Fruit farmers fear crops left to rot amid staff shortage

BRITISH apples and pears could be left to rot on trees unless thousands of extra fruit pickers can be recruited in the next month, the industry has warned.

Apple and pear farmers are currently on course to be “left short” this year due to an acute shortage of workers.

The industry needs about 10,000 fruit pickers for the apple and pear harvest, which kicks off in August, but early estimates suggest orchards could be short by at least 2,000 workers.

Ali Capper, executive chairman of industry group British Apples and Pears, said: “The British apple and pear harvest from August to November is in jeopardy. We are urging the Government to make further provision for additional seasonal workers that we need to pick our 2022 crop.”

Ministers earlier this month laid out plans to provide a further 10,000 visas for seasonal workers. However, 2,000 of those visas have been assigned to the poultry sector, leaving other industries struggling to fill posts.

About 1.6bn pieces of fruit need to be picked in orchards across the country during the apple and pear season.

Ms Capper said growers would have to make “difficult decisions” without extra support. “Many of the Gala varieties, for example, require a second or a third pick, because the red colour doesn’t come uniformly all in one night, so they leave fruit on the trees and come back two or three weeks later,” she said.

“If you’re under pressure because you don’t have enough labour, that second or third pick won’t happen. Significant amounts of fruit are likely to go to waste.”

A shortfall in the harvest could push supermarkets to buy more stock abroad, Ms Capper said.

Britain produces about 40pc of all its apples and 20pc of its pears. The Government wants to increase this, promising “healthier, home-grown diets for all” in its National Food Strategy. Writing in The Daily Telegraph in April, George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, pledged to “help British farmers fill British fridges”.

Apple and pear farmers said increasing production would only be possible if the Government helped.

Ms Capper said: “We need long-term policy strategies from Government that support British growers and address these two pressing issues of energy costs and access to labour.”

Farmers have already lost salad crops this summer in part due to worker shortages. Millions of lettuce heads have been ploughed back into fields as labour woes and tough supermarket pricing made it difficult for farmers to make a profit.