Substantial delays of up to seven months for young farmers looking to book tractor tests could leave some businesses being short-staffed this harvest.

Arable enterprises often employ young harvest workers during the summer months; however, delays to tractor tests may leave some with fewer staff.

Leo Reading-East was due to work grain carting on his family’s farm near Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire this summer, before attending agricultural college in the autumn.

However, despite applying for a tractor test earlier in the year, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has said the earliest available test is in September.

See also: Farm recruitment challenge – how structure and clarity can help

He said: “A tractor test is often done by people who live in the countryside, who perhaps can’t do a lot of stuff near them and need it for their livelihood.”

Leo’s father, Sam, added: “The government wants to help farmers, but there is a massive chunk of the workforce that is going to be missing this summer. They are just not doing there bit.”

A DVSA spokesman told Farmers Weekly: “From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, DVSA delivered 3,373 tractor tests with an average waiting time of 14 weeks.

“Tractor tests are booked ‘on hold’ and customers are informed when a suitable time and location has been identified.

“Agricultural tractors require a category F licence to drive on public roads. Car licence holders (Category B) automatically have category F entitlement.”

The DVSA added that, due to varying locations of tractor tests, driving examiners required additional time for travel, which meant the time required for a tractor test was three times that of a car test.

Car licences

Delays to regular driving tests will also affect young drivers in rural areas.

Waiting times for practical car driving tests were around 22.4 weeks on average in England as of the end of March 2025, 20.5 weeks in Scotland and 15.6 weeks in Wales, according to the DVSA.

However, measures have been introduced by the DVSA to try to tackle the backlog, such as a longer notice period for cancellations and additional driving examiners.