is looking to increase its presence in California by adding 518 agency owners throughout the state. “There has never been a better time than now for those interested in becoming agency owners to...
California Farmers Hire Dowsers to Find Water
Mar 10 2014 // With California in the grips of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches. Practitioners of dowsing use rudimentary...
California Almond Farmers Face Tough Choices Amid Drought
Mar 10 2014 // With California’s agricultural heartland entrenched in drought, almond farmers are letting orchards dry up and in some cases making the tough call to have their trees torn out of the ground, leaving behind empty...
Travelers, InVEST Team Up to Develop Young Professionals
Mar 7 2014 // The Travelers Cos., in partnership with InVEST, a nationwide school-to-career nonprofit program, is helping to improve insurance and financial literacy in students and attract young talent for the insurance...
Capital Insurance Group Adds EPLI Coverage to Business Owner Policies
Mar 7 2014 // Capital Insurance Group (CIG) has expanded its employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) option to include business owner policies (BOP). The expanded policy option offers protection for organizations with up to 250...
Judge Orders Farmers Insurance to Pay Oklahoma Plaintiffs $15M
Mar 6 2014 // An Oklahoma judge has ordered Farmers Insurance and a subsidiary to pay a total of $15 million to three plaintiffs who filed claims for damage to their homes caused by a deadly tornado that struck Woodward in 2012. The...
California Farmers Hire Dowsers To Find Water
Mar 3 2014 // With California in the grips of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches. Practitioners of dowsing use rudimentary...
North Dakota Farmers Accused of Intentionally Spoiling Spuds Plead Not Guilty
Feb 28 2014 // Two brothers who operated a North Dakota potato farm pleaded not guilty to charges they intentionally spoiled their spud crop after the 2006 harvest in order to collect federal disaster payments. Aaron Johnson, 50, and...
Consumer Watchdog in California Barks at Farmers
Feb 27 2014 // Consumer Watchdog has petitioned Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones a public hearing on the new program private passenger auto filings of Farmers Specialty Insurance Co. The Consumer Watchdog petition seeks to compel...
XL Acquires Global Ag Insurance to Expand Crop Coverage
Feb 27 2014 // XL Reinsurance America Inc., a subsidiary of XL Group Plc, the insurer led by Chief Executive Officer Mike McGavick, has acquired Global Ag Insurance Services LLC to add sales of coverage to farmers in the U.S....
OSHA Denies Plans to Increase Oversight of Small Farms
Feb 25 2014 // Facing pressure from Congress, the Obama administration has made clear it has no intention of increasing workplace regulations for the country’s smallest farms. In a letter to members of Congress dated Feb. 10, a...
Michigan Farm Owner Lands Prison Sentence over Bad Cider
Feb 24 2014 // A northern Michigan man could spend up to four years in prison after improperly processed apple cider he made led to an E. coli outbreak and hospital stays for two adults and two children. James Ruster is the first person...
XL Group’s Specialty Businesses Launch Luxury Lines Program for Private Clients
Feb 24 2014 // XL Group’s Specialty insurance businesses in North America have teamed up on a new luxury lines to extend their equine, aviation, yacht, fine art, and kidnap, ransom & extortioncoverages to protect high net worth...
California Almond Farmers Face Tough Choices Amid Drought
Feb 24 2014 // With California’s agricultural heartland entrenched in drought, almond farmers are letting orchards dry up and in some cases making the tough call to have their trees torn out of the ground, leaving behind empty...
Agribusiness Insurance Segment Stable, Yet Selective
Feb 24 2014 // Crop insurance and farm bill debates have dominated the news headlines and led to uncertainty and frustration for many farm and ranchers, but insurance experts in the agribusiness industry say the property/casualty segment...
10 Things to Know About Agribusiness
Feb 24 2014 // According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2007 Census of Agriculture, there were 2,204,792 farms in the United States, an increase of 4 percent from 2002. The average farm in the United States has...
El Nino Threatens to Return; May Hit Global Food Production
Feb 21 2014 // The El Nino weather pattern, which can trigger drought in some parts of the world while causing flooding in others, is increasingly likely to return this year, hitting production of key foods such as rice, wheat and...
Wisconsin Bill Exempts Farmers from Liability in Agriculture Tourism Deaths
Feb 20 2014 // Farmers wouldn’t be financially liable for the death of someone participating in an agricultural tourism activity under a bill up for a vote in the Wisconsin state Assembly. Agricultural tourism is growing in...
Lea County in New Mexico Declared Disaster Area Due To Drought
Feb 20 2014 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Lea County a natural disaster area, making drought-stricken farmers and ranchers in the area eligible for assistance. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the...
