Tens of hundreds of thousands of kilos’ value of fruit and greens went to waste within the first half of this yr due to labour shortages on British farms, based on a serious business survey revealed on Monday.
The National Farmers’ Union estimated that as much as £60mn of produce had been thrown away due to an absence of fruit and vegetable pickers. The calculations had been based mostly on a survey of 199 growers, a few third of the sector, who collectively reported £22mn of wasted crops.
British farms have been blighted by workers shortages because the introduction of powerful immigration guidelines on low-skilled employees after the EU’s free motion of individuals provisions ceased to use within the UK following Brexit.
The authorities’s seasonal agricultural employees’ visa scheme, which has been prolonged till the tip of 2024, was launched to plug the gaps within the workforce, enabling 38,000 visas to be issued to farm employees.
But the survey throws new gentle on the shortfalls of the scheme, which solely offers sufficient visas to fill roughly three-fifths of jobs within the sector.
Several sectors that traditionally relied on low-skilled employees from the EU — together with agriculture, hospitality and social care — have been hit notably exhausting by staffing issues lately. Foreign care workers are additionally eligible for a particular visa.
Staffing ranges on the growers surveyed had been on common 14 per cent under the required ranges. Some 9 per cent of employees additionally left their contracts early, including to the workforce shortages.
“It’s nothing short of a travesty that quality, nutritious food is being wasted at a time when families across the country are already struggling to make ends meet,” stated Tom Bradshaw, NFU deputy president.
Bradshaw known as on the federal government to extend the variety of visas obtainable beneath the seasonal employees scheme and lengthen it to at the very least a five-year rolling scheme. Growers count on an additional fall in manufacturing subsequent yr of 4.4 per cent.
He added that this season’s growers had additionally needed to take care of “a really challenging growing environment” due to the report temperatures and extended dry spell.
“With the demand on the seasonal workers scheme expected to increase again next year, it’s vital the scheme has the capacity to facilitate the people the sector needs to pick, pack and process the country’s fruit and vegetables,” he stated.
Bradshaw stated the survey “demonstrated just how crucial it is for fruit and veg growers to have access to the workforce they need”. This yr, 63 per cent of seasonal employees had been recruited by means of the particular visa scheme. That quantity is subsequent yr anticipated to rise to 69 per cent.
“Expanding the seasonal workers scheme will play a vital role in enabling that access and ensuring we don’t see this devastating level of food waste next year,” he added.
The Home Office, nonetheless, has given no indication that it intends to develop the seasonal employee scheme and plans as a substitute to scale back the variety of visas allotted from 2023. The authorities hopes that schemes to encourage British employees into the sector, along with progress on automation, will make up the distinction.
“We will always back our farmers and growers and ensure that they have the support and workforce that they need,” the Home Office stated, including: “We are also working towards attracting UK workers into the sector.”
