Iowa corn milling company is suing AIG CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids corn milling company is suing a unit of insurance giant AIG and another company, accusing them of acting in bad faith for refusing to pay flood insurance claims.
Penford Products Co. is one of many eastern Iowa businesses suffering losses after massive flooding in eastern Iowa last June.
The company says it had a $300 million property insurance policy through an AIG unit and another insurance company, but has collected only $20 million on more than $50 million in claims.
Penford has filed suit against National Union fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, the AIG unit, and ACE American Insurance Co. of Philadelphia.
Those companies are disputing some of the claims made under the complex policy.
USDA: No more farm
subsidies to millionaires WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. authorities are cracking down on millionaires who receive farm subsidies by mistake.
A report released last year shows that a sports team owner, a financial firm executive and 2,700 other millionaires were receiving farm payments even though they probably were ineligible. The USDA said it did not have access to information from tax authorities that could have disqualified them.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce Thursday that his department will now work with the Internal Revenue Service to verify the incomes of subsidy recipients.
The new rules are part of an administration effort to improve coordination between agencies and trim waste from departmental budgets.
Nearly 25 percent
of U.S. pork is exported NEW CARLISLE, Ohio (AP) — Pork exports have steadily increased over the years, giving new life to hog farms in Ohio and across the U.S. that produce more pork than Americans eat.
Nearly a quarter of pork produced in the U.S. goes abroad, up from only 3 percent in 1990. Last year, farmers shipped a record 2 million metric tons of pork valued at nearly $4.9 billion. Because the sharp 2008 increase in pork exports represents an anomaly, numbers are expected to drop 14 percent this year.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation says the lower forecast is due to the global economic downturn and because China and other importing countries have increased pork production.
U.S. farmers have expanded to other countries and changed how they breed and feed hogs in an effort to hold onto overseas markets.
House Ag releases
climate change questionnaire WASHINGTON, D.C. — Earlier this month, the House Agriculture Committee issued a questionnaire on climate change proposals for completion by more than 400 stakeholder groups and interested members of the public.
The questionnaire, which spans six pages and more than 30 detailed questions, is available online and was also directly sent to an array of agricultural, environmental, scientific and educational groups. The committee said the questionnaire will allow stakeholders throughout the nation to provide their views on the different options being considered in Congress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially as they relate to the agriculture and forestry sectors.
The questionnaire can be accessed at http://agriculture.house.gov |
