The Merced County Department of Agriculture has always worked to protect our essential food supply, and the people that produce it. We routinely inspect for invasive and harmful agricultural pest, enforce plant protection quarantines, and perform inspections on pesticide applications for environmental and employee safety requirements. Recently, our office has been actively working with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the California Office of Emergency Services in the distribution of personal protective equipment in response to COVID-19 to those working in the Ag industry. The Ag industry includes farm labor contractors, growers, processors, dairies, pest control businesses, dealers, and other Ag supporting entities. The personal protective equipment distributed to the Ag industry includes; surgical masks, N95 masks, cloth face coverings, hand sanitizer, and vinyl gloves. Since May 2020, we have received 12 shipments of personal protective equipment. Working with the cooperation of industry partners, such as, the Merced Farm Bureau and community based organizations, such as, the Central Valley Opportunity Center, we have assisted with the distribution of 12,000 units of hand sanitizer, 40,000 units of vinyl gloves, and 111,000 cloth face coverings.
Since May 13, 2020, we have also distributed:
2,500 cloth face coverings to:
4 migrant worker camps
345,250 surgical masks to:
198 growers
22 dairy facilities
21 farm labor contractors
14 processors
6 pest control businesses
6 other ag entities
89,780 N95 masks to:
333 growers
22 pest control businesses
18 farm labor contractors
14 processors
11 other ag entities
9 dairy facilities
2 community based organizations
COVID-19 Resources for Agricultural Employers & Growers
