Business news in brief

UA sets farm-bill workshops, webinar

Farmers preparing to submit updated yield histories and base acreage for their crops as required by the 2014 farm bill will have more opportunities this month to learn more about the process before a March 31 deadline.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service is offering an online webinar today and workshops later this month on the filing requirements to qualify for either the new price loss coverage or agricultural risk coverage in the event of crop losses.

Today's webinar will begin at 9 a.m. Two University of Arkansas professors, Bobby Coates and Brad Watkins, will host the session, which will focus on the two coverage programs. People interested in participating can register for the webinar at http://tinyurl.com/lnn4zef.

The workshops, to be led by Agriculture Division economist Scott Stiles, will focus on learning to use a computer-based tool developed by Texas A&M and endorsed by the the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They include:

Tuesday -- 6 p.m. in Jonesboro at the Arkansas State University College of Agriculture computer lab (AG 242).

March 13 -- 10 a.m. in Forrest City at the East Arkansas Community College computer lab (Building C, Lab 1)

March 17 -- 6 p.m. in Jonesboro at ASU's College of Agriculture computer lab (AG 242)

March 20 -- 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Wynne at the East Arkansas Community College.

More information about the workshops can be found online at http://www.uaex.edu/.

-- Glen Chase

4 cities in Mississippi favor hotel tax

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. -- Officials in Moss Point, Pascagoula, Gautier and Ocean Springs have given the needed approval for Jackson County's proposed November referendum on a 2 percent hotel-motel occupancy tax.

The Sun-Herald reported the tax would raise $600,000 to $700,000 a year to fund Jackson County's membership in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The bureau will use the money to promote the three coast counties -- Hancock, Harrison and Jackson -- as a single tourism destination.

"It will allow us to stay a part of the CVB. It will give us a seat at the table and further develop tourism in Jackson County," County Administrator Brian Fulton said.

Often it's the attractions in Harrison County that stand out in people's minds, but Jackson County has a lot to offer in nature tourism, an area of interest that is growing nationwide, Fulton said.

It will also promote the one-coast concept, he said.

Moss Point and Pascagoula already have a 3 percent occupancy tax, which would increase to 5 percent if voters approve the added tax in November. Ocean Springs has a 2 percent tax, which would increase to 4 percent. Gautier and the county currently have no room tax.

-- The Associated Press

Abercrombie hangs for-sale sign on jet

In the clearest sign yet that Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s go-go days are over, the company is selling its private plane.

The clothing retailer put the jet on the market last quarter, Chief Financial Officer Joanne Crevoiserat said Wednesday on a conference call. Abercrombie also had to write down the value of the aircraft by $1 million, she said.

The move marks the end of an era in which Abercrombie executives jetted around the country with models, actors and white-glove table service. Former Chief Executive Officer Michael Jeffries, who stepped down in December at age 70, once had a 40-page-plus manual that dictated the dress, music and behavior of people flying on the company's Gulfstream G550.

On Wednesday, the company posted a 10 percent plunge in same-store sales for last quarter. It also declined to give revenue and earnings-per-share guidance for the year. In response, investors sent the shares tumbling more than 10 percent.

-- Bloomberg News

3 Argentine farm groups to halt sales

Three Argentine farm associations said their members will temporarily suspend grain and livestock trading to protest agriculture policies in the world's third-largest soybean producer.

Farmers will halt sales nationwide from March 11-13 to protest government policies on inflation, taxes and export limits that have hurt competitiveness, according to Ruben Ferrero, president of the Argentine Rural Confederation. Two other groups, the Rural Society of Argentina and Coninagro, said they will support the sales halt.

"We need to take urgent measures," Ferrero said in a phone interview Tuesday. "The government's policies are wrong."

The strike deepens a dispute between farmers and the government in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's final nine months in office. Former Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich in January said farmers are undercutting the government by hoarding their crops. Months of strikes by growers against Fernandez's proposed changes to export taxes in 2008 produced food shortages throughout Argentina, the world's second-biggest corn exporter, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Agriculture Minister Carlos Casamiquela dismissed the impact of the labor actions as Argentina will have a record crop this year while farmers are hoarding 10 million tons of soybeans.

"They are not selling already," he said Wednesday in an e-mail statement. "This strike is unjustified."

-- Bloomberg News

Toyota makes management changes

DETROIT -- Toyota on Wednesday announced management changes that consolidate power with North American Chief Executive Officer Jim Lentz and promote some U.S. executives to senior posts in Japan.

Lentz, who previously led sales and marketing, will head Toyota's North American manufacturing operations when the changes take place April 1. North American engineering and research operations also will report to him.

Toyota also promoted North American communications chief Julie Hamp to chief communications officer for the entire company. And it named Chris Reynolds a managing officer and chief legal officer for the whole company. Reynolds was general counsel for U.S. operations.

Company President Akio Toyoda said the diverse team of executives will help Toyota serve customers better around the world.

-- The Associated Press

U.K. to sell stake in Eurostar for $1.1B

LONDON -- The British government has agreed to sell its stake in Eurostar, the high-speed rail service that connects London with Paris and Brussels through a tunnel under the English Channel, for $1.1 billion, a move that's prompted accusations that it is selling the family silver.

The Treasury said Wednesday that a group of international investors, Canada's Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and U.K.-based Hermes Infrastructure, agreed to buy the government's 40 percent stake for $893 million.

Eurostar, which began services in 1994 and has carried 150 million passengers, also agreed to redeem the government's preference share -- a share that carries no vote but ranks higher than ordinary shares when dividends are paid out -- for an additional $262 million.

The national railways of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB, could still stymie the bid as they have, in their capacity as co-owners, the option to buy the U.K. government's stake but at a 15 percent premium. The closing of the deal depends on both declining to exercise that right, as well as regulatory approval.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 03/05/2015

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