Mobility of Labour

Fruit and vegetable farms across the UK were left short of thousands of migrant workers in 2017, leaving some produce to rot in the fields and farmers suffering big losses.

More than 4,300 vacancies went unfilled, according to new survey data from the National Farmers Union (NFU), which covers about half the horticultural labour market. The survey, seen exclusively by the Guardian, shows more than 99% of the seasonal workers recruited came from eastern Europe, with just 0.6% from the UK.

Neil Parish MP, the chair of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, said: “The nationwide shortage of labour is becoming an agricultural crisis for UK farms. It is unacceptable that perfectly good food is rotting in fields..."