It has been quite a busy month news-wise here at RABDF. If you have not yet seen it, we released the results from the labour survey we conducted at the end of last year. The idea of the survey was to get an understanding as to what/ if there is a labour issue on dairy farms, why there may be a problem recruiting labour and the reliance on foreign labour.
The survey has thrown up some interesting results, but the most worrying is just how widespread the issue is.
The survey found 63% of farmers struggled to recruit in the last five years, with almost all respondents (80%) saying staff recruitment was something that worried them. Most troubling though was the fact a third of farmers said they would consider leaving the industry due to a lack of dairy labour.
Employers say unsocial working hours and not enough people interested in dairy farming are two of the main reasons for people not wanting to work on dairy farms.
The difficulty in recruiting from the domestic workforce has seen the reliance on foreign labour remain with almost half of respondents (42.1%) employing foreign workers in the last five years.
The reliance on foreign labour is concerning with access to any new foreign workers being restricted following Brexit. This is something we have raised again with the Government this month by writing to the Migration Advisory Council highlighting the latest survey results and requesting they reconsider including dairy workers on the MAC Shortage Occupation List or as a skilled worker.
We must have continued access to these workers, especially in the short-term until longer-term solutions are found.
The longer-term labour issue is something we are going to be looking at going forward building on existing mechanisms we have already in place such as working with land-based colleges to promote dairy specific courses and working with youth groups to promote dairy farming as a career to non-farmers, for example.
However, we will also be looking this year at how we address some of the sticking points to recruitment such as making working hours more sociable to attract more workers on to farms. We would welcome any feedback and ideas you have.
Settled-Status reminder
While we are on the issue of labour it is worth reminding those employing EU Citizens to check their employees have applied to stay in the UK under the Settled Status Scheme. They have until 30 June 2021 to apply and it’s free, but it’s best to get in there early due to a possible backlog.
Educational dairy book
To help with the education front we recently endorsed a book which is hot off the press called Milly Cow Gives Milk. It is aimed at pre-school and key stage one-aged children and follows a day in the life of Milly the cow by explaining what she gets up to and where her milk ends up.
Educating primary school children about food is something we had planned to do pre-COVID and is something we aim to pick up when restrictions lift. This book is a great starting pointing to help children understand the journey from farm to fork.
The hardback book is available in all good bookshops when they reopen on 12 April and online from 1 April for £10.99.
Gold Cup
In other news, we have taken the decision not to award the 2021 Gold Cup following the delay to the 2020 judging. As soon as it is safe to do so judging for 2020 will commence and the winner announced at next year’s Dairy-Tech.
We do, however, plan to organise an open day hosted by the Sloan family from Auchinleck, Ayrshire, who won the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup in 2019. Keep posted at rabdf.co.uk for the dates.
Return of Dairy-Tech 2022
We have also just announced our return to Stoneleigh for the Dairy-Tech event on Wednesday 2 February 2022.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the 2021 event to take the form of a virtual programme but with plans now in place for the reopening of the economy the 2022 event will return in its physical form.
A face-to-face event is needed more than ever after 18 months of limited contact for the industry during the pandemic. Please keep posted at dairy-tech.uk for all the latest information.
That’s about all to report for now (and there is quite a lot). As restrictions start to be lifted, we hope life can return to some sort of normality and that some of our well-attended physical face-to-face events can return.
Until next month, stay safe!
Matt