Dairy farmers say worker shortage is threatening UK food security | Farming

Dairy farmers have warned {that a} long-running scarcity of staff, exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic, has put the UK’s meals safety beneath stress.5 in six farmers who’ve seemed for staff mentioned they’ve acquired only a few or zero functions from certified folks for his or her job vacancies, in keeping with a survey of dairy producers by Arla, the UK’s largest dairy cooperative and the proprietor of the Lurpak and Cravendale manufacturers.The fifth annual ballot of Arla’s 1,900 British dairy farmers has highlighted the worsening battle to seek out staff with the precise abilities and expertise, with 79% of farmers highlighting this downside in 2021, rising to 84% this 12 months.The difficulties in hiring workers had grown worse since Brexit and the pandemic, milk producers reported, as the mix of the tip of free motion for EU staff and different financial elements since Covid have made it more durable to seek out appropriate workers, whereas there was an identical story throughout the entire of the agricultural sector.Almost half (48.6%) of these surveyed mentioned it was now more durable to retain workers than it was earlier than Brexit and the pandemic, whereas solely 5% mentioned the scenario had improved.Multiple in 10 (13%) respondents mentioned they would depart farming altogether within the subsequent 12 months if there was no enchancment in labour shortages, and 6% mentioned that they had been pressured to chop the quantity of milk they produced.Arla itself has seen a discount in milk producers over the previous few years, though manufacturing volumes have remained fixed. Its membership has fallen by about 300, from 2,100 three years in the past, as farmers have retired or by means of consolidation of farms, amid a pattern for retaining bigger herds. Arla members characterize nearly a 3rd of all UK dairy farmers.Almost 200 British dairy farmers give up the trade over the 12 months to April 2025, in keeping with the latest figures from the Agriculture and Horticulture Growth Board (AHDB), taking the full variety of producers to 7,040.The trade has been warning for a while {that a} continued exodus of dairy farmers may jeopardise the UK’s present self-sufficiency in liquid milk.“What we’re seeing is the true affect of those workforce shortages on our farming trade, whether or not that’s in greater prices or decrease milk manufacturing,” mentioned Bas Padberg, managing director of Arla Meals UK.“The impact of that is in the end going to be seen within the worth and availability of merchandise on the grocery store cabinets, affecting the hundreds of thousands of those who depend on dairy as a supply of diet of their food plan.”skip previous e-newsletter promotionSign as much as Enterprise TodayGet set for the working day – we’ll level you to all of the enterprise information and evaluation you want each morningPrivacy Discover: Newsletters could include data about charities, on-line adverts, and content material funded by exterior events. For extra info see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after e-newsletter promotionArla – which, like different firms, runs its personal apprenticeship schemes in addition to industrial placements – mentioned the federal government had acknowledged the continued difficulties with recruiting workers, and welcomed the deal with expertise and growth as a part of the upcoming meals technique.Nevertheless, Padberg referred to as for “sensible steps that the trade, the training sector and authorities can take collectively” to draw extra folks, particularly youthful staff, to the dairy sector.Dairy, like a lot of the remainder of agriculture, has an ageing workforce and almost half (47%) of farmers are aged 55 and over. Youthful staff are almost definitely to enter the trade whether it is within the household: two-thirds (66%) of farmers mentioned their farms had been handed down not less than 4 generations, whereas solely 3% of respondents mentioned they have been first-generation.