It is therefore vital that suppliers
are equipped to take advantage of
this industry growth with sufficient
production capacity to meet demand.
1. PO funding available for
investment
The Government has confirmed that it
will continue to fund POs at the current
level of £35 million a year until the end
of the current parliament – expected to
be 2022 – even if the UK leaves the EU
without a deal.
With half of all British fruit and veg sold
through the 33 members of the scheme,
the 50 per cent funding for capital
investment projects and marketing
that it provides means that qualifying
organisations are in a position to move
forward with planned investment, or to
make investments which qualify for this
funding source.
During negotiations ministers and Defra
officials are reported to have been
positive about the concept of the PO
scheme and the value that it delivers to
the economy. Some have even suggested
that when the current scheme does end,
number of seasonal workers dropping by investment in automation can deliver
17% on the previous year. The proportion significant returns on investment,
of returnees, who are important due something that is critical during times of
to their experience, also dropped uncertainty.”
significantly from 65% to 33%, a drop
of nearly 50%. Early indications and
anecdotal evidence suggests that the
situation this year has been even worse;
one labour statistic gathered implied that
from 10,000 advertised jobs only two
He stresses that ROI is not purely about
labour savings, and that the impending
Brexit deadline provides an opportunity
for UK packing operations to review
their entire productivity. “If and when
we do leave the EU, the strongest food
there may be the scope to extend such applicants were from the UK. a support scheme beyond the current Therefore, Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s will survive,” he adds. “If the recession
announcement of a pilot scheme for that some economists are foretelling
agricultural seasonal labour has been happens, or if Brexit turns out to be
an unprecedented win for the sector. a disaster, food costs will inevitably
While six-month visas for up to 2,500 rise. Those with the foresight to invest
workers a year between Spring 2019 in automation will be more able to
and December 2020, falls well below the absorb production and wage increases,
20-30,000 workers under the previous potentially opening their company up to
SAWS scheme, as observers have pointed new contract opportunities.
model, which requires growers to be
working in partnership, thus enabling
private companies to benefit.
1. Positive signs on labour
The labour crunch has hit the fresh
produce sector hard over the last few
years. Despite recent comments by
the head of the Migration Advisory
Committee (MAC) that suggested
contraction of the produce sector and
higher food prices would not be the
“end of the earth” for the economy, the
indications are that the government is
listening to groups such as the NFU about
the need for labour to pick and pack
produce. Even the MAC acknowledges
that the agricultural market for seasonal
workers is “unlike any other labour
market.”
In the summer of 2017, NFU data
suggested that the industry was around
4,500 people short of the necessary
number of seasonal workers, with the
manufacturing plants and packhouses
out, no other sector of the economy has
been singled out for special treatment to
help with the employment of labour from
overseas, not even the National Health
Service. This pilot is also in addition
to any measures in the long-awaited
Immigration Bill.
Despite this, David Jahn says farmers
should seize every opportunity to move
to the forefront of automation and
robotics. “UK agriculture is in dire need of
innovation, investment, and a productivity
boost,” he adds. “While fresh produce
and crop farming is ahead of overall
agriculture in terms of productivity,
there is still room for improvement and
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