WEBVTT 00:01.900 --> 00:05.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JUDY WOODRUFF: COVID-19 is disrupting the farming industry on many levels. The Trump 00:07.433 --> 00:10.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% administration recently announced that it will spend $19 billion to help farmers. 00:10.566 --> 00:14.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% But, as Stephanie Sy reports, they aren't the only ones who need help. 00:14.666 --> 00:19.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: The cows still have to be milked, but dairy farmers are dumping millions of 00:20.500 --> 00:22.900 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% gallons of their output. 00:22.900 --> 00:27.133 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Endless acres of lettuce remain unpicked at the peak of the spring harvest.. 00:27.133 --> 00:30.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% JACK VESSEY, President, Vessey and Company: It is very difficult, not just for me on the 00:30.500 --> 00:32.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% economic side, but emotional side as well. 00:32.933 --> 00:37.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: And tractors are destroying crops, plowing them back into the ground. 00:37.466 --> 00:42.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MAN: You can see all these beautiful beans on these plants that were scheduled to go 00:45.966 --> 00:48.066 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% to the restaurant industry. 00:48.066 --> 00:51.633 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: The closure of restaurants and schools has shut down the food service industry, 00:51.633 --> 00:54.433 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% forcing farmers to make difficult decisions. 00:54.433 --> 00:59.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% But if there's so much food, why are grocery store freezers so empty? Repackaging and rerouting 01:01.933 --> 01:05.600 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% supply is an involved process, says Dave Puglia, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association. 01:07.533 --> 01:09.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% DAVE PUGLIA, President and CEO, Western Growers Association: If you think about a grocery 01:09.533 --> 01:13.733 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% store, you're going to see something on the shelf that's packaged for you, as a consumer. 01:13.733 --> 01:17.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% You go to a restaurant, they're buying in bulk. So we can't, unfortunately, flip that 01:17.400 --> 01:19.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% infrastructure over all that quickly. 01:19.533 --> 01:24.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: And what about donating the food to charitable food organizations, so 01:24.266 --> 01:29.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% desperately in demand right now? Food banks only have so much storage, and getting the 01:30.433 --> 01:32.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% surplus to them also costs money. 01:32.533 --> 01:35.833 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% DAVE PUGLIA: That farmer has to decide whether to spend the money to harvest it, which is 01:35.833 --> 01:39.033 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% the most expensive part of farming in the produce industry. 01:39.033 --> 01:43.133 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% So, if you already know you're taking on a 100 percent loss, do you want to make it 160 01:43.133 --> 01:47.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% percent by harvesting a product that doesn't have a profitable home? 01:47.033 --> 01:51.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Meanwhile, the livestock industry is facing other problems. Meat processing 01:51.666 --> 01:56.633 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% plants around the country have suspended operations due to outbreaks, including one of the nation's 01:57.800 --> 01:59.900 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% largest pork plants in South Dakota. 01:59.900 --> 02:04.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% The Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls had hundreds of employees test positive for 02:04.400 --> 02:09.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% COVID-19, and at least one has died. In rural Georgia and Iowa, the virus has claimed the 02:11.433 --> 02:16.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% lives of six employees of Tyson Foods, and other Tyson plants have dozens of cases. 02:18.066 --> 02:22.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And in Greeley, Colorado the JBS beef plant has temporarily closed after at least four 02:24.433 --> 02:27.966 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% workers died of the virus. One of them was Saul Sanchez, whose daughter and co-workers 02:29.333 --> 02:31.333 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% accuse the plant of not taking precautions soon enough. 02:31.333 --> 02:34.300 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% BEATRIZ SANCHEZ RANGEL, Daughter: Now they have everything. Now they're spacing them. 02:34.300 --> 02:38.933 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Now they're putting pictures everywhere. But it's too late. I mean, it's not too late for 02:38.933 --> 02:41.466 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% those employees, but it's too late for my dad. 02:41.466 --> 02:46.133 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: The plant closures may be necessary to ensure worker safety, but they also mean 02:46.133 --> 02:51.033 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% farmers are running out of places to take their livestock, and the potential for a meat 02:51.033 --> 02:52.766 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% shortage looms. 02:52.766 --> 02:55.333 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Thom Petersen is Minnesota's agriculture commissioner. 02:55.333 --> 02:58.333 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% THOM PETERSEN, Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner: It's been really vast. I mean, it's really 02:58.333 --> 03:02.466 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% affecting just about every sector of agriculture right now. 03:02.466 --> 03:07.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Pork is probably hit the hardest, but also egg farmers, our ethanol farmers, beef. It's 03:10.100 --> 03:14.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% really across the board. And it's going to get worse, probably, before it gets better. 03:14.000 --> 03:17.000 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: That may also hold true for farmworkers. 03:17.000 --> 03:20.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% MANUEL BRUNO, Farmworker (through translator): We work in the fields, and then we have to 03:20.400 --> 03:25.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% put in extra effort to get the work done, so that families have food in their homes. 03:27.033 --> 03:30.733 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% If there are no workers doing this, there won't be food in the stores. 03:33.066 --> 03:35.866 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: In the COVID-19 pandemic, they're considered by the government essential workers, 03:37.200 --> 03:39.200 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% but many are working without essential benefits. 03:39.200 --> 03:44.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% BERNARDITA, Farmworker (through translator): I have to work to pay the rent, the bills. 03:44.933 --> 03:47.166 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% These things don't wait for you. 03:47.166 --> 03:52.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Like many other farmworkers, if Bernardita falls sick or stops working, 03:54.100 --> 03:57.833 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% she doesn't have a safety net. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, about half of 03:57.833 --> 04:00.366 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% farmworkers are undocumented immigrants. 04:00.366 --> 04:05.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% BERNARDITA (through translator): I don't have papers. I don't have the same benefits as 04:06.100 --> 04:08.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% someone who has papers. 04:08.133 --> 04:12.766 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Dr. Eva Galvez is the daughter of farmworkers from Mexico and works at a 04:14.200 --> 04:16.600 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% community health center outside Portland, Oregon. 04:16.600 --> 04:21.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Tell me what your greatest concerns are when it comes to farmworkers' health and COVID, 04:21.066 --> 04:22.966 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% 19. 04:22.966 --> 04:25.500 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% DR. EVA GALVEZ, Family Physician: You have got families living together. So it makes 04:25.500 --> 04:29.833 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% social distancing hard. We know that, oftentimes, they are traveling to work in a truck, and 04:34.066 --> 04:36.133 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% they're all piling up together. 04:36.133 --> 04:40.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And it's really hard to do social distancing there. Even things -- something as simple 04:40.266 --> 04:45.266 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% as washing your hands off can be really difficult if your handwashing station is far from your 04:46.100 --> 04:48.633 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% station. 04:48.633 --> 04:51.466 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: And farmworkers that spoke to the "NewsHour" said they weren't getting adequate 04:51.466 --> 04:53.566 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% information. 04:53.566 --> 04:56.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% SALVADOR, Farmworker (through translator): They have never spoken to us about the virus. 04:56.400 --> 05:00.900 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Everything we know, the care we take, the precautions, we know thanks to the news, what 05:00.900 --> 05:03.333 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% we watch on television, on social networks. 05:03.333 --> 05:07.733 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: That's only part of what leaves these workers more vulnerable, says Armando 05:07.733 --> 05:11.033 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Elenes Secretary Treasurer of the United Farm Workers. 05:11.033 --> 05:13.400 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% ARMANDO ELENES, Secretary Treasurer, United Farm Workers: The stimulus bill excluded workers 05:13.400 --> 05:18.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% that are undocumented, so they can't collect unemployment. The additional $600 a week that 05:18.200 --> 05:21.633 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% other people are getting, they can't get that. 05:21.633 --> 05:25.466 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Some farmers do have protections in place. 05:25.466 --> 05:30.466 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% Jim Cochran is the owner of Swanton Berry Farms in Davenport, California, a union grower 05:31.633 --> 05:33.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% with 25 workers, who have benefits. 05:33.666 --> 05:36.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JIM COCHRAN, Owner, Swanton Berry Farm: You know, I don't want anybody who's sick working 05:36.233 --> 05:41.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% at the farm. A way to assure that is to pay their wages during any time that they might 05:42.333 --> 05:44.366 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% be sick. 05:44.366 --> 05:46.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: But even farmworkers under a union contract are concerned. 05:46.600 --> 05:50.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% VERONICA, Farmworker (through translator): What would happen if one of my colleagues 05:50.000 --> 05:55.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% got sick with this virus? The company would automatically close. They would send us home. 05:57.466 --> 05:59.600 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% What are we going to do without getting paid? 05:59.600 --> 06:04.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: In California, there may be some temporary relief, after Governor Gavin 06:04.066 --> 06:09.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Newsom announced $75 million in state funding for undocumented workers. From the crop pickers 06:10.600 --> 06:14.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% to farm owners, COVID-19 is taking its toll. 06:14.133 --> 06:19.133 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% THOM PETERSEN: We have had five years of down prices. We have had farmers that I know personally 06:22.333 --> 06:27.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% take their own lives. We have had a lot of farmers with really high stress. 06:29.766 --> 06:33.266 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Pressures on U.S. farmers were compounded in recent years by the Trump administration's 06:35.200 --> 06:38.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% trade war with China. Bankruptcies for family farms shot up 20 percent last year. 06:40.300 --> 06:43.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% THOM PETERSEN: And so I just ask people to keep farmers in their thoughts as we go into 06:43.566 --> 06:46.133 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% this as well. 06:46.133 --> 06:49.566 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: The pandemic is making the already risky farming business even more unpredictable, 06:51.633 --> 06:55.433 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% not only for the people that make up the farming industry, but for the nation's food supply. 06:57.866 --> 07:01.266 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% Part of the Trump administration's plan to bail out farmers includes the government buying 07:01.266 --> 07:06.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% $3 billion to buy some of that produce that we have seen wasted on farms. And they're 07:07.633 --> 07:10.700 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% trying to find ways to distribute it to food banks. 07:10.700 --> 07:15.700 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Joining me now to discuss how the epidemic is affecting the business of farmers, we're 07:17.733 --> 07:20.833 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% joined by Amy Mayer from Ames, Iowa. Amy is the agriculture reporter for Iowa Public Radio 07:21.700 --> 07:23.766 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% and Harvest Public Media. 07:23.766 --> 07:28.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Amy, you have covered deadly disease outbreaks among farm animals such as avian flu. And 07:30.533 --> 07:34.433 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% farmers always seem to have to adapt. How is this pandemic different? 07:34.433 --> 07:36.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% AMY MAYER, Iowa Public Radio: There's a couple of ways, I think, that it's different. 07:36.866 --> 07:40.766 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% For one thing, with a livestock disease outbreak, that is something that really impacts farmers 07:40.766 --> 07:44.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% first, and the rest of the public may find out about it after they have been dealing 07:44.300 --> 07:48.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% with it for sometime. And other people may not really feel it has a direct impact on 07:48.666 --> 07:51.166 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% their lives. 07:51.166 --> 07:54.866 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% With this one, obviously, the entire country was affected pretty much all at the same time. 07:56.766 --> 08:00.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And so, in that sense, farmers are right alongside of the rest of the population. 08:00.366 --> 08:04.700 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% The other thing that is important is there are certain types of challenges that farmers 08:04.700 --> 08:09.133 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% can anticipate and they insure themselves against, such as a severe weather event and, 08:09.133 --> 08:11.166 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% to some extent, livestock diseases. 08:11.166 --> 08:15.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Clearly, this is something that nobody saw coming, nobody had any kind of preparation 08:15.000 --> 08:17.100 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% for. 08:17.100 --> 08:19.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: I want to talk about what is happening at the meat processing plants. 08:19.066 --> 08:23.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% When it comes to those COVID-19 clusters, Amy, are companies (AUDIO GAP) responsibility 08:24.833 --> 08:26.800 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% at all, and are they doing anything differently now? 08:26.800 --> 08:29.800 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% AMY MAYER: We're seeing a little bit of variation among the different companies. 08:29.800 --> 08:34.800 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We have heard that, in some cases, temperatures are taken as workers enter the building each 08:36.700 --> 08:40.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% day. Some of the companies may have given masks or face shields to employees, although, 08:42.066 --> 08:45.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% in other cases, it seems that's been up to employees to provide for themselves. 08:45.466 --> 08:50.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We're getting scattered reports of Plexiglas dividers going up in between the different 08:50.000 --> 08:53.733 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% stations on the line. Those are something that wouldn't normally be there. 08:53.733 --> 08:58.733 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% But there have not been specific required guidelines from any federal agency or even 09:00.766 --> 09:04.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% many of the state and local agencies about what the companies could or should be doing. 09:04.400 --> 09:09.266 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: And, clearly, a lot of employees are now being sent home. And these meat processing 09:09.266 --> 09:12.400 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% plants, some of them are having to suspend operations. 09:12.400 --> 09:16.133 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Should consumers expect meat shortages to result from this? 09:16.133 --> 09:20.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% AMY MAYER: Right now, what we have been hearing is that there won't actually be shortages 09:20.566 --> 09:23.533 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% of meat in the big picture. 09:23.533 --> 09:28.500 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% What consumers may start to see is that the cuts of meat, the types of meat that are available 09:28.500 --> 09:32.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% at their grocery stores may be a little different than what they have been used to, or may not 09:32.200 --> 09:37.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% get refilled into those cases at the grocery store as quickly as they have become accustomed 09:37.666 --> 09:40.166 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% to. 09:40.166 --> 09:42.900 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% It's important also to remember that restaurants and other institutions that serve food have 09:42.900 --> 09:46.933 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% been shut down. And that happened before we started seeing the problems with the processing 09:46.933 --> 09:51.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% plants. That's meant a lot of the meat that you talked about being redistributed to food 09:51.300 --> 09:56.300 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% banks may ultimately also be able to be repackaged and redistributed and become available, where 09:58.266 --> 10:00.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% supermarkets might have some cuts that normally would just be at fine dining establishments. 10:00.866 --> 10:05.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% STEPHANIE SY: Amy Mayer of Iowa Public Radio and Harvest Public Media, joining us from 10:06.466 --> 10:07.466 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% Ames, Iowa. 10:07.466 --> 10:09.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% Amy, thank you so much. 10:09.133 --> 10:10.366 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% AMY MAYER: Thanks for having me.