Extent of horticultural labour shortages revealed by Defra

The growing problem of labour shortages in the horticultural sector has been highlighted by the results of the latest Defra survey.

It follows a warning from the NFU last month that an estimated £22m worth of fruit and vegetables had already been wasted during the first half of the year because of workforce shortages.

The Seasonal Labour in Horticulture Survey is a voluntary poll run by Defra that asks growers how much seasonal labour they use each month and compares it to how much they actually used.

See also: Fruit and veg worth £22m left to rot because of labour shortages

According to the results from the second quarter of 2022, out of the 512 farms with horticulture operations that responded to the survey, 341 had no need for seasonal labour, while 171 respondents did need labour.

Of those that did need additional labour, 45% said they were facing a shortfall, with the average shortage increasing from 24 person days in April to 46 in May, dropping slightly to 44 in June.

The average shortfall a farm for the entire quarter for those that needed seasonal labour was 114 person days, which is significantly higher than before Brexit.

In 2018, the average shortfall for the quarter was 84 person days and in 2019 it was 67 person days.

Survey background

The survey was first introduced in early 2018 as a tool to assess any potential shortfall in seasonal labour.

The survey response for the second quarter of 2022 was only 20%, but this is broadly similar to previous years.

The quarter two response rate was 16% for 2021, 23% in 2018 and 20% in 2019.

The government recently commissioned an independent review into the challenges of recruiting and retaining labour in the food supply chain, which is due to report in 2023.