COVID-19 has shuttered nonessential businesses across the United States. Operations like hospitals and grocery stores are staying open, of course. And the system that makes sure the grocery stores have food to sell are also considered vital. A large meat processing plant closed in recent days because its employees fell ill with COVID-19. Those meat processing plants are an essential part of the food chain, and so are livestock auctions that supply them. Those auctions are important to ranchers and the rural economy. And the people working at those auctions are taking precautions to make sure they can operate safely.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

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