Grayson Wilmeth was a little distracted when he answered his cellphone on his farm in Dilley, Texas, about an hour southwest of San Antonio.
“There’s a whole bunch of coyotes running across my peanut fields as I’m talking to you,” he said, pointing the predators out to his kids.
Those coyotes can do some serious damage to a peanut field. Wilmeth and his crew are only a few weeks from harvest, so the fields are nice and green.
He needs all hands on deck, but that’s tougher that usual to pull off right now.
“My employees have had or have tested positive for COVID,” he explained. “My wife and I also tested positive about three or four weeks ago. So we’ve had to deal with this the entire growing season of these peanuts, being short-staffed.”
Nobody on his farm got too sick, so work was able to continue as long as people were quarantined in their own pickup trucks and tractors.
What’s more, he said the federal government strongly encouraged farmers like him to keep producing during the pandemic.
“And that’s what made things complicated is that they’re pushing us to keep growing food obviously,” he said. “They want us to keep working while everybody else is getting to stay at home.”
At home, Americans are eating a lot of peanuts. Consumption is at an all-time high.
“We saw peanut butter sales up in March 75% year over year,” said Ryan Lepicier with the National Peanut Board.
About 80% of the peanuts grown in the U.S. are runner peanuts, which are overwhelmingly ground into peanut butter. Forty percent of the peanuts grown in Texas are that variety.
“We’ve got all these parents working from home. They’re needing quick, easy meals for their kids or their kids,” said Shelly Nutt, executive director of the Texas Peanut Producers Board. “Kids are going to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again, which has been great for our industry.”
Great for the peanut industry, sure, but a spike in demand means more work.
“They need all hands on deck shelling peanuts,” Nutt said. “And every time someone gets sick they’re out for two weeks and they’re having a shortage of help on the plant floor.”
She said peanuts have seen a climb in price over the last four or five months and are still trending up.
What’s going on with extra COVID-19 unemployment benefits?
It’s been weeks since President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum that was supposed to get the federal government back into the business of topping up unemployment benefits, to $400 a week. Few states, however, are currently paying even part of the benefit that the president promised. And, it looks like, in most states, the maximum additional benefit unemployment recipients will be able to get is $300.
What’s the latest on evictions?
For millions of Americans, things are looking grim. Unemployment is high, and pandemic eviction moratoriums have expired in states across the country. And as many people already know, eviction is something that can haunt a person’s life for years. For instance, getting evicted can make it hard to rent again. And that can lead to spiraling poverty.
Which retailers are requiring that people wear masks when shopping? And how are they enforcing those rules?
Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, CVS, Home Depot, Costco — they all have policies that say shoppers are required to wear a mask. When an employee confronts a customer who refuses, the interaction can spin out of control, so many of these retailers are telling their workers to not enforce these mandates. But, just having them will actually get more people to wear masks.
You can find answers to more questions on unemployment benefits and COVID-19 here.
As a nonprofit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism.
Your investment in Marketplace helps us remain paywall-free and ensures everyone has access to trustworthy, unbiased news and information, regardless of their ability to pay.
Donate today — in any amount — to become a Marketplace Investor. Now more than ever, your commitment makes a difference.
tinyurlis.gdv.gdv.htu.nuclck.ruulvis.netshrtco.detny.im
مقالات مشابه
- شرکت صادرات و واردات کالاهای مختلف از جمله کاشی و سرامیک و ارائه دهنده خدمات ترانزیت و بارگیری دریایی و ریلی و ترخیص کالا برای کشورهای مختلف از جمله روسیه و کشورهای حوزه cis و سایر نقاط جهان - بازرگانی علی قانعی
- با علم معرفی اجی مجی به عنوان بهترین مجموعه آموزش دروس ابتدایی
- تابستان فرا رسیده است. بسیاری از مشاغل در تابستان ندارد.
- شرکت صادرات و واردات کالاهای مختلف از جمله کاشی و سرامیک و ارائه دهنده خدمات ترانزیت و بارگیری دریایی و ریلی و ترخیص کالا برای کشورهای مختلف از جمله روسیه و کشورهای حوزه cis و سایر نقاط جهان - بازرگانی علی قانعی
- چای ماسالا چیست؟
- شرکت صادرات و واردات کالاهای مختلف از جمله کاشی و سرامیک و ارائه دهنده خدمات ترانزیت و بارگیری دریایی و ریلی و ترخیص کالا برای کشورهای مختلف از جمله روسیه و کشورهای حوزه cis و سایر نقاط جهان - بازرگانی علی قانعی
- خرید کتاب پزشکی زبان اصلی
- شرکت صادرات و واردات کالاهای مختلف از جمله کاشی و سرامیک و ارائه دهنده خدمات ترانزیت و بارگیری دریایی و ریلی و ترخیص کالا برای کشورهای مختلف از جمله روسیه و کشورهای حوزه cis و سایر نقاط جهان - بازرگانی علی قانعی
- معاملات اهرمی فیوچرز - امیدینو.ترید
- شرکت صادرات و واردات کالاهای مختلف از جمله کاشی و سرامیک و ارائه دهنده خدمات ترانزیت و بارگیری دریایی و ریلی و ترخیص کالا برای کشورهای مختلف از جمله روسیه و کشورهای حوزه cis و سایر نقاط جهان - بازرگانی علی قانعی