World Ag Expo Kicks Off In Tulare County

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, February 12, 2025…

• Thousands of people are attending this week’s World Ag Expo in Tulare County. There’s plenty to choose from, depending on what you’re looking for. And for many in the farming industry, a big issue right now is bird flu.
• California’s FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, is asking for help paying customer claims due to the Eaton and Palisades fire.

World Ag Expo Showcases The Latest Developments In The Agriculture Industry

People from all over the world are gathering in Tulare this week for the World Ag Expo. Some are here to buy an all new tractor. Others are looking to sell off their beloved cow. And some just want to eat a really good tri tip sandwich. 

It comes at a time when several issues are facing the industry. There’s concerns about immigrant farmworkers and possible deportations from the Trump administration. There’s also effects that possible tariffs may have on goods that are produced in the state.

Bird flu has also had a devastating impact on the state’s poultry and dairy industries. Lucas Fuess is a Senior Dairy Analyst with Rabobank. “It’s a significant issue, especially in California and a few other surrounding states,” he said. “But what we’ve seen is the bird flu impacts have been so significant on California, pulling production  down 6 to 7% versus the prior year. That reduction in California has actually pulled total U.S. milk output lower again, which was a little bit unexpected. And that kind of speaks to the significant impacts that California dairies are seeing around bird flu.”

California’s FAIR Plan Needs $1 Billion More For LA Fires Claims

California’s plan that provides insurance to homeowners who can’t get private coverage needs $1 billion more to pay out claims related to the Los Angeles wildfires, the state Insurance Department said Tuesday.

The FAIR Plan is an insurance pool that all the major private insurers pay into, and the plan then issues policies to people who can’t get private insurance because their properties are deemed too risky to insure. The plan, with high premiums and basic coverage, is designed as a temporary option until homeowners can find permanent coverage, but more Californians are relying on it than ever. There were more than 452,000 policies on the Fair Plan in 2024, more than double the number in 2020.

The plan says it’s expecting a loss of roughly $4 billion from the Eaton and Palisades Fires, which sparked Jan. 7, destroyed nearly 17,000 structures and killed at least 29 people. Roughly 4,700 claims have been filed as of this week, and the plan has already paid out more than $914 million. Under a FAIR Plan request approved by the state Tuesday, all insurers doing business in California will have to bear half the cost and can pass on the rest to all policyholders in the form of a one-time fee. Insurers can collect that cost in the next two years. The state Insurance Department must approve those costs.