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Post by Starchild on May 29, 2007 7:38:31 GMT
Much of this summer's UK strawberry crop may be left to rot in the field due to a shortage of migrant pickers, the main farmers' union has warned. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) blamed the staffing shortfall on rising standards of living in Poland and other eastern Europe nations. The NFU said that made workers in those countries less keen to come to the UK. And it added that other eastern Europe workers were still coming to the UK, only choosing to work in other sectors. The NFU's chief horticultural advisor Philip Hudson said that the agricultural staffing shortfall was also likely to affect raspberry and salad crops. "There is a potential for crops to be left unharvested," he said. "I do not want to scaremonger but our real concern is that the harvest is going to be left in the field which will mean there will be less British produce in the supermarket." 'More permits' Mr Hudson said that some 13 growers of soft fruit and salad vegetables were facing a 2,400 shortfall of workers on the 4,400 needed. Yet he added that farmers were working hard to ensure there was not a shortfall of British fruit and vegetable produce. The NFU said that it wanted an "urgent increase" in the number of Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme permits to help combat the problem in the short term. These allow non-European Union workers to come to the UK to work in the agricultural sector for the summer period. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6698713.stm
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Post by stormy on May 30, 2007 4:33:36 GMT
maybe if they paid a decent wage they would get local pickers, i used to fruit pick, but the wage packet is naff now, and in truth they dont give you a choice. i could have worked at the farm but no one spoke a word of bloody english, which is a tad off putting, they made me feel like an outsider, which pissed me off because they would be the first to call me racist. id rather the jobs were given to us then bloody forigners.
i did raise my pomits with the NFU and told them that many people around here used to fruit pick but were shunted out by the abroad lot.
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