The National Pork Producers Council is renewing its call for the Federal Government to address the ongoing problem of the shortage of year round workers on agricultural operations. The concern is that with the Covid-19 outbreak, that could escalate into a crisis situation. Minnesota Pork Producers Association President Dave Mensink says it’s a huge worry for all of U.S. agriculture.

He says one of the major worries is the move by the State Department to suspend visa processing for workers from Mexico that are hired at U.S. processing plants.

Mensink says to be able to continue feeding people, the packing plants must be kept up and operating.

Mensink says it’s also critical to keep supplies flowing to pork operations for things like boots and disinfectants and anything used for biosecurity.