Geir Moulson

A seasonal worker from Rumania harvests asparagus on a field of farmer Henning Hoffheinz near Genthin, Germany on Wednesday, March 18. Last year, German farmers employed nearly 300,000 seasonal workers but as more and more European Union countries have restricted or stopped crossings of their usually near-invisible borders because of the coronavirus outbreak, Hoffheinz and others are left wondering how they will bring in their crops this year.

Virus Chaos Snarls Farm Workers as New Season Buds in Europe

The harvest of white asparagus is providing a first test of the fallout from the coronavirus crisis on a farming sector that relies heavily on migrant workers.