The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Farms could fold due to lack of migrant labour
BREXIT: More than half of seasonal migrants unsure if they will return this year
Crippling worker shortages threaten to force the closure of Angus farms, a study warns.
Thousands of seasonal migrants pick fruit in Scotland every year in a £100m-plus industry.
But a report by Scotland’s Rural College for the Scottish Government found the decline in numbers could destroy its viability, sending shockwaves through rural economies.
Bosses at Angus Soft Fruits, which alone needs 4,000 seasonal workers a year, say they “cannot bear to think what it would be like” if the drop in seasonal migrant numbers carries on.
The SRUC research found more than half of the country’s 7,325 fruit-picking migrants from 2017 did not know if they would return this year. The fall has been blamed on workers being put off by Brexit uncertainty, improving economies in Eastern Europe and the weak pound making the move less lucrative for migrants.
UK ministers say they will get the best deal from Brexit for accessing the labour the country needs.
Farms across Tayside and Fife face closure because of a lack of staff, a report has warned.
The decline in seasonal labour coming to Scotland could render the £100m-plus soft fruit industry unviable if it continues, the Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) study found.
The report, which was commissioned for the Scottish Government, laid out the importance of the sector to Tayside and Fife.
The area employed about 7,000 seasonal migrant workers last year, which is nearly 75% of the national total.
Across Scotland, most workers told the SRUC survey they did not know if they would come back this year.
The SRUC report said: “Should worker availability remain in decline, this has the potential to result in the loss of some farms and impact the overall viability of the horticultural industry, with knock-on impacts for local rural economies, and the sustainable, inclusive growth of the Scottish national economy.”
The fall has been blamed on workers being put off by Brexit uncertainty, improving economies in Eastern Europe and the weak pound making the move less lucrative for migrants.
James Porter, of Angus Soft Fruits, said: “The only way to pick fruit is by hand and there is not enough of a workforce in the UK that is willing or able to do it, so we are completely reliant on migrant workers to pick and pack all the fruit and veg.”
Last year, the Scottish workforce was up to 15% smaller than it needed to be, the report found.
The SRUC study added that Brexit has “undoubtedly affected the confidence of a proportion of workers and therefore their expectations about returning to Scotland in 2018”. Only two-fifths of the migrant workers surveyed said they would definitely come back this year.
Fergus Ewing, the rural economy secretary, said: “This latest report by SRUC on behalf of the Scottish Government underlines the interests of rural communities are served best by Scotland remaining in the EU.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, not least for our world-leading food and farming industry which is a key part of our nation’s economic success.”
gmcpherson@thecourier.co.uk
The UK and Scottish governments have been told they need to make a clearer commitment to supporting Britain’s horticultural industry in order to manage business and worker uncertainty.
That is the overriding message in a new study of seasonal agricultural workers by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) which also states that governments need to accept the need for access to sufficient numbers of migrant workers.
The study, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government, estimates that there were 9,255 seasonal migrant workers engaged in Scottish agriculture during 2017, including 900 employed directly by labour providers.
The majority of these workers were involved in picking soft fruit, but they were also employed in the field vegetable and potato sectors.
Approximately 40% of the surveyed workers said they would return to Scotland in 2018, while 12% were unlikely to return due to other commitments.
Nearly half (46%) were uncertain about whether they would return in 2018.
Meanwhile, the research revealed that nearly two-thirds of farmers who employ migrant seasonal workers would probably have to switch to other agricultural activities if they did not have access to this workforce, and more than half of the farmers said they may diversify their business into non-agricultural activities in future.
The recommendations emphasise that supportive government statements are a clear way of reducing uncertainty and would improve confidence in future horticultural investment and expansion.
The report also states that governments should engage directly with migrant workers and reassure them that they are welcome and valued.
As well as reinstating a Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS), the report advises the horticultural sector and governments to consider ways of increasing access to wider labour markets beyond the current emphasis on Bulgaria and Romania, which currently make up 60% of the seasonal migrant workforce.
Steven Thomson, senior agricultural economist at SRUC, said the report highlighted the importance of retaining access to the seasonal labour in order for Scotland to remain competitive in an increasingly global industry.
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk