Pandemic goes rural (Washington Post): Coronavirus outbreaks in urban areas are being followed by a rising number of cases in rural areas, “a fundamental shift in who it touches and where it reaches in America.”
Covid-19 at five LA meat plants (Los Angeles Times): Five meatpacking plants in Los Angeles County, including Smithfield-owned Farmer John, “producer of the beloved Dodger Dog,” were hit by outbreaks of Covid-19 between March and May, said the county health department.
‘Virtual’ tour finds smaller crop (Hutchinson News): The Kansas wheat crop will total 284.4 million bushels, 7 percent smaller than the mid-May estimate from USDA and 16 percent less than the 2019 harvest, said the annual wheat tour, conducted by internet for the first time because of the coronavirus.
Stay at home, shop at home (Harvest Media): Rural grocers are benefitting from the pandemic in two ways: local residents are shopping in town instead of driving to bigger stores in a bigger towns, and people drive out from the city because rural stores are less crowded.
Worries about Loeffler (New York Times): President Trump’s political advisers are increasingly concerned about the electoral prospects of appointed Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who faces strong challengers from both parties in a winner-take-all special election on Nov. 3.
Florida tomato area has more cases than Fort Lauderdale (WFTX-TV): Immokalee, a tomato-growing agricultural community in southwest Florida, has more confirmed cases of Covid-19 than Fort Lauderdale and the rising number of cases could herald a second wave of the disease.