Productivity coalition members: Australia and Brazil are the most prominent agricultural exporters among the eight nations who joined the U.S.-led Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization also joined. (USDA)
Innovation? Not here: States in the U.S. heartland are far behind the East and West coasts as incubators of entrepreneurship, meaning they have less chance of reaping the economic benefits of new firms in emerging sectors, says the think tank Heartland Forward. (Axios NW Arkansas)
Deere pays insurance: Machinery giant Deere and Co. said it would continue to provide healthcare to the 10,000 production and maintenance employees who are on strike, “as we work constructively with the UAW on a new collective bargaining agreement.” (Deere)
Foster Farms sale?: Family-owned poultry processor Foster Farms, located in California, is soliciting “take-over interest from bidders including private equity farms” amid consolidation pressures in the poultry processing sector, according to unnamed sources. (Bloomberg)
ADM profits double: Agricultural processor and exporter ADM said its third-quarter profit more than doubled this year, to $526 million, and that it expected record earnings per share for a second year in a row. (Reuters)