U.S. issues meat plant guidance (FERN’s Ag Insider): The CDC and the Labor Department released coronavirus guidance for meat plants that encourages workers to be “placed at least six feet apart, if possible,” with barriers between workers if possible, and the use of face masks in addition to social distancing. The interim guidance calls for plants to write Covid-19 control plans that include plenty of hand sanitizer stations.
USDA asks bids to fill food boxes (The Packer): The Agricultural Marketing Service requested proposals by Friday for its plan to supply pre-filled boxes of produce, dairy and meat products to charity, with purchases of $300 million a month for six months.
Three more states get P-EBT (USDA): California, Connecticut and Wisconsin received USDA approval to operate a Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program to help low-income families whose school-age children lost access to free or reduced prices meals due to school closures. Vermont’s plan to allow online purchase of groceries by SNAP recipients also was approved.
Cattle stay on the range (Drovers): Only 1.56 million head of cattle went into U.S. feedlots during March, the lowest total for a March since records began in 1996, and there were 5-percent fewer cattle in feedlots on April 1 than a year earlier, according to the monthly Cattle on Feed report.
Limits on guestworkers possible (Washington Post): Stephen Miller, a senior White House policy adviser, told Trump supporters that measures were under consideration to restrict guestworker programs because “the most important thing is to turn off the faucet of new immigrant labor.”