coronavirus NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 coronavirus Sat, 08 May 2021 09:37:43 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Amy Mayer Balance sheets for farms may look better at the end of 2020 than they have in years. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast . Some expenses have been lower this year, like diesel to power farm equipment, interest on bank loans and livestock. “We haven’t had a decline in expenses of this magnitude or duration since the farm crisis of the early 1980s,” says USDA economist Carrie Litowski. But in a presentation about the latest data on farm income, she said income from crop and livestock sales has declined in 2020, even as overall farmers should pull in more money. “The expected increase in 2020 is largely because of supplemental and ad hoc disaster assistance payments for COVID-19 relief,” Litowski says. Many farmers got checks through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and some also borrowed through the Paycheck Protection Program, which will convert loans to grants if certain criteria are met. USDA calculates that as income for now but will make https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farm-income-year-mostly-thanks-uncle-sam 947 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 04 Dec 2020 15:32:53 +0000 Farm Income Up This Year, Mostly Thanks To Uncle Sam Jonathan Ahl A joint effort by federal and state governments to help small meatpacking plants increase their capacity is encountering some bumps. Earlier this year, COVID-19 outbreaks as large slaughterhouses and meat processing plants led to temporary closures. That resulted in higher prices and meat shortages at grocery stores, which in turn led some consumers to look at local meat from small, mostly rural processing plants. While that demand was good for the industry, it also overtaxed the small processors’ ability to keep up. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/state-and-federal-efforts-help-small-meatpacking-plants-may-take-time 940 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 13 Nov 2020 15:28:48 +0000 State And Federal Efforts To Help Small Meatpacking Plants May Take Time Dana Cronin At a campaign rally in Wisconsin last week, President Trump announced U.S. farmers will receive an additional $14 billion in coronavirus relief aid. This second round of relief aid builds on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program launched in April to allocate $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers. However, the initial round of CFAP still has $6 billion unpaid dollars in the pot. “Just under half of [the additional aid] is probably just repurposing the funds that were not spent in the previous program,” says University of Illinois ag analyst Jonathan Coppess . “I think that’s a fair estimate given what little we know about it at this point in time.” Signup for CFAP 2 begins on Sept. 21, about a week after the initial round of applications closed on Sept. 11. Coppess says he sees reasons to believe the USDA is rushing out payments. For example, CFAP 2 payments hinge on losses incurred on the 2020 crop, which hasn https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-are-getting-another-round-coronavirus-aid-usda-hasnt-fully-spent-first-one 916 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 21 Sep 2020 22:02:55 +0000 Farmers Are Getting Another Round Of Coronavirus Aid, But USDA Hasn't Fully Spent The First One Jonathan Ahl Missouri and Oklahoma are both trying to help reduce the supply chain problems in the meat industry seen during the coronavirus pandemic by directing federal grant dollars to meatpacking plants. Coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants led to shortages and higher prices. “During COVID-19, our food supply was tested from farm to fork. Farmers and ranchers saw tight livestock supplies on their farms, while consumers saw their choices of certain cuts of meat shrink or go away,” said Chris Chinn, Director of the MIssouri Department of Agriculture. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/states-look-federal-coronavirus-funds-help-meatpackers 895 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 29 Jul 2020 21:36:28 +0000 States Look To Federal Coronavirus Funds To Help Meatpackers Dana Cronin When you walk into Cyndy Ash’s barn, one of the first things you notice is a huge burlap sack, bursting at the seams with wool. “We’re sitting on about 600 lbs of wool from when they were sheared last. And it’s been sitting there since they were sheared in March,” Ash says. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/help-uncle-sam-isn-t-reaching-all-farmers 891 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:05:47 +0000 Help From Uncle Sam Isn’t Reaching All Farmers Dana Cronin The number of families experiencing food insecurity has hit a record due to the pandemic, and Black and Hispanic families are disproportionately affected. A new study from Northwestern University, based on Census Bureau data, shows that 40% of Black households and 36% of Hispanic households are struggling to afford food. Meanwhile, about 22% of white households are reporting food insecurity. “We’re seeing right now that food insecurity is higher than we’ve ever seen it before,” says Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach , Director of the Institute for Policy Research, which conducted the study. “But we’re also seeing the depths of the recession we’re in right now is much worse than anything we’ve seen before.” Historically, there have been racial discrepancies in families reporting food insecurity. According to Schanzenbach, though, these numbers have spiked to levels never seen before and are undoubtedly linked to the coronavirus pandemic. “This is something that we would predict based on the https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/new-study-reveals-racial-disparities-among-food-insecure-families 888 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 21:53:20 +0000 New Study Reveals Racial Disparities Among Food Insecure Families Jonathan Ahl National forests, including Mark Twain in the Missouri Ozarks, saw big crowds over the 4th of July holiday weekend, proving to be a popular destination for leisure activities while coronavirus concerns remain. While forest office staff are still working from home because of pandemic concerns, the campgrounds, bathrooms and other public areas and facilities started opening to visitors in mid to late June. National forests in the region are still accumulating data, but are reporting full campgrounds over the Independence Day holiday and full parking lots during the day. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/national-forests-hoping-be-destinations-during-coronavirus-uncertainty 886 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 19:15:25 +0000 National Forests Hoping To Be Destinations During Coronavirus Uncertainty Dana Cronin In the past two weeks, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) has issued about $1.4 billion to agricultural producers to provide a boost amid the coronavirus pandemic. What’s unclear is how those distributions were calculated. “We lack some pretty key transparency on how they get to the payment,” says Jonathan Coppess , Assistant Professor of agriculture at the University of Illinois. The payments are part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program ( CFAP ), a program launched by the USDA in April to maintain the food supply chain and feed hungry Americans. CFAP includes a total of $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers. So far, Midwestern states, led by Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, have received the bulk of the money. Livestock producers have been top earners overall as well. While the USDA is releasing weekly tallies of where the money is going, it’s unclear how they’re making those determinations. “USDA’s provided information that https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-lacks-transparency-how-its-distributing-coronavirus-aid 873 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:15:02 +0000 USDA 'Lacks Transparency' In How It's Distributing Coronavirus Aid Amy Mayer In January, amid much fanfare and optimism, China and the United States signed phase one of a trade deal intended to be the first step toward ending the nearly two-year-old trade war. In the agreement, China agreed to increase its purchases of agricultural products by $32 billion over the next two years. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding hit to the global economy, which led to lower prices for commodities like soybeans, one of the things China buys from the United States. With the deal’s goals written in dollars, not volume, Steve Nicholson, an analyst with Rabo Agri-Finance in St. Louis, says the terms have become more complicated. “If you’ve promised to take $36 billion worth of goods and commodity prices are going down, that just makes [it] very, very difficult for that to happen,” he said. What’s more, June kicked off with China pausing state-owned companies’ imports of U.S. soybeans and pork. The move was in response to the United States attempting to punish https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/phase-one-deal-china-falling-victim-pandemic-politics 870 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 05 Jun 2020 21:31:33 +0000 Phase One Deal With China Falling Victim To Pandemic, Politics Jonathan Ahl Rural hospitals have been planning for the arrival of the coronavirus, but the preparations for a virus that may not come are putting some already struggling rural hospitals in danger. Mike Gruenberg, director of disaster preparedness at Salem Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access care facility, said getting ready for coronavirus patents meant making major changes. “We don’t usually admit patients on ventilators, so usually those kind of patients we would send to the urban facilities,” he said. “We have had to change our way of dealing with that. We have some extra ventilators in-house. We are able to keep these patients.” The hospital, located in a town of about 5,000 about 125 miles southwest of St. Louis, set up special rooms to treat COVID-19 patients, bought more protective equipment like gowns and masks, and canceled all elective and non-emergency procedures to avoid cross-contamination of coronavirus to other patients. The hospital tested more than 50 patients with https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/already-struggling-rural-hospitals-now-deal-coronavirus-challenges 861 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 12 May 2020 01:35:31 +0000 Already Struggling Rural Hospitals Now Deal With Coronavirus Challenges Lee Gaines Lisa Marlow is worried about her students. Marlow is a school nurse and educator with the Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186. The district serves primarily low-income students in a rural part of southern Illinois. When school is in session, Marlow says having eyes on students, especially those with chronic conditions like Type 1 diabetes or asthma, is crucial. “The biggest reason why it's a huge part of our job is because people don't get to access health care anywhere else, or won't or don't have the means to. I have high school students who don't have insurance,” Marlow says. Schools in Illinois are closed through the end of the current school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and students may be missing out on more than just face-to-face time with teachers. They also might be missing an important link in their access to health care: school nurses. Without daily access to students, school nurses like Marlow fear that warning signs of illness or abuse may go unnoticed. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/illinois-school-nurses-fear-their-students-safety-during-covid-19-pandemic 855 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:59:59 +0000 Illinois School Nurses Fear For Their Students' Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic Staff Friday, April 17, 2020 Workers at a processing plant in Fremont, Nebraska, have fallen ill with symptoms of COVID-19. The company confirmed its first case of the disease earlier this week. LPP confirmed in a statement the employees are isolating at home with sick pay. “Once we learned these team members were demonstrating symptoms, we advocated for testing and also removed additional employees known to be in close contact with these individuals,” said Jessica Kolterman, Director of Corporate and External Affairs. The company has implemented a mitigation plan over the past month: the plant began limiting visitors to the plant before its first case was confirmed and screens the temperature of anybody who enters the building. Social distancing is practiced throughout the plant where possible—like break rooms—and masks have been provided to employees. Lincoln Premium Poultry also gave workers a two dollar-per-hour raise starting in March. The plant is considering further mitigation tactics https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/live-blog-covid-19-disrupts-meatpacking-plants 849 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 17 Apr 2020 16:11:56 +0000 Live Blog: COVID-19 Disrupts Meatpacking Plants Dana Cronin As the price of gasoline plummeted amid COVID-19 restrictions, so has the price of ethanol. And Midwestern corn farmers are beginning to feel the impacts. “People like myself have been affected financially tremendously,” says Paul Jeschke, full-time corn farmer and District 5 Director of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board . Approximately 40% of corn grown in the U.S. is made into ethanol, which is blended with gasoline to reduce emissions. With most Americans stuck inside amid social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, the demand for gasoline has dropped off, and with it, the demand for ethanol. According to Jeschke, corn growers were hopeful the price of corn would surpass $4.00/bushel. However, with current corn bids well below that, Jeschke says many growers will have a hard time breaking even this year. “There’s a lot of fear out here about this corn market and wondering where it’s gonna go from here,” he says. Some ethanol plants have even been forced to close down , including https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/corn-growers-struggle-amid-decreased-ethanol-demand 839 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 27 Mar 2020 22:26:26 +0000 Corn Growers Struggle Amid Decreased Ethanol Demand Dana Cronin It’s become a common sight at grocery stores across the country: empty shelves , devoid of essential food and household items. Illinois, which is facing a shelter-in-place mandate , is no exception. When Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the three-week shelter-in-place order, he deemed farmers markets and produce stands essential businesses. However, local food producers across the state are worried the market will look a lot different this year due to COVID-19. “Oh, my. Our heads are spinning,” says Patty Marco, co-owner and operator of Wiltse’s Farm Produce in Maple Park, Illinois. Wiltse’s is a fourth-generation, family-owned farm operated by Marco and her two siblings. They’re well-known for their sweet corn, but they grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. “The easiest thing I always say is that we grow A to Z, asparagus to zucchini, and everything in between,” Marco says. It’s approaching planting season for that asparagus and zucchini, and Marco says all the uncertainty is https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-who-sell-directly-consumers-plan-worst-amid-covid-19 838 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 27 Mar 2020 03:39:44 +0000 Farmers Who Sell Directly To Consumers 'Plan For The Worst' Amid COVID-19