Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Start-Up Stories: How New Agencies Are Competing
Feb 8 2009 // A Crop of Newly-Formed Agencies Is Defying the Hard Economy and Soft Market The independent insurance agency system is enjoying a resurgence. For years, the number of agencies in the country had been declining but that...
America First Appoints Stricklen to Head Farm & Ranch Division
Feb 5 2009 // America First Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company based in Richardson, Texas, has appointed Stephen Stricklen to assistant vice president, Specialty Products. In this position Stricklen will manage...
Farm Bureau County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas Downgraded
Feb 5 2009 // A.M. Best Co. announced it has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to A- (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a-” from “aa-” of Farm Bureau County Mutual...
Salmonella Outbreak Exposes Gaps in Peanut Product Inspection Process
Jan 30 2009 // Food regulators didn’t consider salmonella a threat to most peanut products before they traced an outbreak to a peanut butter plant in Georgia two years ago. Officials in the nation’s top peanut-producing state...
People
Jan 25 2009 // American International Group Inc. (AIG) named Russell Johnston president and CEO of AIG Environmental, a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance. Johnston joined AIG in 1990 serving in senior management positions within...
London’s Reach Bolsters U.S. Specialty Lines
Jan 25 2009 // Insurers Catlin, Beazley, Amlin, Hiscox and Newcomer Torus Find Their Niche in U.S. Market Find a need, then fill it,” is a hoary business principle, but making it work is often harder than it looks. However, a...
