For months, gig workers have had to navigate all the complications and fears that can come with making deliveries during a pandemic, trying to stay safe while still doing enough to earn a living. Now many face the added challenge of doing all that amid widespread protests and strictly enforced curfews that vary by city. (CNN)

An American Farm Bureau official says farm trade will remain key to supporting the ag economy, during and after the coronavirus pandemic. (KMA)

On Dan Erickson’s 2,300-acre farm in northern Knox County where 18,000 pigs are sent to market each year, the fifth-generation farmer is faced with the biggest crisis of his career. (The Register-Mail)

The economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now left at least 20 million Americans unemployed, has pushed the nation’s network of food banks to the brink. Food pantries and other nonprofits are still seeing lines of cars with families waiting for hours to pick up food. (Politico)

A month ago, America’s pork farmers were in crisis. About 40 percent of the country’s pork plants were shut down because they had become hot spots of coronavirus infection. Pork producers and industry analysts said that if factories didn’t re-open quickly, they’d be forced to euthanize millions of hogs on their farms. But that worst case scenario seems to not be happening. (NPR Illinois)

USDA has announced a series of webinars for producers to learn more about the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. For more information, visit our COVID-19 page.