Drought Persists in U.S. Plains; Slight Improvement in Midwest

January 3, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsSnowfall in parts of the U.S. Plains last week had little impact on historic drought gripping the region, but parts of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin showed slight improvement, weather experts said.

A weekly report issued Thursday by a consortium of federal and state climatology experts said that as of Jan. 1, 42.05 percent of the contiguous United States was in severe to exceptional drought, down from 42.45 percent the previous week.

Parts of the central Plains received snow in the last week, providing some much-needed protection for the region’s dormant winter wheat crop before temperatures plunged at the end of December.

However, the snow was insufficient and did not offer much drought relief, according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report.

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Drought Holds Steady in Midwest, Clouding Winter Crop Outlook

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The nation’s worst drought in decades showed no signs of improvement last week in parts of the Midwest and Plains where the corn harvest is about two-thirds complete, clouding the prospects for the winter wheat crop, according to a drought report released Oct. 11.

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly update, showing that nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states remained mired in some form of drought, was released the same day the federal government lowered for the fourth month in a row its projection for the size of this year’s corn crop.

The USDA now estimates that farmers will harvest 10.71 billion bushels of corn, down from last month’s estimate of 10.73 billion bushels. The average yield is about 122 bushels per acre, off from July’s projection of 122.8 bushels.

The dry conditions remained unchanged in Iowa, the nation’s biggest corn producer, with three-fourths of the state still in the extreme or exceptional drought

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Best Agency to Work For: Midwest

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

This year six agencies in all received top honors as a Best Agency to Work For. The Best Agencies to Work For in 2012 include: Bryan Insurance Agency, Graham, Texas; Meyer & Cook Insurance, Walnut Grove, California; Walker Myers Insurance & Risk Management, Austin, Texas; Herbie Wiles Insurance, St. Augustine, Florida; Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, Madison, Wisconsin; American Insurance Services, Clark, New Jersey.

Insurance Journal wishes to thank the many customer service representatives, account executives, producers, managers and other agency staff who took the time to nominate their independent insurance agency in this year’s survey.

Always Striving to be a Cut Above the RestMadison, Wisconsin
Hausmann-Johnson Insurance

“We always do what we say we’re going to do.”

That slogan serves as a guiding light for Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, the agency selected as Insurance Journal‘s Best Agency to Work for in the Midwest in 2012, and one of the many reasons why the firm’s associates endeavored to recognize it as such.

Steve Squires, president and CEO, says he’s pleased but not surprised that the agency’s associates

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