The fact that once again horticulture and agriculture have been left off the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) Shortage Occupation List (SOL) will disappoint, but not surprise, everyone in the industry. For almost ten years organisations such as the NFU and British Growers have been supplying hard evidence of the shortage of seasonal workers and the effects that this causes, such as crops rotting in the field, increased imports and businesses failing. None of it seems to have been acknowledged by the MAC or the Home Office.
As a result, many will question the supposed independence of the MAC, which seems to be wedded to upholding the Government’s increasingly blinkered rhetoric on immigration, rather than actually assessing which industries in this country are suffering from a shortage of workers. The one glimmer of hope is that rather than denying horticulture has a labour issue, the MAC seems to be saying that it does not believe that listing certain key roles (such as supervisors) on the SOL will solve the sector’s recruitment issues. In fact, it goes further, saying that it believes the SOL itself should be abolished.
None of this does anything to solve the very real problems of recruitment that horticulture faces, whether in terms of senior roles such as supervisors, drivers and machinery operators, or seasonal labour for harvesting and grading. Until politicians and those who advise them recognise this fact, many growers will continue to feel that the government simply doesn’t care about supplying its citizens with healthy food produced to high standards.
It is perhaps just one symptom of a domestic food and farming system which increasingly appears to be fundamentally broken. Another is the response to Riverford Organic Farmers founder Guy Singh-Watson’s petition calling for reform of the groceries supply code of practice (GSCOP) and to ensure that farmers and growers receive a fair price above the costs of production.
Coming on the back of the recent enquiry by the House of Lords Horticulture Sector Committee, the government is expected to launch its own enquiry into fairness in the horticulture supply chain later this year. However, there are already concerns that the scope of the enquiry will not be wide enough (for example that it will not include retailer behaviour). In addition, the actions of the government over the last ten years suggest that while the enquiry may generate some warm words (as did the Number 10 Food Summit), it is unlikely to delivery any real action in terms of the policy changes that growers desperately need.
The November issue also includes articles on:
- Onions- New weed wizard adds a touch of Magic
- Pumpkins – Early viewing doesn’t diminish results
- Potato – British potatoes show preview
- Finance – Growers looking to maintain cashflow in the future
To read these and more from “The Vegetable Farmer” subscribe today – find out more here