How a major U.S. farm lender left a trail of defaults, lawsuits

Harrod, Ohio | Reuters -- After completing a credit review in a half-hour phone call, a BMO Harris Bank underwriter cleared US$12 million in loans for Ohio corn and soybean producer Greg Kruger in 2013. Kruger had initially asked for a $2 million loan to build a grain elevator. But the Chicago-based bank, one of[...]


Minnesota declares state of emergency over avian flu

Chicago | Reuters -- Minnesota declared a state of emergency on Thursday over a fast-spreading strain of avian flu that has led to the extermination of more than 7.3 million birds in the country. It followed Wisconsin's action on Monday. The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified on 46 Minnesota farms[...]

U.S. could use vaccines being developed to fight bird flu in poultry

Chicago | Reuters -- Faced with a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected millions of chickens and turkeys, the U.S. Agriculture Department could turn to what it has always seen as a last resort: readying and deploying a vaccine to fight the disease. Up to now, USDA has said it would prefer not to[...]