NPPC Applauds Government Guidence Recognizing U.S. Agriculture as Critical Industry

Mar 23, 2020

This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance on critical industry workforce that should continue as the country addresses and responds to the coronavirus outbreak; U.S. food and agriculture was included among 16 critical industries.

Specifically, DHS recognized as essential a variety of pork production roles. Among these critical workers:

Food manufacturer employees and their supplier employees—to include those employed in food processing (packers, meat processing, cheese plants, milk plants, produce, etc.) facilities; livestock, poultry, seafood slaughter facilities; pet and animal feed processing facilities; human food facilities producing by-products for animal food; beverage production facilities; and the production of food packaging.
Farm workers to include those employed in animal food, feed, and ingredient production, packaging, and distribution; manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of veterinary drugs; truck delivery and transport; farm and fishery labor needed to produce our food supply domestically.
Animal agriculture workers including those employed in veterinary health; manufacturing and distribution of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal drugs, feed ingredients, feed, and bedding, etc.; transportation of live animals, animal medical materials; transportation of deceased animals for disposal; raising of animals for food; animal production operations; slaughter and packing plants and associated regulatory and government workforce.

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Video: Measuring Methane Emissions From Cattle with Unique Technologies

PhD Student Madison Kindberg, and Air Quality Specialist and Professor, Dr. Frank Mitloehner explain the unique Cattle Pen Enclosures and how they will capture emissions from cattle using state of the art technology. The enclosures are well equipped with one-way airflow fans, smart scales, and smart feeds that can tell you what an animal ate, when they ate and how much they ate. All enclosures are connected to one mobile air quality lab which uses gas monitors and analyzers to collect precision data. This data will be used to determine if an early-life methane reducing bolus can reduce emissions from cattle long-term.