NPC and a group of more than 160 farm, food, and agriculture organizations organized as the Agriculture Workforce Coalition sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence on Thurs., Sept. 24 calling for the federal government to do more to help farmers, ranchers, and growers across the country protect their employees from the COVID-19 coronavirus. Pence is head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur farm workers are vital to the success of this industry. Since the ag industry does not have many of these highly specialized resources itself, we need strong partnerships with federal and state agencies to ensure that rigorous testing and protection of this workforce occurs efficiently,\u201d said Kam Quarles, NPC CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter asks for help for farmers to \u201coffset the costs of COVID-19 mitigation expenses, while maintaining existing farm programs, by increasing Commodity Credit Corporation funds. These expenses include housing, transportation, retrofitting workplaces, testing, and training and compliance activities, among others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n