Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jury Orders Pork Producer to Pay $473.5M in North Carolina Nuisance Lawsuit
Aug 6 2018 // A federal jury decided Friday that the world’s largest pork producer should pay $473.5 million to neighbors of three North Carolina industrial-scale hog farms for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors,...
Atlantic Hurricane Season Had Early Start, but Fewer Storms Are Expected
Aug 3 2018 // The Atlantic hurricane season may have gotten off to an early start this year, but it’ll probably end with a whimper — at least when it comes to the total number of storms. Twelve named storms are likely to...
Lopata to Take Over as President, CEO at Farmers Alliance Companies
Jul 30 2018 // Brian D. Lopata has been named president and chief executive officer for McPherson, Kansas-based Farmers Alliance Companies, effective Aug. 27, 2018. As president and CEO, Lopata will have day-to-day responsibility for all...
Alabama Farmer Pleads Guilty in $919K Crop Insurance Scam
Jul 18 2018 // Authorities say an Alabama farmer has acknowledged falsifying documents that allowed him to receive $919,000 in crop insurance money he wasn’t entitled to. The Dothan Eagle reported last month that Dexter Day Gilbert...
Workers’ Comp ‘Disruptor’ Launching in California for Injured Farm Employees
Jul 16 2018 // An insurtech startup says it will disrupt California’s workers’ compensation system with “technology-enabled triage and care coordination” for California Farm Management. ChronWell, a mobile...
Ben & Jerry’s Hasn’t Cleaned Up Its Act, Consumer Group Claims
Jul 13 2018 // It’s summer in America, and that means action-packed movies, piles of hot dogs and plenty of ice cream. But according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a consumer food-advocacy group, if your choice of ice cream is Ben...
Will California Wildfires Be Worse This Year?
Jul 13 2018 // As blame for California’s wildfires rises over Sacramento like smoke from last year’s blazes, the state is being forced to confront the possibility that it’ll happen again in 2018. California’s...
Investigators: Excessive Speed Caused Florida Roller Coaster Derailment
Jul 12 2018 // Excessive speed caused a roller coaster to derail at a Florida boardwalk, according to a preliminary investigative summary released Tuesday. Two riders fell 34 feet (10 meters) when the front car of the Sand Blaster Roller...
North Dakota Farmers Want Crop Insurance Changes in Ag Bill
Jul 9 2018 // North Dakota’s largest farm group is pushing for adjustments to crop insurance payments to protect farmers from international trade retaliations. The U.S. House and Senate versions of a new Farm Bill are heading to...
Pork Giant Smithfield Foods Ordered to Pay $25M in Nuisance Lawsuit
Jul 5 2018 // A federal jury in North Carolina has punished the world’s largest pork producer, deciding Smithfield Foods should pay two neighbors more than $25 million for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors, flies and...
Almost Half of South Asia Vulnerable to Climate ‘Hotspots’: World Bank
Jul 3 2018 // Changes in temperature and rainfall will impact almost half of South Asia in the coming decades, reducing economic growth in one of the world’s poorest regions, the World Bank said. A World Bank report released on...
New York Attorney General Leads Suit Against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Jul 2 2018 // New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood, joined by Attorneys General Xavier Becerra of California and Brian Frosh of Maryland, has led a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for...
Senate Passes Farm, Crop Insurance Bill with Flood Insurance Extension
Jun 29 2018 // The U.S. Senate passed (86-11) a Farm Bill that continues subsidies for farmers along with the federal crop insurance and food stamp programs for five years. The $867 billion Senate bill also contains an amendment to...
China Formalizes Easing of Foreign Investment Curbs on Range of Industries
Jun 29 2018 // China is slowly following through on pledges to open up to foreigners, as an impending trade war with the U.S. focuses attention on Beijing’s grip over doing business in the world’s second-largest economy. On...
Senator Inserts Flood Insurance Renewal in Farm Bill
Jun 28 2018 // As the U.S. Senate prepared to consider amendments to its version of a farm bill, Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.) on Wednesday inserted a proposal to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for six months. The...
Chubb Announces Changes to North America Agriculture Unit Leadership
Jun 22 2018 // Chubb has announced leadership appointments in its North America Agriculture business, which includes commercial property/casualty insurance and the crop insurance franchise, Rain and Hail. Michael Coleman will assume the...
Hurricane Irma Blamed for Worst Florida Citrus Crop Since 1940s
Jun 22 2018 // Florida’s citrus growers are blaming Hurricane Irma for one of their worst seasons in decades. In a Naples Daily News report, U.S. agriculture officials said Florida’s orange production dropped nearly 35...
PEMCO in Washington Adds Farmer, Jameson
Jun 20 2018 // PEMCO Insurance has named Noel Farmer to the company’s infrastructure and operations team, where he’ll lead and manage PEMCO’s internal technical support group. PEMCO has also named Rebecca Jameson a...
Texas High Court: Policy Arbitration Clause Doesn’t Apply in Dispute With Non-Signatory Party
Jun 18 2018 // The Texas Supreme Court in late May ruled that a party to an insurance contract that mandates arbitration of disputes is not required to enter arbitration in a dispute against another party that is not a signatory to the...
Farmers in California Names Howard as Chief Claims Officer
Jun 13 2018 // Los Angeles, Calif.-based Farmers Insurance has been named Rob Howard chief claims officer Howard was head of claims shared services. He joined Farmers in 1987 as a claims representative in St. Louis, Mo., relocating to...
