When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, and restaurants and other food-related industries had to close, farmers, including in Nevada County, were nervous about crop-demand plummetting. But County Agriculture Commissioner Chris de Nijs says those worries have eased…

Meanwhile, de Nijs says livestock producers have been struggling more with lower market prices. That was especially the case when some meat production companies had to close, due to outbreaks of the virus. But he says the biggest concern has been shortages of personal protective equipment, especially N95 respirators, which are needed when using pesticides…

But de Nijs says they’ve been able to obtain a lot of single-use surgical masks and hope to get some N95’s in the near future. As for the overall financial impact on Nevada County’s agriculture industry, de Nijs says it’s too early to say, although he’s glad the pandemic didn’t hit during harvest season.