Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Farmers Insurance to Pay $1.5M in Back Pay
Jul 18 2011 // Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Inc. has agreed to pay $1.52 million in overtime back wages to 3,459 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that disclosed...
Florida Says BP Oil Spill Victims Still Suffering
Jul 14 2011 // Nearly 15 months after the massive BP oil spill blighted the Gulf of Mexico and beaches across the southeast, Florida’s top agriculture official said that an untold number of residents whose livelihoods were...
Southwest Kansas Economy Could Take a Hit From Drought
Jul 12 2011 // Crop losses linked to severe drought conditions are expected to take a toll on the economy in southwest Kansas. The Garden City Telegram reported that the Garden City Co-Op is estimating taking about 35 to 40 percent less...
Farmers Insurance to Pay $1.5M in Labor Settlement
Jul 8 2011 // Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Inc. has agreed to pay $1.52 million in overtime back wages to 3,459 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that disclosed...
Farmers Insurance Employees to Get $1.5M in Back Wages
Jul 8 2011 // Farmers Insurance has agreed to pay just over $1.5 million in back overtime wages to workers at 11 customer service call centers in Texas and five other states after a U.S. Labor Department investigation. The federal probe...
$750M Settlement Reached with U.S. Farmers over Genetically Modified Rice
Jul 7 2011 // A settlement of up to $750 million has been reached with the German conglomerate Bayer CropScience on behalf of U.S. rice farmers in a series of rice contamination lawsuits, according to Don Downing, an attorney with Gray,...
Pres. Obama Signs Disaster Declaration for Texas Wildfires
Jul 5 2011 // President Barack Obama has signed a major disaster declaration for parts of Texas ravaged by wildfires in April and early May, ordering federal aid to help state and local recovery efforts. The White House had previously...
Holborn Adds Brost and Hawn to Executive Ranks
Jul 5 2011 // Holborn Corporation, an independent provider of reinsurance brokerage services, announced that James Brost and Jeffrey Hawn have joined the firm as senior vice president and vice president, respectively, in the...
People
Jun 20 2011 // Iowa-based United Fire & Casualty Co. announced new executive appointments and the election of four new directors for full terms on its 12-member board. Denver Regional Office Underwriting Manager Jolene Grow was...
Use of Credit-based Insurance Scores in Texas Upheld
Jun 20 2011 // Texas law permits an insurer to use race-neutral factors in credit scoring to price personal lines of insurance. That’s the conclusion of the Texas Supreme Court, which considered a certified question from the Ninth...
Crews Racing Floodwaters to Build Up Iowa Levee
Jun 15 2011 // Crews in Hamburg, Iowa, were busy June 14 building up a secondary barrier to protect the small Iowa town after the swollen Missouri River punched a massive hole in the main levee. The river ruptured two levees in northwest...
Low Yields Best Insurance as U.S. Farmers Plant Corn
Jun 10 2011 // Ohio farmer Jeff Hoak was excited and anxious at the same time. His wedding was coming up, and many of his corn fields had yet to be planted. The grain gods smiled on him. The weather broke and he finished planting his...
Swiss Re to Reinsure Ethiopian Microinsurance Project
Jun 10 2011 // Swiss Re is to reinsure a five-year project that provides drought insurance for crops in Ethiopia, in a microinsurance program developed by the World Food Program (WFP) and Oxfam America. The world’s biggest...
Germany Says Beansprouts May be Cause of E.coli Infections
Jun 6 2011 // German-grown beansprouts could be the source of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, made more than 2,000 ill and struck fear into consumers across Europe, officials said on Sunday. The Lower Saxony state...
Declarations
Jun 6 2011 // Compromise on Lawsuits “You can be assured that you can go to the courthouse and not face the prospect of ruination by pursuing a constitutional right.” —Texas trial attorney Mike Gallagher comments on a...
Abram Interstate Insurance Names Donahue Farm Account Manager
Jun 3 2011 // Abram Interstate Insurance Services has named Rebecca Donahue a commercial lines account manager to be based in the company’s Rocklin, Calif., office. She will focus on agribusiness exposures. Donahue has more than...
As Arkansas Floods Recede, Counties Cope With Damage
Jun 3 2011 // As the rivers running through eastern Arkansas start to recede, residents and farmers are beginning to cope with the aftermath of devastating floods — ruined homes, ravaged farmland and major holes in local...
Use of Credit-based Insurance Scores Upheld in Texas
Jun 1 2011 // Texas law permits an insurer to use race-neutral factors in credit scoring to price personal lines of insurance. That’s the conclusion the Texas Supreme Court came to in considering a certified question from the...
Flood Warnings Issued for 7 Utah Counties
May 31 2011 // Flood warnings are in effect for seven Utah counties as three rivers flow over their banks. The National Weather Service says the Weber River and Lost Creek in northern Utah are flooding and the Sevier River in central...
Northern Calif. Tornadoes Destroy Almond Crops
May 31 2011 // Officials say tornadoes that touched down in a rural area of Northern California destroyed hundreds of acres of almond orchards. The twisters hit Butte and Glenn counties on May 25. Colleen Cecil with the Butte County Farm...
