Virus imperils farmworkers, harvest

One farm in Tennessee distributed covid-19 tests to all its workers after an employee came down with the virus. It turned out that every single one of its roughly 200 employees had been infected.

In New Jersey, more than 50 workers had the virus at a farm in Gloucester County, adding to nearly 60 who fell ill in neighboring Salem County. Washington state's Yakima County, an agricultural area that produces apples, cherries, pears and most of the nation's hops, has the highest per capita infection rate of any county on the West Coast.

The outbreaks underscore the latest pandemic threat to food supply: Farmworkers are getting sick and spreading the illness just as the U.S. heads into the summer. In all likelihood, the cases will keep climbing as more than half a million seasonal employees crowd onto buses to move among farms across the country and get housed together in bunkhouse-style dormitories.

The early outbreaks are already starting to draw comparisons to the infections that plagued the U.S. meat industry over the past few months. Analysts and experts are warning that thousands of farmworkers are vulnerable to contracting the disease.

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Aside from the most immediate concern -- the danger that farmhands face -- the outbreaks could also create labor shortages at the worst possible time. Crops such as berries have a short life span, with only a couple of weeks during which they can be harvested. If a farm doesn't have enough workers to collect crops in that window, it's done for the season and the fruit will rot. A spike in virus cases among workers may mean shortages of some fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, along with higher prices.

"We're watching very, very nervously -- the agricultural harvest season is only starting now," said Michael Dale, executive director of the Northwest Workers' Justice Project in Portland, Ore., and a lawyer who has represented farmworkers for 40 years. "I don't think we're ready. I don't think we're prepared."

Unlike grain crops that rely on machinery, America's fruits and vegetables are mostly picked and packed by hand, in long shifts -- a typically undesirable job in major economies. So the position typically goes to immigrants, who make up about three-quarters of U.S. farmworkers.

A workforce of seasonal migrants travels across the nation, following harvest patterns. Most come from Mexico and Latin America through key entry points such as southern California, and go further by bus, often for hours, sometimes for days.

There are as many as 2.7 million hired farmworkers in the U.S., including migrant, seasonal, year-round and guest-program workers, according to the Migrant Clinicians Network. While many migrants have their permanent residence in the U.S., moving from location to location during the warmer months, others enter through the federal H2A visa program. Still, roughly half of hired crop farmworkers lack legal immigration status, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

These are some of the most vulnerable populations in the U.S., subjected to tough working conditions for little pay and meager benefits. Most don't have access to adequate health care. Many don't speak English.

Without them, it would be nearly impossible to keep America's produce aisles filled. And yet, there's no one collecting national numbers on how many are falling sick.

"There is woefully inadequate surveillance of what's happening with covid-19 and farmworkers," said Erik Nicholson, a national vice president for the United Farm Workers. "There is no central reporting, which is crazy because these are essential businesses."

At Henderson Farms in Evensville, Tenn., where all the workers caught the virus, the employees are now all in isolation at the farm, where they live and work.

"We take our responsibility to protect the essential workers feeding the nation through the pandemic seriously," Henderson Farms Co. said in a statement. "In addition to continuing our policy of providing free healthcare, we have implemented additional measures to support workers directly impacted by covid-19, including those in isolation as per the latest public health guidelines. We are working closely with public health officials in Rhea County, Tenn., to ensure we can continue to deliver our high standard of care as we support our workers and our community through these unprecedented times."

One migrant worker from Mexico said seven employees at the Georgia produce farm where he works had fallen ill with the virus. The sick were asked to quarantine in a dormitory unpaid, but others who share the sleeping quarters, full of bunk beds about 3 feet apart, were still going into the fields, he said. He said he was afraid of getting infected, which would mean he wouldn't be able to send money back to his family.

In the U.S., migrant farmworkers come from primarily Mexico and Latin America.

President Donald Trump has sought to maintain the flow of foreign workers to U.S. farms during the pandemic, waiving interview requirements for some guest workers when consular offices shut down and exempting them from a temporary immigration ban. But so far, the administration hasn't created rules to protect the workers. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and 71 other members of Congress urged in a letter last week that the next coronavirus relief package include funding dedicated to combating the virus's spread among farmworkers.

Now, stay-at-home restrictions are easing in all 50 states, and some restaurants are opening back up. Meanwhile, labor shortages could get worse as illness among farmworkers deepens.

"The cost will go up, and there will be a little bit less available," said Kevin Kenny, chief operating officer of Decernis, an expert in global food safety and supply chains. "You really will see some supply issues coming."

Perishable crops that require more hands-on labor to pick are the most at risk of disruptions, including olives and oranges, Kenny said.

In Florida, oranges are "literally dying on the vines" as not enough migrants can get into the country to pick the crops, and things such as processed juice will probably cost more in the coming months, he said.

When the virus spread among America's meat workers, plants were forced to shutter as infections rates topped 50% in some facilities. Prices surged, with wholesale beef and pork more than doubling, and grocers including Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. rationed customer purchases. Even Wendy's Co. dropped burgers from some menus. After an executive order from Trump, plants have reopened, but worker absenteeism is restraining output. Hog and cattle slaughter rates are still down more than 10% from last year.

The produce industry could see similar problems because workers face some of the same issues. They sometimes work shoulder to shoulder. They are transported to and from job sites in crowded buses or vans. They often come from low-income families and can't afford to call in sick or are afraid of losing their jobs, so they end up showing up to work even if they have symptoms.

"A lot of people are concerned that the summer for farm workers will be like the spring for meat packers," said David Seligman, director of Towards Justice, a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization based in Denver.

Business on 05/30/2020

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