The research team members stand no closer than six feet from each other. When they must work closer, they wear protective gear. It's how in-field agricultural research is handled now in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the University of Georgia Ponder Farm in Tifton, Ga., March 26, Stanley Culpepper and his research team, minus his usual student workers who were sent off campus, continued tending and data collection on his vegetable research plots. To work with the products they test, the team already used at times high-spec protective equipment, tools which now take on a broader benefit to keep the work going.

The UGA Extension weed specialist submitted a proposal, including a detailed safety plan, to the university's research administration in Athens to get a waiver to continue research already underway. Other UGA researcher had to do the same. To comply with recommended measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, on March 20, the university suspended any new research starting this season without special permission.

Southeast Farm Press appreciates Culpepper and team sending in the pics. Stay safe.