SCANDAL OF OUR VANISHING VEG
Millions of pounds worth of food left to rot in f ields as farmers reveal ‘catastrophic’ shortage of drivers and pickers
FARMERS across Scotland are being forced to dump vegetables worth millions of pounds because of a ‘catastrophic’ shortage of pickers and drivers.
Tonnes of broccoli and cauliflower have been left to rot in fields in a scandalous waste of good food.
A shortage of workers in all parts of the supply chain, from picking and packing to delivering, is leaving the fresh vegetable industry on its knees. Despairing farmers are now demanding urgent assistance to save one of Scotland’s vital industries and prevent more food being wasted.
Last night Andrew Faichney, managing director of the East of Scotland Growers (ESG) cooperative, which represents 15 farms, said losses are rapidly accumulating and immediate help is needed.
He said: ‘To date we have lost, dumped, bypassed or left in the field, 5.5 million broccoli heads and 1.5 million cauliflower heads.
‘Based on farm gate sales value, the losses to date are around £1.2 million
‘What is increasingly worrying is the potential additional losses we face as we are only around 40 per cent of the way through our harvest season and our plight is worsening and losses increasing. If we lose the equivalent
‘What is increasingly worrying is the potential additional losses’
between now and the end of the season, we will be north of £3 million. These losses are simply not recoverable.’
Until now, the vast majority of seasonal farm workers have come from Eastern Europe, although in recent years there have been problems recruiting enough fruit and vegetable pickers. Since Brexit, farmers say fewer people than expected applied for the necessary papers allowing them to work in the UK, and they claim a migrant workers scheme is still not generating enough staff.
The Seasonal Workers Pilot (SWP), launched in 2019, allows farmers in Scotland the rest of the UK to recruit non-EU migrants through recruitment agencies, but employers say there is still less than enough skilled workers to scour the vegetable fields.
This year, the farming industry is plagued with further problems with a shortfall of delivery drivers meaning freshly picked broccoli and cauliflower supplies are not reaching shelves and stored frozen veg is overflowing.
The shortfall has been caused by a combination of post-Brexit EU immigration rules, Covid-19 restrictions and self-isolation guidance.
The Scottish fruit and vegetable retail market, excluding food service, is worth more than £1 billion and the UK market as a whole is worth almost £12 billion.
Scottish farms typically harvest and produce around 430,000 tonnes of vegetables a year, including broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and Brussels sprouts.
This newspaper previously told how workers from as far as Ukraine were flying to Scotland to pick vegetables because locals were not interested in the work.
Political science graduate Yelyzaveta Miadzelets, 24, applied to work in Scotland after recruitment charity Concordia visited her university in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine.
She said: ‘We’re paid £8.20 an hour and work eight hours a day for six days, making about £393-a-week, but can work overtime if there is work and we want to. A good salary in Ukraine is about £321 a month but is only enough to pay rent and bills.’
Farms in the ESG group are currently operating at 80 percent of the miminum staffing levels – which are decreasing by the week.
Those who have travelled to Scotland are working overtime to pick and pack the vegetables before they rot in fields, resulting in them making money faster and returning home sooner. This also increases the cost of production, with overtime payments.
Even if fresh broccoli and cauliflower are picked and packed, there are problems getting them from farms to retailers and from factories to customers.
Mr Faichney said: ‘If the remainder of the season goes as badly as the first part, that is catastrophic for a sector that works in the low end of single digit profit margins.’
Farmers also face a dilemma over whether or not to sow the first crops for the 2022 season as there is little evidence there will be any change to the current situation.
NFU Scotland Communications Director Bob Carruth said: ‘A 12month Covid recovery visa for the food and drink supply chain would deal with immediate pressures on the industry and allow employers to expand recruitment to EU and other overseas workers.’
The UK Government said it continues to encourage employers to invest in the UK workforce.
A spokesman said: ‘We understand the importance of seasonal labour in supporting a successful and effective agricultural and food sector. This year we expanded the Seasonal Workers Pilot to 30,000 visas for workers from across the globe to come to the UK for up to six months.
‘We continue to work closely with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, while encouraging employers to make long term investments in the UK workforce and automation technology.’