Growers voice concerns over lack of migrant labour

THE first of the 2008 crop of Scottish strawberries are appearing in supermarkets.

To the consumer, all appears well. But, unless circumstances change quickly, some of this year's crop may remain unpicked through a lack of sufficient labour. Scotland's small but important vegetable crop is also under pressure unless sufficient workers come forward to pick broccoli and cauliflower.

Christine Lumb, of Concordia, which supplies thousands of seasonal workers to the farming industry, said yesterday that the numbers contacting her agency were more than 20 per cent down on last year. The numbers of foreign workers going direct to farms are more difficult to establish, but several growers have also expressed concerns over labour supply.

There are a variety of reasons behind the slump.The recent swing in the exchange rate in favour of the euro has effectively reduced the value of the cash earned, while many in eastern Europe are also seeing an improvement in the economies of their own countries. "This is a triumph for European Union policies, but it is bad news for UK growers," said Lumb, adding that other European countries were also facing a shortage.

To compound matters, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme used to bring in large numbers of fruit-pickers, but moves by the UK government to control immigration mean that, this year, only Bulgarians and Romanians are allowed to come through SAWS and a maximum 16,250 at that.

Jim Mason, chair of East of Scotland Growers, the main vegetable growing co-operative in Scotland, said:

"The SAWS scheme is not about bringing in full-time, permanent workers. It was all about giving summer jobs to students from Europe. They got cash for their work and we got our crops picked. The government (SAWS] ruling …will hit our operation hard."

Normally Mr Mason would have 20 students working in his broccoli fields but with less than a month to go before harvesting starts, he has been allocated only half that number.

Ms Lumb said pressure was still being put on the Migration Advisory Council to help open the doors to more migrant workers being allowed in. Meanwhile, the soft fruit crop is ripening and needs to be picked daily if it is not to be left to rot.