Despite the challenges to arable farming of volatile
commodity prices, escalating input costs, high energy bills,
environmental legislation and a government department failing to
deliver every year, I consider the greatest threat to the future is
diminishing manpower.
It seems a far cry from the day in the late 1970s when I
attended an interview at Harper Adams for the agriculture course to
be told there was a three-year waiting list.
Farmers throughout eastern England have been scratching about to
get sufficient harvest staff. UK agricultural students have almost
dried up, so growers have been forced to source help from
overseas.
Formerly, the southern hemisphere supplied much of this, but now
it's eastern Europe - most importantly, Poland. Hardly a day goes
by without one hearing Polish spoken in the neighbourhood.
The shortage of staff has accelerated sharply, with 39% fewer
full-time farm workers on UK farms than in 1999. This will take a
long time to reverse - but it needs to if we are not to have a
crisis in 10 to 15 years. We are told that the average age of
farmers is touching 60. What will it be by then?
Our response has been to tailor our business so we can provide
full-time employment year round and reduce our need for casual
help.
We also take on school children who want work experience to give
them a taste of farming. Many requests for this come from the open
days that we hold on the farm.
One thing I did learn from a rugby tour to Poland earlier this
summer, is that there are few sheep in that country.
