Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Missouri Lawmakers Add Limits on Liability Lawsuits
Sep 16 2013 // Missouri lawmakers have chipped away at the ability of injury victims to win money in court cases – nixing big-dollar judgments in some lead poisoning and traffic accident cases, and shielding volunteer health care...
Berkley Underwriting Partners Changes Name to Berkley Program Specialists
Sep 16 2013 // Berkley Underwriting Partners, a W. R. Berkley company, has changed its name to Berkley Program Specialists. The company said the change better reflects its sole focus on program business. “We decided to change our...
Crop Insurance Critics, Defenders in Last Push Over Reforms
Sep 12 2013 // Critics of the U.S. crop insurance program are calling for cuts to it and other agribusiness subsidies as Congress revamps farm policy. A bipartisan group of lawmakers planned to meet yesterday in Washington to re-examine...
Critics Say Taxpayers’ $14B Guarantees Profit for Crop Insurers
Sep 11 2013 // Former American International Group Inc. chief Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has a new business partner: the U.S. taxpayer. Greenberg’s Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. is one of 18 companies approved to...
More Minnesota Farms Relying On Irrigation
Sep 10 2013 // Alan Peterson is among a growing number of Minnesota farmers are relying on irrigation to ensure they can produce a crop when the weather turns dry. His 18 irrigators don’t reach all parts of his fields near Clear...
Insurance Pros in Politics: Insurance Good Training Ground for Political Leadership
Sep 10 2013 // When it comes to current or former occupations of state and federal lawmakers, that of insurance producer is not one of the most commonly listed, but perhaps it should be. The variety of skills one necessarily develops...
Insurance Pros in Politics: Midwest Politicians Work as Insurance Advocates
Sep 10 2013 // Those who have worked in the insurance industry and now practice politics in the Midwest say they are able to provide valuable insight into policies and insurance laws that affect their state’s important industries...
Insurance Pros in Politics: Georgia’s Kingston Brought His CPCU to Congress
Sep 10 2013 // Jack Kingston is U.S. Representative for the First Congressional District of Georgia, which encompasses 17 counties in Southeast Georgia including the entirety of the state’s coastline. He has represented the...
Crop Insurance: A Growing Problem in Time of Record Farm Profits
Sep 9 2013 // A Depression-era program intended to save the nation’s farmers from ruin has grown into a 21st- century crutch enabling affluent growers and financial institutions to thrive at U.S. taxpayer expense. Federal crop...
Top 10 States for Extreme Weather Crop Insurance Payouts
Sep 9 2013 // Extreme weather forced the federal crop insurance program to pay out a record-breaking $17.3 billion in crop losses last year, much of which could have been prevented using water-smart strategies, according to the Natural...
August’s Natural Disasters Caused $10B in Economic Damage: Aon Benfield
Sep 6 2013 // August saw billion-dollar flood losses in China, Russia, Philippines and Pakistan, bringing an initial combined estimate of $10 billion in economic losses, Aon Benfield said in a report on natural disaster...
U.S. Reinsurance Sector’s Profit Jumps 32% to $4.76B for 2013 First Half
Sep 5 2013 // The Reinsurance Association of America (RAA)’s latest survey shows a group of 18 U.S. property/casualty reinsurers posted $4.756 billion net income in aggregate for the first six months of 2013 — an increase of...
Rising Sea Levels Ranked as Greatest Climate Change Threat: Guy Carpenter
Sep 4 2013 // Guy Carpenter & Company has an analysis of the evolving risk landscape spurred by global warming, which stresses that “climate change, global warming and the resulting landscape shift for risk management is a...
Best Affirms Members of Farmers Insurance Group Ratings; Outlook Stable
Sep 3 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of the members of Farmers Insurance Group and Farmers Reinsurance Company....
Top New York Court to Decide Whether Towns Can Ban Fracking
Aug 29 2013 // New York’s highest court agreed to decide whether towns and cities have the power to pass anti-fracking laws. The Court of Appeals in Albany today said it will hear arguments in lawsuits seeking to block drilling...
Confusing Crop Insurance Rule Clarified for Midwest States
Aug 29 2013 // Farmers say they’re pleased with efforts by the federal Risk Management Agency to clarify rules for prevented planting insurance in five Upper Midwest states in 2014. The insurance pays farmers if their cropland is...
Farmers Names Weinstein General Counsel in California
Aug 28 2013 // Los Angeles, Calif.-based Farmers Insurance named Steven Weinstein general counsel. Weinstein is the former chairman of the Barger & Wolen law firm. Weinstein is replacing Frank Ceglar, a 36-year veteran of...
Crop Insurer Says Saskatchewan Had 25% Fewer Acres That Were Too Wet to Plant
Aug 28 2013 // Saskatchewan, Canada’s largest wheat and canola producer, had 25 percent fewer acres that were too wet to plant this year, the province’s insurer said. A total of 1.5 million acres of an approximate 27 million...
Top 10 States for Extreme Weather Crop Insurance Payouts
Aug 27 2013 // Extreme weather forced the federal crop insurance program to pay out a record-breaking $17.3 billion in crop losses last year, much of which could have been prevented using water-smart strategies, according to the Natural...
Crop Insurance Available to Michigan Tart Cherry Growers
Aug 26 2013 // Some tart cherry growers in Michigan now can buy federal crop insurance as protection against losses. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow made the announcement. The Michigan Democrat chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture,...
