Labor shortage threatens UK food security, warn dairy farmers

LONDON

British dairy farmers have warned of food insecurity due to a long-running shortage of workers, a new survey revealed on Wednesday.

A long-running labor shortage, exacerbated by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, has put Britain's food security under pressure, according to media reports, citing an Arla survey.

Some five in six farmers receive very few or zero applications from qualified people for job vacancies, according to a survey of dairy producers by Arla, the UK’s largest dairy cooperative.

The annual poll also showed that 1,900 British dairy farmers have highlighted the worsening struggle to find workers with the right skills and experience, with 79% of farmers highlighting this problem in 2021, rising to 84% this year.

It also highlighted the worsening situation since Brexit and the pandemic, especially after the end of free movement for EU workers and other economic factors.

Some 48.6% of surveyed farmers said it was now more difficult to retain staff than it was before Brexit and the pandemic, while only 5% said the situation had improved.

More than one in 10 respondents said they would quit farming in a year if there was no improvement in labor shortages, and 6% said they had been forced to cut the amount of milk they produced.