News and Stories

The attached pictures show two different romaine crews with newly implemented Social Distancing Practices. We are seeing several different types of practices being utilized depending on the crop and harvesting equipment.

In the attached pictures, you will see the increased separation between the harvesters/packers (approximately five feet). The crew in the first two pictures, that normally has 27-28 employees, is now down to 22, and the cutters who normally harvest one bed each, are now harvesting from two beds on either side of them. The machine now has to travel slower to harvest the same amount of product. Not all harvesting crews will be able to adjust to this method and may choose to travel over the field twice to harvest the entire field, instead of slowing the machine down, as is shown in the last two pictures.
Other practices that are either being implemented now or may soon be adopted include:

• Sanitizing the farmworker transportation buses before every trip
• Allowing only one worker per seat on the bus; requiring more buses to transport the same number of people
• Face masks or facial covers of some kind
  • Many have masks for the crews on back-order
  • Visitors/Inspectors in the field may be required to wear masks or facial covers
  • If masks are cloth/reusable, they must be properly washed daily
• Staggering lunch breaks to avoid large groups congregating
• No sharing of food at lunch breaks
• Plexiglass installed between packing stations where proper distancing is not possible

There may not be consistency across the industry due to all the variables involved, but significant changes have been made, and more are coming. As a result of these changes, efficiencies are down and costs are on the rise.

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.
 
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