AOC Aon Corp.

CHICAGO, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Add agriculture to the list of industries affected by Hurricane Katrina. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO ) "A million pounds of processed chicken is probably rotting in the heat right now," says Tami Griffin, senior vice president of Aon's agribusiness group. "Mississippi produces ten percent of the nation's chickens, and most of the state's 14 processing plants are offline." She says some have been damaged and that many of them have do not have power or water. In addition, many of the farms that supply chickens to the processors have been hit hard by the storm. Hundreds of chicken houses, many of which contain thousands of birds, were damaged. It is difficult to estimate the full extent of the damage, but she says it may take weeks or months for full production to resume. The short and long-term future of the oyster industry is in question now that many of the docks and boats used to harvest the mollusks have been destroyed. Griffin says pumping the polluted water out of New Orleans and into the Gulf of Mexico will likely have an environmental impact on the entire Gulf coast fishing industry as vegetation and marine life struggle to deal with the toxins. Griffin says that it appears that sugarcane fields throughout the Gulf coast have been flattened, and two major sugar refineries near New Orleans are no longer operating. "Sugar supplies were already tight before the storm," she says. Avocado prices may increase as early estimates indicate some 70 percent of Florida's avocado crop was lost. Grain producers are now scrambling to find alternatives sources of transportation. Nearly 70 percent of the nation's grain exports (wheat, corn, soybeans) go through Louisiana. The Port of New Orleans also handles a large amount of imports such as bananas, coffee, forest products, and other goods. The temporary disruption of the port's operations forces producers to find other ways to move their product in the short-term, substantially increasing the cost. Griffin says moving grain by rail or on trucks is considerably more expensive than by river barge. Fuel costs are a major concern for farmers getting ready for harvest, Griffin adds. The equipment needed to harvest crops requires large amounts of fuel, and the cost is much higher than previous years, yet the price per bushel is not. Fertilizer prices will also increase substantially, she says, as major fertilizer plants are located in the Southeast and rely on natural gas, the cost of which is rising rapidly. About Aon Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC) ( http://www.aon.com/ ) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 47,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. For more information, contact: Thaddeus Woosley, Aon Corporation, 312.381.2446, Or Al Orendorff, Aon Corporation, 312.381.2446, This press release contains certain statements related to future results, or states our intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include: general economic conditions in different countries in which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension plans, changes in the competitive environment, our ability to implement restructuring initiatives and other initiatives intended to yield cost savings, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation model, the impact of investigations brought by state attorneys general, state insurance regulators, federal prosecutors, and federal regulators, the impact of class actions and individual lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions, derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies from actuarial estimates. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results, is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Thaddeus Woosley, +1-312-381-2446, , or Al Orendorff, +1-312-381-2446, , both of Aon Corporation Web site: http://www.aon.com/

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