Trust in Truss? Britain's new PM pledges to solve agricultural labor crisis

06 Sep 2022 --- British agricultural unions are expressing optimism that the UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss will ease the foreign labor restrictions that have suffocated crop production, driven up prices and sent food waste spiraling over the past year. Pledges by the new leader to allow a short-term expansion of seasonal workers are the exception to an otherwise hardline immigration policy that has prevailed since Brexit. 

The government’s drive to crack down on immigration has had an ironic impact on the British economy; local labor has not filled the gaps, and a drop in domestic production has meant a heavier reliance on foreign imports for a wide range of goods. These issues were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine. 

Recently, the National Farmers Union (NFU) estimated at least £60 million (US$72 million) worth of food was wasted in the first half of 2022 due to a lack of foreign pickers. The organization described the situation as a “travesty,” while families throughout the country are “struggling to make ends meet.” 

However, Prime Minister Truss announced as part of her leadership bid that she would address these issues head on. 

“We will make it easier for farmers and growers to access the workers they need, with a short term expansion to the seasonal workers scheme, while working with industry to address longer term skills shortages,” she pledged.

Jack Ward, CEO of the British Growers Association, tells FoodIngredientsFirst these statements are a “welcome change of tone,” and that it shows “a very different view to the one the government has been trotting out.”

“The acid test will come,” he says. 

Labor shortages have plagued British agriculture since the UK’s exit from the EU.Breaking Brexit barriers 
Labor shortages have plagued British agriculture since the UK’s exit from the EU. Ward says both real and perceived hurdles drove the UK’s usual pool of seasonal fruit and vegetable pickers to look for work in other EU nations following Brexit. 

“Once we moved into Brexit people felt they were less welcome and supply dried up. The new immigration regulation 2021 then made life seriously difficult,” he says. 

“The seasonal worker permit scheme, which allows 30,000 people, is nowhere near enough. It should be closer to 60,000.” 

This year, one farm was recorded as having had to dispose of 2 million heads of lettuce due to an inability to pick the produce, and another for having lost 50 tons of mushrooms.

Ward says Truss’ comments are “very encouraging,” and could complement other avenues being explored as means to provide the UK with UK produce. 

“Recently, the secretary state announced there’d be a review of the issue, with industry working its socks off for automation and robotics, there are other parts of the process we can automate. It all takes time.” 

Deregulation 
As part of Truss’ commitment to lowering tax rates and deregulating industry, she has promised her policies would “turbocharge the rural economy by focusing on farmers growing food and cutting the pointless regulation that gets in their way.” 

Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, says that “in terms of the visa scheme her announcement is very welcome – the critical thing is farms are very reliant on workers coming.” 

“The pledge to approve appropriate numbers of visas is very welcome. It signifies the politics of Brexit are behind us now and we need to get on and work.” 

The UK is not alone in its struggle to find farming labor amid tough immigration politics. Farmers across the US are currently pushing for policy reform in the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would make it easier to find pickers by creating a path to citizenship for undocumented agricultural workers and reforming the seasonal farmworker visa program. 

The US’ food prices have shot up by 10% over the past year, and agricultural players have decried the lack of access to foreign labor. 

By Louis Gore-Langton