Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hail Storm Damage to Mississippi Government Property Estimated at $25 Million
May 10 2013 // The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy in Pearl isn’t the most aesthetically appealing place to train officers these days, its director, Pat Cronin, concedes. The March 18 hailstorms that struck...
Senate Farm Bill Draft Boosts Southern Crop Subsidies
May 10 2013 // In a concession to Southern lawmakers, the new U.S. farm law would set sharply higher support prices for rice and peanut crops under a draft prepared for a Senate Agriculture Committee vote next week and released on...
Virginia Website Tracks Farm Accident Reports
May 8 2013 // The Virginia Farm Bureau has launched a website for reporting farm accidents. The site, FarmAccidentReport.com, allows anyone to report accidents they witness on Virginia farms. Jimmy Maass is the Farm Bureau’s...
Congress to Renew Effort on Farm Bill, Insurance Subsidies Next Week
May 7 2013 // Congress will begin writing a new, $500 billion U.S. farm law next week, the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday, even as calls mounted for deeper cuts in farm subsidies and food stamp spending. The...
Endurance Reports $92.1 Million Q1 Net Income; 85% Combined Ratio
May 3 2013 // Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. reported net income available to common shareholders of $92.1 million and $2.13 per diluted common share for the first quarter of 2013, compared to net income of $74.4...
Crop Insurance Subsidies Encourage Farmers to Buy Too Much Coverage: Economist
May 2 2013 // U.S. farmers have collected a record $17 billion in crop insurance payments on drought-hit 2012 crops but the system could have spent half as much and still saved growers from ruinous losses, an insurance specialist said...
Contaminated Ground Turkey Found in 21 States: Consumer Reports
May 1 2013 // Dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been found in ground turkey on U.S. grocery shelves across a variety of brands and stores located in 21 states, according to a report by a consumer watchdog organization. Of the...
EU to Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides Blamed for Harming Bees
May 1 2013 // The European Union will ban three of the world’s most widely-used pesticides for two years because of fears they are linked to a plunge in the population of bees critical to the production of crops. The executive...
Louisiana’s Ag Economy Hits Record $11.4B in 2012
Apr 30 2013 // The LSU AgCenter says high prices and record yields for corn and soybeans drove Louisiana’s agricultural economy to a record high of $11.4 billion last year. That’s about 6.5 percent more than the 2011 total of...
White House Formally Notifies Congress of Japan Free-Trade Talks
Apr 26 2013 // President Barack Obama’s administration on Wednesday notified Congress it will start free-trade talks with Japan, bringing the world’s third-largest economy into U.S.-led negotiations on a regional free-trade...
Big ‘I’ Honors Illinois Agent for Work on Crop Insurance
Apr 25 2013 // An Illinois agent has received an award from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA or Big ‘I’) for his work on behalf of crop insurance agents. Brian McSherry of Illinois is the 2012...
ACE Reports $953 Million Q1 net Income; P&C Combined Ratio 88.2%
Apr 24 2013 // ACE Limited reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 of $2.77 per share – $953 million – compared with $2.84 per share -$973 million- for the same quarter last year. Operating income was $2.17...
Farmers to Close 21st Century Insurance Call Center in N.Y.
Apr 19 2013 // Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Group is continuing its integration effort with 21st Century Insurance, an auto insurance company it acquired from American International Group for approximately $1.9 billion in...
Rains Wash Away U.S. Drought, Shifting Farm Economy’s Prospects
Apr 19 2013 // Torrential downpours across a broad swath of the U.S. Midwest this week are easing the worst drought in more than 50 years, flooding streams, snarling river transportation, stalling corn plantings – and changing the...
What Did Regulators Know Before Texas Plant Exploded?
Apr 19 2013 // Despite being located within a short walk of a nursing home, school and residential buildings, West Fertilizer Co. in central Texas had no blast walls and had filed no contingency plan to the Environmental Protection...
Oklahoma Bill Limiting Liability for Agritourism Businesses Signed into Law
Apr 16 2013 // A measure protecting limiting the liability for agritourism operators in Oklahoma has been signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin, according to the House of Representatives. State Rep. Scott Biggs, R-Chickasha and Sen. Ron...
Drought Poses Challenges New Mexico Chile Growers
Apr 16 2013 // The worst-ever Rio Grande drought is posing plenty of challenges this season for chile growers in New Mexico. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that one challenge is groundwater that’s applied to crops in the absence...
ACE Launches Agriculture P&C Business
Apr 12 2013 // The ACE Group has formed ACE Agribusiness, an agriculture property and casualty insurance business. ACE Agribusiness is comprised of Penn Millers Insurance Co., acquired by ACE in 2011, and the Farm and Ranch division of...
Virginia Farm Bureau Ratings Downgraded by A.M. Best
Apr 11 2013 // A.M. Best Co. said Wednesday it has downgraded the financial strength rating of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. in Richmond, Va., and its subsidiaries to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent). Additionally, Oldwick,...
President Obama Proposes Cuts in Crop Insurance Subsidy, Insurer Costs
Apr 10 2013 // President Barack Obama proposed reducing the most expensive part of the farm safety net by cutting the subsidy to farmers for buying crop insurance. At present, the government pays 62 cents of every $1 of insurance...
