Latest Agribusiness Headlines
All the headlines from our Agribusiness Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Farmers, Safety Group Sue Monsanto Over Biotech Wheat
Jun 7 2013 // American wheat farmers and a food safety advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday against biotech seed developer Monsanto Co., accusing the company of failing to protect the U.S. wheat market from contamination by its...
Insured Losses from Europe Floods Estimated at $2.65B, Less Than in 2002
Jun 7 2013 // The losses insurers face from the worst flooding in central Europe since 2002 may be lower than those resulting from the deluge 11 years ago even as the toll on local economies looms larger. Insured losses may reach 2...
Kansas Farmer Sues Monsanto over GMO Wheat Discovery
Jun 6 2013 // A Kansas farmer has sued seed giant Monsanto over the recent discovery of genetically engineered experimental wheat in an 80-acre field in Oregon, claiming the company’s gross negligence hurt U.S. growers by driving...
Baucus in Montana Eyes Summer Deal On Farm Bill
May 31 2013 // Montana farmers told U.S. Sen. Max Baucus that planned cuts to the farm bill could make the crop insurance safety net too expensive. Baucus held a round-table discussion with farmers and agricultural groups Wednesday. The...
North Carolina’s Hagan Amends Senate Farm Bill to Address Crop Fraud
May 29 2013 // A measure championed by U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan adds $5 million in new funding to the 2013 farm bill to help root out crop insurance fraud. The Senate approved Hagan’s amendment last week by a vote of 94-0. The money...
Senate Votes to Cut Crop Insurance Subsidies to Wealthiest Farmers
May 23 2013 // The wealthiest 20,000 U.S. farmers should pay more for taxpayer subsidized crop insurance, the Senate voted on Thursday, adopting a measure that blended deficit reduction, populism and farm program reform. Senators...
White House Urges Senate to Cut Crop Insurance by $1 Billion
May 21 2013 // The U.S. Senate should cut crop insurance subsidies, the most expensive part of the farm safety net, by $1 billion a year before it passes the new farm bill, the White House said on Monday. The five-year farm bill would...
D.C. Lobbyist Gannon to Head Federal Affairs for Farmers Insurance
May 20 2013 // Washington, D.C. lobbyist Matt Gannon was named head of federal affairs at Farmers Insurance. Gannon replaces Mike Moran, who left Los Angeles, Calif.-based Farmers to take a position with Zurich North America as assistant...
Abe Faces Uphill Task in Boosting Foreign Investment in Japan
May 20 2013 // Japan risks missing, yet again, an opportunity to use foreign investment to help fuel sustained economic growth that has eluded it for the last two decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make Japan “the...
Wisconsin Congressmen Propose Changes to Crop Insurance Bill
May 16 2013 // Two Wisconsin congressmen are proposing changes to the nation’s crop insurance program that they say will save the federal government $11 billion over the next 10 years. Democratic Rep. Ron Kind and Republican Rep....
House Farm Bill Expands Crop Insurance, Cuts Food Stamps
May 16 2013 // A Republican-controlled panel in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the biggest cuts in food stamps for the poor in a generation and a potentially expensive expansion of federally subsidized crop...
Bill to Expand Crop Insurance Passes Senate Committee
May 14 2013 // The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill on Tuesday, costing $500 billion over a decade, that would expand the scope of the federally subsidized crop insurance program and modestly trim spending on food stamps...
Feds: Another Tough Wildfire Season For West
May 14 2013 // Fire officials are poised for a tough wildfire season after another dry winter across much of the West, and made more challenging because federal budget cuts mean fewer firefighters on the ground, Interior Secretary Sally...
Crop Insurance Expansion Pushes Cost Increase in Latest U.S. Farm Bills
May 13 2013 // The federally subsidized crop insurance program, the costliest part of the U.S. farm safety net, would spin off at least three new types of coverage and could cost 10 percent more under draft farm bills pending in the U.S....
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...
