Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
After Flooding, Midwest Farmers Fear Repeat Of ’97
Apr 8 2009 // Recent floods are receding for now, but farmers and ranchers in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota are worried they’re on track to repeat the dismal year of 1997. That was the year spring blizzards and record...
Kevin Dahlke Offers Professional Liability Program for Farmers Agents
Apr 8 2009 // Professional Liability coverage for the Agents of Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. The United Farmers Agents Association has introduced a group professional liability program exclusively for agents of Farmers Group Inc. The...
Farmers Insurance Washington Promotes Bithell to VP
Apr 6 2009 // Farmers Insurance has appointed Susan Bithell, formerly Farmers Washington State executive director, to vice president of field operations in Washington. Bithell began her career with Farmers in 1983 as an auto underwriter...
Farmers Appoints Harwood Vice President
Apr 2 2009 // Jim Harwood, former assistant vice president over Agency Training at Farmers Insurance has been promoted to the position of vice president, University of Farmers. He will be responsible for the strategic direction and...
U.S. Health Secretary Nominee Sebelius Vows Food Safety Upgrade
Apr 1 2009 // Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius vowed Tuesday to make the Food and Drug Administration a “world class” regulatory agency and to work with industry to improve food safety if she is confirmed as health and...
Illinois Tells Crop Insurer to Cease ‘Improper Rebate’
Mar 31 2009 // The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s (IDFPR) Division of Insurance has ordered First Farm Credit Services to discontinue its Patronage Program, calling the program an “improper...
Nevada Irrigation District Faces Flood of Trouble
Mar 31 2009 // The failure of a century old earthen canal in northern Nevada that sent flood waters into hundreds of homes on a frigid night in January 2008 was only the beginning of a nightmare for a rural irrigation district. The flood...
Florida’s New VanDyke Norman Insurance Agency Thinks Big
Mar 25 2009 // Kevin VanDyke and Andy Norman opened their St. Augustine agency around Thanksgiving last year but already they are thinking big. They plan to grow their business in the Jacksonville metropolitan area not just by outselling...
Travelers Agribusiness Introduces New Automated System for Agents
Mar 25 2009 // Travelers launched a new automated system that allows agents to rate, quote and issue policies electronically and more efficiently for agribusiness insurance. The new interface — Travelers Agribusiness System (TAgS)...
Farm-based Biogas, a Neglected Asset in Greenhouse Gas Fight
Mar 19 2009 // John Ibbett and pigs go back a long way. “The pig manager pushed me round in a pram,” recalls Ibbett, whose family has been farming on the same site since 1939. Now he’s proud his family farm can turn...
Salmonella Recall Could Cost Peanut Producers $1 Billion
Mar 12 2009 // The effects of the widespread peanut butter recall could cost rural America’s peanut producers $1 billion in lost production and sales, according to testimony at a House subcommittee hearing. That could be just the...
Readiness of Some Rebuilt Levees in Midwest Questioned
Mar 10 2009 // With the prospect of another season of spring flooding fast approaching, the Army Corps of Engineers insists the earthen flood levees outmatched by the Mississippi River last summer are rebuilt and ready. Not...
People
Mar 9 2009 // Jeff Grace has been named president of IMA of Wichita, officials for The IMA Financial Group Inc. announced. Grace joined IMA in 1997 in business development, focusing on the construction practice, and was promoted to...
Alabama Seeks to Reduce Farm Traffic Collisions
Mar 6 2009 // D.C. Thornton knows that as well as anyone because he has been in the cab during one of those near collisions. “We’ve had instances where people had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting us while we were...
W.R. Berkley Forms Agribusiness Insurance Unit; Names Shaw President
Feb 24 2009 // W. R. Berkley Corp. announced the formation of Berkley Agribusiness Risk Specialists, a new division of its Continental Western Group, LLC. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Berkley Agribusiness Risk Specialists will operate...
Missouri Deals with Rash of Cattle Thefts; Farm Bureau Offers Reward
Feb 24 2009 // A rash of cattle thefts in southwest Missouri has prompted two organizations to offer a total of $10,000 in rewards for help catching the crooks. Authorities report that hundreds of animals have been loaded onto trucks and...
Implications of the 2008 Farm Bill
Feb 22 2009 // Could Reduce Agent Commissions, But Create New Insurance Categories The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill) authorizes farm programs for the next five years. The Act’s provisions encompass a...
Top 5 Insurance Issues for Farmers in a Soft Economy
Feb 22 2009 // Review Exposures, Values and Maximize Insurance Value to Ensure Satisfied Farm Customers Thanks in part to commodity prices that are still higher than average and, thankfully, less volatile than in 2008, the agricultural...
France’s Winter Storm Klaus Property Losses Pegged at $1 Billion Euros
Feb 20 2009 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide has updated its insured loss estimates of property losses in France from winter storm Klaus to between 500 million and 1 billion Euros. These losses represent damage to...
Georgia Senate Panel Advances Food Safety Measure
Feb 13 2009 // A sweeping new food safety measure proposed in the wake of the salmonella outbreak easily passed its first key legislative hurdle this week as Georgia lawmakers sought to reassure antsy residents. The Senate Agriculture...
