Articles Tagged with ''coronavirus''

A major pork processing plant is coming offline after almost 300 of its workers have tested positive for COVID-19, leaving many in the industry bracing for potential shockwaves yet to come.

President Donald Trump says the federal government will distribute funds to producers impacted by coronavirus-related market disruptions in the “pretty near future.”

In this opinion piece, Michael Dykes, DVM, president & CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, urges Congress to compensate the men and women working on the front lines of the COVID-19 epidemic in food processing, food retail, food transportation, and throughout the food supply chain in the next coronavirus response package.

Demand for cotton around the world is spiraling downward during the coronavirus pandemic, causing the USDA to lower its forecast for global consumption by 6.4% - a whopping 7.6 million bales.

Senate Democrats halted a Republican effort to add $250 billion to the highly popular Paycheck Protection Program for farms and small businesses, saying the measure failed to address other more urgent needs.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue declined to weigh in on calls by Democratic leaders for a 15% increase in SNAP benefits, saying USDA’s job is to provide technical advice.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says USDA wants to provide relief from the COVID-19 crisis to eligible farm sectors “sooner rather than later,” but the department will have to wait until this summer at the earliest to distribute an additional $14 billion in aid.

Requests for COVID-19 relief are piling up at USDA. The produce industry is the latest to weigh in, with proposals to USDA to provide up to $5 billion in payments to growers and dealers who were hammered by the loss of markets after restaurants, hotels and schools shut down.

While the novel coronavirus looms over producers and farmworkers coast to coast, farmers and agribusinesses are employing a full array of practices and resources to beat it back.

The disruption triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has scrambled the entire U.S. food supply chain, but nowhere is the challenge more stark than in the egg industry.