The government has been asked to urgently tackle a shortage of labour in farming, as warnings have been issued over sharp prices rises for milk and other dairy products.
Arla, the UK’s largest dairy cooperative, which represents a third of dairy farmers, urged ministers to take action over the lack of workers in agriculture and the wider food industry, after receiving the results of a large-scale survey of producers.
The results showed that nearly three quarters of Arla members were finding it harder to recruit than in 2019. The chief factors blamed were Brexit and the ending of free movement of EU workers and changes in career aspirations caused by the Covid pandemic.
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The poll revealed that 12% of farmers felt they may have to end dairy production altogether because of the scale of the recruitment challenge.
Rising pay was another issue for farmers: those surveyed told Arla they had increased wages by 22% since 2019. More than half (60%) predicted that this pressure would continue over the next 12 months, with implications for food prices.
The cooperative said it would like the government to work with the industry to help bring more young people into food and agriculture and called on ministers to create clearer routes through apprenticeships and the T-level vocational qualification.
Paul Savage, director of agriculture for Arla, said: “The last 12 months have been incredibly challenging for our farmer owners, as events like the war in Ukraine have driven up the cost of producing milk to levels we have never seen before.
“The shortage of staff in the food and farming sector has compounded this and we are at serious risk of continued food price inflation and longer-term food security issues if we don’t tackle this now.”
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Savage said farming had a compelling story to tell young people looking for a career. Farmers, he said, “work with innovative new technologies and data, and they’re at the forefront of tackling climate change. We know that all of these are important factors when people are choosing their careers.”
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