Articles by Karl Plume

Mississippi River Reopens to Barge Traffic After Low Water Closures

Two stretches of the southern Mississippi River were reopened to commercial traffic over the weekend after dredging operations deepened the shipping channel near Memphis, Tennessee, and near Stack Island, Mississippi, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday. The major shipping …

U.S. Barge Backlog Swells on Parched Mississippi River

Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Tuesday as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said. The supply chain snarl comes …

Dry Winter, Wet Spring Shrink U.S. Wheat Crop, Adding to Global Woes From War

North Dakota farmer Dwight Grotberg wanted to plant more wheat this spring to capitalize on soaring prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut grain exports and left the world short of millions of tonnes of wheat supply. Heavy rain has …

Cybersecurity Incident Knocks Iowa Farm Services Firm’s Systems Offline

Iowa-based farm services provider NEW Cooperative Inc. said its systems were offline to contain a “cybersecurity” incident just as the U.S. farm belt gears up for harvest. The cooperative operates grain storage elevators in the top U.S. corn producing state, …

Union Cheers as Court Halts Trump Hog Slaughter Line Speed Rule

The largest U.S. meatpacking union celebrated a victory in federal court on Wednesday that it said invalidated a Trump-era rule allowing hog slaughter plants to run without line speed limits. A lawsuit brought against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) …

U.S. May Allow Flooded Farmers Filing Insurance Claims to Also Get Trade Aid

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking into ways to allow farmers who have been unable to plant crops due to rains and waterlogged fields to qualify for farm aid payments, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday. The government …

Insurers Deploy Drone Fleets to Speed Harvey Disaster Recovery

Fleets of commercial drones are primed to hover over the destruction from Tropical Storm Harvey in an unprecedented test of unmanned aircraft’s ability to assess billions of dollars in damage for the insurance industry and accelerate payouts for harried policyholders. …

Tennessee Restricts Monsanto Pesticide Use as Crop Damage Spreads

Tennessee on Thursday imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba, a flagship pesticide for Monsanto Co., becoming the fourth state to take action as problems spread over damage the weed killer causes to crops not genetically modified to withstand it. …

Archer Daniels Midland to Sell Crop Risk Services to Validus

U.S. agricultural commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland Co has agreed to sell its Crop Risk Services (CRS) insurance business for $127.5 million to Validus Holdings Ltd, the companies announced on Monday. The deal, which is expected to close in the …

ADM Sued Over Contaminated Equine Feed

Two horse owners have sued Archer Daniels Midland Co., accusing the U.S. grain processor and trader of distributing contaminated feed that sickened or killed several of their horses, according to court documents seen by Reuters. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. …