Detasseling contractor talks how pandemic restrictions affect operations

Bill Sloup is a contractor with Sloup Thorell Detasseling and NBS Detasseling.

He said he's been contracting in the business for 38 years.

But 2020 isn't a normal year.  Restrictions and guidelines to hinder the spread of the coronavirus have impacted how many businesses and organizations operate.

“A couple of months of ago, I don’t think any of us were sure that we would even get to this," Sloup said.  "And I understood that.  Everybody was shut down, so why would we be any different?”

Today, Sloup said some detasseling work is already underway.

With the virus around, he said social distancing is key to how they go about business.  He said it won't affect how many people they have working in the field at one time, but it will change how they handle transportation.

“We’re not going to have a problem with that once we get to the fields because a corn field’s a big place and we spread our crews out," Sloup said.  "The issue’s going to be once the kids arrive in the parking lot at the pickup points and keeping them socially distanced.”

He said they're restricted to having just one person per seat on buses, which means they'll have to run extra buses and get more drivers.  He also said they'll be taking everyone's temperatures.

Sloup said his operation has been at it for so long that parents know they'll do everything they can to look after their kids.

“At my age, I’ve always said I don’t want to send a crew out unless we have tremendous leaders," Sloup said.  "And we do that.  We have tremendous leaders that have been with us for many, many years, and that’s the best thing we can do to have safety.”