Are you overwhelmed by all the information on social media, TV and radio about the COVID-19 pandemic? At the same time, perhaps you’re frustrated that very few of these mainstream stories talk about the impact of the crisis on agriculture.  What you need is a place you can go to find out about topics related to both COVID-19 and agriculture, and how the crisis could affect you personally.

Bob Nielsen, Purdue University Extension corn specialist and long-time purveyor of the Chat ‘N Chew Café, a ‘virtual’ coffeeshop for farmers, especially for those with an interest in anything related to corn, has ‘built’ a place you will want to visit. Go to: COVID-19 Information for Agriculturists.

Once there, you will find two sections: ‘news articles’ and ‘information resources.’ For example, when Nielsen unveiled the page on March 19, he provided a link to an article about persisting issues over guest worker concerns by Keith Good at the University of Illinois. The article makes two key points. First, there is plenty of food in the U.S. to restock shelves. It’s just a matter of supply catching up with demand, including transporting the supply to where it’s needed. The article even includes embedded quotes, including one from Jayson Lusk, head of Purdue University Agriculture Economics, noting “Happy to report the meat counter in my local grocery store is fully restocked,” including a picture of a full meat case.

Second, even while American Farm Bureau officials were pitching the importance of H2-A workers getting visas, the U.S. State Department was halting processing of all routine visas in most countries around the world.

In the Information Resources section, Nielsen included a link to “Coronavirus (COVID-19)” by USDA. Visit that link and you find a whole storehouse of other articles assembled by USDA related directly to agriculture and the current crisis.

Nielsen says the page won’t be up forever, but for as long as he feels it is useful to people.