Alcohol sales booming (Vox): Liquor store owners report that alcohol sales have gone through the roof since shelter-at-home orders went into effect across the country.
Easier to hire guestworkers (USDA): To assure a labor supply during the pandemic, farmers who filed petitions for H-2A workers and who have a valid temporary labor certification can now hire guestworkers already in the United States, and workers with H-2A visas will be allowed to stay beyond the standard three-year limit, said the DHS and USDA.
Fast-food tensions (Wall Street Journal): McDonald’s franchisees want more financial support from the company to help them stay afloat as social distancing efforts reduce sales at many stores.
Rural infection rate is lower than urban (Daily Yonder): According to recent data, one out of five rural counties has reported a death from Covid-19 compared to two out of five urban counties, and the rural infection rate is just one-fifth the rate in large cities.
‘Fewer corn acres are needed’ (AFBF): Between a reduced demand for ethanol and the prospect of a record fall harvest, the U.S. is headed for monster corn supplies this year, writes a Farm Bureau economist, who advocates pulling back from plans to plant 97 million acres this spring.
Lockdowns block food in Africa (Associated Press): As African nations try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, restrictions on movement “have blocked farmers from getting food to markets and threatened deliveries of food assistance to rural populations.”
Resilience grows in a vegetable garden (New York Times Magazine): As a counterweight to the uncertainties of the coronavirus, neighbors in the former mill town of Wakefield, Rhode Island, are sharing the work of tilling, planting, and tending vegetable gardens.