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Testing of an unknown number of watermelon harvesters in three north Florida counties revealed that three out of four were positive for COVID-19, Florida health officials told industry leaders.

A free recruitment tool has been launched for U.S. growers and farm labor contractors.

Employer and worker advocate groups disagree over solutions as COVID-19 outbreaks escalate at farms and packinghouses while summer harvests kick into high gear.

A Windsor-Essex County, Canada, health official used an Ontario statute to order a farm to take workers off the job and self-isolate after at least 191 of them at a greenhouse tested positive for COVID-19.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated the farmers.gov website with features designed to help growers hire workers through the H-2A program.

A California startup, Vinergy Inc., has equipment it says will improve vineyard efficiency by reducing a labor-intensive part of harvest — transporting grapes to the end of rows.

Three federal agencies are hosting a web seminar to update food companies on COVID-19 pandemic operating guidelines.

The California Fresh Fruit Association and California Farmworker Foundation have distributed more than 50,000 N-95 masks and single-use surgical masks to agricultural workers in the Central San Joaquin Valley.

Stemilt Growers has achieved a three-year Equitable Food Initiative certification at its Quincy, Wash., apple and cherry orchard operation. The company has plans to expand the program, according to a news release.

How much growers will pay for guest workers in the H-2A program in 2021 is unknown because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to suspend a report used to set wages.