uring the month of April we have continued to work remotely from our homes. Even though we are not going into the office, daily work has continued as normal with a few adjustments to allow for social distancing. With the offices closed to the public, we have set up a way for soil samples to continue to be accepted at all four offices and we are still able to go on field/home visits while following social distancing guidelines.
Due to social distancing guidelines, many farmers’ markets will be opening later than usual this year, and when they do open, the markets will have extra guidelines in place to adhere to social distancing guidelines and help protect the health of both the vendors and the public. With farmer’s markets opening later than normal, some producers have started looking into other ways to market and sell their product. Some of these ways include setting up a CSA and/or an online store. Not only are producers looking into new ways to sell their product but, consumers have also become more interested in purchasing locally grown food.
While attending workshops on marketing locally grown/raised food and updates on how COVID-19 is affecting agricultural markets, meetings and workshops have looked a little different recently. Meetings and workshops are now held over Zoom (or a similar platform) and this has opened up opportunities to sit in on workshops from other states without having to travel. Even with the changes we have experienced over the last month, we have continued to receive many soil samples at the Independence office, and with the warmer weather I have already started to get calls regarding pond management and aquatic weeds.
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