COVID
The commodity markets came under pressure to start the week as traders tried to shed risk over shipping concerns in China as COVID-19 concerns caused officials to shut down transportation amid a two-pronged lockdown.
Hundreds of trucks, recreational vehicles and cars were circling the outskirts of Washington on Sunday, threatening to cause traffic backups around the capital as part of a protest against pandemic restrictions.
A red zone is defined by the White House as an area with 100 or more new infections over a one-week period. The good news is the rate of new cases is dropping, says Alan Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association.
Rural communities are likely to see an outbreak of the COVID-19 variant omicron later than big cities but Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the pandemic will eventually end.
Small, rural hospitals are struggling to keep, find or hire staff as the omicron variant begins its push across rural America. Rural healthcare advocates say it’s already creating an unsafe situation.
More than 60 ag groups telling the Biden Administration on Monday the nearly 7,000 South African farm workers should be exempted from restrictions related to the Omicron variant.
The White House says 95.6% of USDA employees have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or filed for an exemption, but the number who’ve received the vaccine is the lowest among reported federal agencies.
“We’re going to do it differently. We’re going to choose active ingredients we haven’t used before. We’re going to do different kinds of production activities,” says Allan Gray at Purdue University.
Cotton prices are a bright spot for cotton producers across the U.S. As harvest hits high-gear, yields are coming in strong, while prices remain at a 10-year high.
Ford Motor will require most of its 32,000-strong U.S. salaried workforce to be vaccinated by Dec. 8. The second largest U.S. automaker said on Wednesday more than 84% of U.S. salaried employees already are vaccinated.