pandemic Archives - Investigate MidwestInvestigate Midwest

COVID-19 and Meatpacking

Trump ag secretary Sonny Perdue personally lobbied to keep meatpacking plants open during pandemic, emails show

By Madison McVan, Eli Hoff and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest | July 2, 2021

It’s well-established that Trump administration officials wanted meatpacking plants to keep operating, often with industry pressure, as workers fell ill and died by the dozens. But new emails obtained by nonprofit Public Citizen show Perdue personally lobbying to keep plants open, including pressing Robert Redfield, the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director.

Coronavirus

OSHA and USDA waited months into pandemic to coordinate effort into COVID-19 crisis in meatpacking plants, emails show

By Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | February 5, 2021

OSHA and USDA waited until April of last year — more than three months into the pandemic and after a plant shut down because workers fell ill — to plan a response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases at meatpacking plants, according to emails obtained by Public Citizen.

coronavirus

SURVEY: We asked farmers how they’re dealing with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they said.

By Marissa Plescia, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 10, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened some farmers' stress. A few shared how they're managing it.

Agribusiness

Graphic: Among agribusinesses, dairies received the most loans from federal Paycheck Protection Program

By Samuel Trilling and Pramod Acharya, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | August 26, 2020

About 1 percent of all PPP loans went to agribusinesses.

Beef prices

USDA report: Beef prices spike after pandemic declared

By Heather Schlitz, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | July 30, 2020

After a state of emergency was declared in the U.S. on March 13, beef production, prices and spread were likely impacted by consumer stockpiling of meat and declining demand from restaurants as take-out and delivery became the only options, according to the report.

#agalerts

#AgAlerts: Covid-19 affects meat supply, worker wages and drinking water; robot and weeds

By Cynthia Voelkl/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | May 1, 2020

At least two million animals have already reportedly been culled on farm, and that number is expected to rise. Approved methods for slaughtering poultry include slow suffocation by covering them with foam, or by shutting off the ventilation into the barns.