Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
El Nino Indicators Ease; Still Expected in Late 2012
Jul 17 2012 // Climate indicators for an El Niño event in the western Pacific have eased slightly in the past two weeks, but meteorologists still expect the weather pattern, which can bring drought to the Asia-Pacific and damage crops,...
Worst Midwest Drought Since 1956 Expanding North, West
Jul 17 2012 // An expanding U.S. drought, now deemed the worst since 1956, dealt another blow to the corn crop, with conditions deteriorating for a second straight week in the world’s top exporter of the grain, U.S. government data...
Farm Bureau Dropping 3,000 South Carolina Homeowner Policies
Jul 16 2012 // Farm Bureau Insurance said it is dropping about 3,000 South Carolina home insurance customers after paying out millions in storm-related claims last year. The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that property owners in...
Disaster Declaration Granted for Arkansas Agricultural Producers
Jul 13 2012 // The U.S. Agriculture Department has granted a disaster declaration for 69 of Arkansas’ 75 counties due to the drought. The designation makes emergency loans available to farmers and ranchers. The approval was...
PFGBest Broker Scandal Leads to Calls for Insurance for Grain Trade
Jul 12 2012 // The largest U.S. grain trade group was stunned by the latest scandal to hit the futures industry when Iowa-based brokerage PFGBest collapsed after regulators accused the firm of misappropriating customer funds. “Even...
House Panel Balks at Senate Crop Insurance Reforms
Jul 12 2012 // The U.S. House Agriculture Committee challenged two crop insurance reforms approved by the Senate, creating another farm-bill dispute with time running out to enact the new law. Besides disagreeing on crop insurance, the...
Midwest Heat Wave Eases But Drought Threatens Corn Crop
Jul 9 2012 // The withering U.S. corn crop is gaining some respite from a record heat wave this week but new weather forecasts offered scant signs of the rainfall it urgently needs to avoid the worst drought damage in nearly a quarter...
Corn Belt Fears Large Crop Loss from Heat Wave, Drought Conditions
Jul 9 2012 // Fears are rising that grain crops in the core of the U.S. Corn Belt – the top corn-producing region in the world – will suffer big losses that are already causing farmers to plow up fields in other regions of...
Two Montana Counties Declare Drought Disasters
Jul 6 2012 // Yellowstone and Stillwater county commissions in Montana have declared drought disasters in their counties. Officials say low rainfall and warm temperatures have created conditions that one farmer says are not usually seen...
Storms Knock Out Power in East; Heat Threatens Corn Crop in Midwest
Jul 6 2012 // Six days after violent storms hit the eastern United States, the state of West Virginia was struggling to recover on Thursday, with nearly a third of electricity customers still without power and new storms putting more...
Feds OK Help for Mich. Fruit Growers Hammered by Weather
Jul 5 2012 // The federal government has declared Michigan a disaster area because of damage to fruit crops from erratic spring weather, making growers eligible to seek low-interest loans. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, said...
Drought Brings Back Memories of 1988 Crop Losses
Jun 29 2012 // Just one year ago Jeff Scates saw the worst flooding on his southern Illinois farmland since 1937. Today, Scates is watching his corn fields shrivel from the driest season in 24 years. “We’ve gone from one...
Leavitt Central Coast Names Willis Senior Vice President
Jun 27 2012 // Leavitt Central Coast Insurance Services named Ted Willis senior vice president. Willis has more than 32 years’ experience in insurance. He began his career as the claims manager for an international brokerage and...
Lloyd’s Details ‘Growing Impact of Climate Change’ as UN Meets
Jun 25 2012 // Lloyd’s has published a roundup of the environmental issues inherent in as the world grows warmer. The recently concluded Rio +20 Conference was an attempt – 20 years after the first conference – “to try to...
Senate Overhauls Farm Subsidies, Crop Insurance But Time Running Out
Jun 21 2012 // The Senate approved sweeping new U.S. farm legislation on Thursday that would cut almost all traditional farm subsidies while expanding a costly crop insurance program, but odds are slim the bill will pass this...
Farm Mutual Insurance Co. Under Montana Supervision
Jun 18 2012 // Montana’s insurance commissioner has placed Great Falls-based Westland Farm Mutual Insurance Co. under her office’s supervision, citing the company’s diminishing cash reserves. Commissioner of Securities...
Senators Call for Bipartisan Support for Cap on Crop Insurance Subsidies
Jun 15 2012 // U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa. are urging the Senate to support their bipartisan amendment to end what they say are excessive federal crop insurance subsidies for large American farming...
Farm Mutual Insurance Co. Under Montana Supervision
Jun 8 2012 // Montana’s insurance commissioner has placed Great Falls-based Westland Farm Mutual Insurance Co. under her office’s supervision, citing the company’s diminishing cash reserves. Commissioner of Securities...
Feet of Sand Leave Midwest Farms Wasteland After Flooding
Jun 5 2012 // Mason Hansen guns his pickup and cranks the steering wheel to spin through sand up to 4 feet high, but this is no day at the beach. Hanson once grew corn and soybeans in the sandy wasteland in western Iowa, and his...
Argo Insurance, Britt/Paulk Form New Pest Control Program
Jun 4 2012 // Argo Insurance’s Commercial Specialty Programs unit will partner with Britt/Paulk Insurance Underwriters to offer insurance for residential and commercial pest control operators. The pest control program, which will...
