They’re “essential workers,” according to the Trump administration.

But not essential enough to protect them from the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

They are farm workers — hundreds of thousands of mostly migrant field hands from south of the border, documented and not — who plant, weed, pick and pack fruit and vegetables to go on Americans’ dinner tables.

“As harvest season ramps up, farmers across several major produce states have installed more hand-washing stations, instructed workers to keep their distance and provided face masks — but those efforts have been inconsistent and largely voluntary,” reports Politico.

Now, labor advocates like Bruce Goldstein, president of the group Farmworker Justice, are warning that continuing to ignore this vulnerable population not only threatens uncountable lives but also endangers the U.S. food supply.

“We’re very concerned that the worst is yet to come,” Goldstein says.

Most farmworkers live in close quarters in dormitory-style rooms; they travel from field to field on tightly-packed buses and stay together when shopping for groceries or doing other errands.

“health officials… said workers did not become infected with the virus while working at the farm. It was when migrant workers left…on buses & in vans, & went back to the three local hotels where they were living four to a room, sleeping two to a bed.” https://t.co/4LmoDZHRPt

— Rachel Barnhart (@rachbarnhart) May 9, 2020

Under such circumstances the idea of social distancing, staying at least 6 feet apart, is, as one farm labor organizer put it, “laughable.”

“The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued recommended guidelines that cover a range of critical employment sectors, including farm labor. But the Trump administration has not made the guidelines mandatory, as the Department of Labor is empowered to do on an emergency basis,” Politico says.

“And the CDC has not released recommendations specific to field workers like it did for meatpacking employees as that industry fell into chaos in recent weeks.”

Labor Department officials insists its existing powers can ensure farm worker safety.

But U.S. fruit and vegetable farmers, dependent on migrant labor, are fearful that what happened to meatpackers could happen to their workers, too.

“We would be stupid to not care and not do everything we can to keep our workers as healthy as possible,” Florida farmer Chuck Obern told Politico, noting that most farm work is highly skilled and difficult to master.

“If Covid did come in and run through our crew, who would pick our crops?”