Sickening smell of wasted soft fruit

The sickly smell of overripe, rotting fruit hits you as soon as you enter the polytunnels. Walk a little further, and in drill after drill, row after row, tens of thousands of mushy, mouldy strawberries lie wasting on bushes.

It’s a shocking sight, not just because so much food is being needlessly squandered, but because among all the ruined fruit there are still plenty of perfect, delicious berries that are as good as those in any supermarket punnet. It comes as no surprise to learn that many growers are now suffering from the sort of stress and distress suffered by livestock farmers during the foot and mouth crisis.

The arguments for the reinstatement of a seasonal agricultural workers scheme, which worked perfectly until a few years ago and which other EU countries still use to attract essential labour from outwith Europe, were made over and over again in the years leading up to this crisis. This year’s bumper harvest and a hot summer of unprecedented demand for fruit has only exacerbated the problem.

Robotic pickers may provide some of the solutions in the future, but in the fruit fields of central Scotland the situation is now critical. All soft fruits are rapidly ripening in tunnels and the picker pressure is building, yet by the end of August many Eastern European workers will be ready to go home and this week’s Brexit White Paper makes it clear that a decision on a seasonal workers scheme will not be made until September at the earliest.

Industry leaders and politicians have often described Scotland’s soft fruit industry as a “jewel in the crown” of British agriculture, and there’s no denying our growers do the job brilliantly, but it is now clear the sparkle will fade unless this paralysed Tory administration urgently opens the door to dedicated temporary workers.

Strawberries are now starting to go to waste on some farms.