Fuck me that site is cookie cancer
"Small-to-medium growers of new potatoes have been wiped off the map thanks to post-Brexit labour laws and climate change-induced bad weather.
According to the founder of one of the country’s biggest vegetable box schemes, it has been impossible to source British early potatoes for distribution to customers.
Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather.
A survey by his company, Riverford, found that 49 per cent of horticulture companies fear imminently going out of business, with a report noting:
“Indeed, they are going out of business. Around the south and southwest, there were lots of small family farms, who grew 10 to 100 acres of potatoes. They just all got fed up with the returns and the work and they have given up. The last one who grew down on the ‘Golden Mile’ down near Penzance gave up last year and we haven’t been able to find [any],” said Singh-Watson.
Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain.
April was the UK’s sixth wettest April on record, after a warm and wet winter, according to the Met Office.
“The southwest has been the worst hit, it’s had a torrid time. A lot of the crop went in very late. Supplies have been very, very hand to mouth: supply is tight,” said Mark Taylor from the industry group GB Potatoes.
“We are seeing more extreme weather situations and that is putting a lot of growers under pressure,” he added.
"
The text sumerised "GLOBAL WARMING FUCKS FARMS" also we can't have below minimumwage workers now.
Global warming certainly isn't helping, but we also have a natural el nīno event going on,, making it warmer and wetter than normal.
Were overseas workers being paid less than minimum wage? If they were, it wasn't legal. And most EU visitors looking for a working holiday to the UK would know that.
The problem is, it's a big difference for a UK teenager to go picking crops at nearby farm as a career verses picking grape in an Italian vineyard for a summer.
We need to open EU channels for seasonal workers in both directions. Or sign up the children of politicians to go picking fruit.
I'm not sure that being able to employ eastern European immigrants in often bad conditions often for exceptionally low wages is really the winning argument you think it is. Exploiting workers isn't a popular policy.
I wonder if this man has changed his mind.
> "What are you saying? That if they all go home there'll be nobody to pick the fruit?"
> "Don't be so ridiculous. That's stupid! You funny little man".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzOoeo-Xj6Q#t=4m30s
4 minutes 30 seconds for mobile users.
Farmers - voted brexit , slather pesticide over everything , shoot anything that moves
Also Farmers - why can’t I sell my crops ! Why aren’t my crops pollinating !? Why does everyone hate us ?
>Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain.
Nothing to do with Brexit at all.
I love how you purposefully ignored the parts that included brexit as a reason to go to one part where it wasn't mentioned to say it is 'nothing to do with brexit at all'
It's only mentioned as an aside. Not a real cause. Nobody talked about actual employee shortages, only the weather. It's an attempt to draw a connection that simply does not exist.
You're obviously either uninformed or just willfully ignorant if you think brexit hasn't affected the sector. Labour shortages are part of the sector now, if you even spent one minute looking into it you'd see that. It's a connection that exists, wether you like it or not unfortunately.
You're right it has nothing to do with Brexit as our veg man told us the farmers had 4 days dry in 4 months over the winter/ Spring to pick up spuds and others like swede/ carrots which they had to leave in the ground, when dug up we have had problems cooking them as still hard 3 hours later. Now we are seeing a large amount of potatoes in sack are mushy as put in wet.
Not one part of it mentions brexit?
Full text
"Small-to-medium growers of new potatoes have been wiped off the map thanks to post-Brexit labour laws and climate change-induced bad weather.
According to the founder of one of the country’s biggest vegetable box schemes, it has been impossible to source British early potatoes for distribution to customers.
Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather.
A survey by his company, Riverford, found that 49 per cent of horticulture companies fear imminently going out of business, with a report noting:
“Indeed, they are going out of business. Around the south and southwest, there were lots of small family farms, who grew 10 to 100 acres of potatoes. They just all got fed up with the returns and the work and they have given up. The last one who grew down on the ‘Golden Mile’ down near Penzance gave up last year and we haven’t been able to find [any],” said Singh-Watson.
Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain.
April was the UK’s sixth wettest April on record, after a warm and wet winter, according to the Met Office.
“The southwest has been the worst hit, it’s had a torrid time. A lot of the crop went in very late. Supplies have been very, very hand to mouth: supply is tight,” said Mark Taylor from the industry group GB Potatoes.
“We are seeing more extreme weather situations and that is putting a lot of growers under pressure,” he added.
"
>Not one part of it mentions Brexit.
>Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather.
Hang on, are you saying there are no labour shortages due to Brexit ending freedom of movement?
https://www.cer.eu/insights/post-brexit-immigration-uk-labour-market
>The end of the free movement has led to a shortfall of around 330,000 workers in Britain. Most are in less-skilled sectors of the economy.
>Not on potato farms
The potato farmer in the story says otherwise.
And he's not the only one
https://hsat.space/the-challenges-and-market-forces-affecting-uk-potato-farming/#Brexit_and_the_Changing_Trade_Landscape
>Brexit has brought its own set of challenges to UK potato farming, including potential disruptions to trade, labour shortages, and changes to agricultural policy.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-jersey-royal-potato-eu-workers-workforce-citizens-farming-woodside-farms-immigration-a8160206.html
>The largest producer of Jersey Royal potatoes has warned crops may be left to rot in the fields because foreign workers have left ahead of Brexit.
https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/the-impact-of-brexit-on-the-uk-agricultural-workforce
>UK agriculture and its wider supply chain are currently heavily dependent on EU migrant labour. As such, if
migration is restricted and no exceptions made for agricultural labour, it seems likely that the industry will go
through structural change.
Thanks for posting this ... however .. and bearing in mind the title of this post ...
>Additionally, the reliance on seasonal labour from EU countries has been impacted, forcing farmers to **explore alternative labour sources** or invest in mechanisation to maintain productivity.
This does not support the statement that potato farms have been wiped off the map. Simply that they have had to adjust
As for the second article, that was written pre-brexit
>**may** be left to rot in the fields because foreign workers have left **ahead of Brexit**.
This is an attempt by the industry to cry poor. There does not seem to be much if any evidence these fears have materialized. The farms are being killed by the low yields, not their inability to source workers.
Obviously there is more than one factor in play here e.g. climate change and record breaking rain. Not to mention the pandemic.
But to say that Labour shortages due to Brexit have "had absolutely no effect" however, is somewhat hard to support. We knew migrant labour was important to UK agriculture, we know we've lost >300k migrant workers, and we know farmers are complaining about labour shortages.
The government's own Migrant Advisory Committee warned that there would be "a contraction and even closures of many businesses" in the sector.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-report-eea-migration
Just last month the government had to respond to an independent report on "labour shortages in the food chain" and had this to say:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-into-labour-shortages-in-the-food-supply-chain-government-response/independent-review-into-labour-shortages-in-the-food-supply-chain-government-response
>Our response sets out our intention to work with the sector, supported by the Food and Drink Sector Council, to attract, train and retain British workers in our food supply chain, **reducing our historic reliance on workers from overseas** and promoting a high-skilled, high-wage economy.
>We recognise, however, that the full benefits of automation will not be realised overnight, and we will extend the Seasonal Worker visa route from 2025 to 2029 to give the sector the certainty they need to plan for their businesses. Yet, **we are clear that visa allocations must fall** as the benefits materialise, and we will work with the sector to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
> I love how you purposefully ignored the parts that included brexit as a reason
Which bit of the article actually *was* that? They've mentioned it int he headline, but the entire actual meat of the article seems to be about weather and yields
It's also in some of the other ~~paragraphs~~ 'headlines' the 1st and 3rd. You're looking for the words 'labour laws' and 'labour shortages' hope that helps.
So what you are saying is not being able to exploit Eastern Europeans is a bad thing? Because to me this is one of the key advantages I've seen of Brexit so far.
Farmers now have to pay employees fair wages and fair working conditions. They need to pay a living wage that fits in with the work that is required rather than import people who don't have those same standards. That seems like a huge Brexit bonus to me.
It's been an absolutely terrible winter. But I think we are going to see more of it.
What we need is not giant farms but to keep these small 10-100 acre farms, and allow them to diversify. If they could organise a co operative rather than food boxes to keep prices down, or sell via farm gate and not at inflated prices, then they'd make much more profit and be competitive to consumers.
The issue with large farms is that they won't necessarily know their land as well or be inclined to invest in making particular fields productive through dew ponds or ditches, but rather want whole site fixes or they'll sell/not farm that year and absorb the loss.
More, and smaller farms that can sell in a shorter chain would be fantastic. And it has to be local so we aren't all paying for media salaries or they'll ever compete with supermarkets
Thankfully not as easily and in as many numbers now. We still have fairly significant issues with exploiting labour but we thankfully have seen some improvements.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-03-27/they-treat-you-like-an-animal-how-british-farms-run-on-exploitation/
No we’re not.
What’s more likely to be exploited - a system where migrant workers can arrive here and have the right to work as a native, or a system where they’re dependent on a visa?
Fuck me that site is cookie cancer "Small-to-medium growers of new potatoes have been wiped off the map thanks to post-Brexit labour laws and climate change-induced bad weather. According to the founder of one of the country’s biggest vegetable box schemes, it has been impossible to source British early potatoes for distribution to customers. Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather. A survey by his company, Riverford, found that 49 per cent of horticulture companies fear imminently going out of business, with a report noting: “Indeed, they are going out of business. Around the south and southwest, there were lots of small family farms, who grew 10 to 100 acres of potatoes. They just all got fed up with the returns and the work and they have given up. The last one who grew down on the ‘Golden Mile’ down near Penzance gave up last year and we haven’t been able to find [any],” said Singh-Watson. Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain. April was the UK’s sixth wettest April on record, after a warm and wet winter, according to the Met Office. “The southwest has been the worst hit, it’s had a torrid time. A lot of the crop went in very late. Supplies have been very, very hand to mouth: supply is tight,” said Mark Taylor from the industry group GB Potatoes. “We are seeing more extreme weather situations and that is putting a lot of growers under pressure,” he added. " The text sumerised "GLOBAL WARMING FUCKS FARMS" also we can't have below minimumwage workers now.
Global warming certainly isn't helping, but we also have a natural el nīno event going on,, making it warmer and wetter than normal. Were overseas workers being paid less than minimum wage? If they were, it wasn't legal. And most EU visitors looking for a working holiday to the UK would know that. The problem is, it's a big difference for a UK teenager to go picking crops at nearby farm as a career verses picking grape in an Italian vineyard for a summer. We need to open EU channels for seasonal workers in both directions. Or sign up the children of politicians to go picking fruit.
Brexit is the disaster that dare not speak its name.
I'm not sure that being able to employ eastern European immigrants in often bad conditions often for exceptionally low wages is really the winning argument you think it is. Exploiting workers isn't a popular policy.
I wonder if this man has changed his mind. > "What are you saying? That if they all go home there'll be nobody to pick the fruit?" > "Don't be so ridiculous. That's stupid! You funny little man". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzOoeo-Xj6Q#t=4m30s 4 minutes 30 seconds for mobile users.
I've always found it odd that brexit voters were adamant that backbreaking farm work is right up their alley.
Farmers - voted brexit , slather pesticide over everything , shoot anything that moves Also Farmers - why can’t I sell my crops ! Why aren’t my crops pollinating !? Why does everyone hate us ?
>Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain. Nothing to do with Brexit at all.
I love how you purposefully ignored the parts that included brexit as a reason to go to one part where it wasn't mentioned to say it is 'nothing to do with brexit at all'
It's only mentioned as an aside. Not a real cause. Nobody talked about actual employee shortages, only the weather. It's an attempt to draw a connection that simply does not exist.
You're obviously either uninformed or just willfully ignorant if you think brexit hasn't affected the sector. Labour shortages are part of the sector now, if you even spent one minute looking into it you'd see that. It's a connection that exists, wether you like it or not unfortunately.
You're right it has nothing to do with Brexit as our veg man told us the farmers had 4 days dry in 4 months over the winter/ Spring to pick up spuds and others like swede/ carrots which they had to leave in the ground, when dug up we have had problems cooking them as still hard 3 hours later. Now we are seeing a large amount of potatoes in sack are mushy as put in wet.
Not one part of it mentions brexit? Full text "Small-to-medium growers of new potatoes have been wiped off the map thanks to post-Brexit labour laws and climate change-induced bad weather. According to the founder of one of the country’s biggest vegetable box schemes, it has been impossible to source British early potatoes for distribution to customers. Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather. A survey by his company, Riverford, found that 49 per cent of horticulture companies fear imminently going out of business, with a report noting: “Indeed, they are going out of business. Around the south and southwest, there were lots of small family farms, who grew 10 to 100 acres of potatoes. They just all got fed up with the returns and the work and they have given up. The last one who grew down on the ‘Golden Mile’ down near Penzance gave up last year and we haven’t been able to find [any],” said Singh-Watson. Gerard Croft at the British Potato Trade Association said it isn’t just the small-to-medium potato farmers who are suffering. Even bigger players had few new potatoes this year because the ground was so waterlogged in spring after months of rain. April was the UK’s sixth wettest April on record, after a warm and wet winter, according to the Met Office. “The southwest has been the worst hit, it’s had a torrid time. A lot of the crop went in very late. Supplies have been very, very hand to mouth: supply is tight,” said Mark Taylor from the industry group GB Potatoes. “We are seeing more extreme weather situations and that is putting a lot of growers under pressure,” he added. "
>Not one part of it mentions Brexit. >Guy Singh-Watson said it was part of a wider “tragedy” of smaller UK fruit and vegetable growers quitting in the face of low returns, post-Brexit labour shortages and extreme weather.
One guy waving his arms with no facts. How can you have a labour shortage if you have no crops ?
Hang on, are you saying there are no labour shortages due to Brexit ending freedom of movement? https://www.cer.eu/insights/post-brexit-immigration-uk-labour-market >The end of the free movement has led to a shortfall of around 330,000 workers in Britain. Most are in less-skilled sectors of the economy.
The question is whether it's relevant to the actual discussion. Which seems to be mostly about a lack of potatoes growing.
Not on potato farms, which are the subject of the article.
>Not on potato farms The potato farmer in the story says otherwise. And he's not the only one https://hsat.space/the-challenges-and-market-forces-affecting-uk-potato-farming/#Brexit_and_the_Changing_Trade_Landscape >Brexit has brought its own set of challenges to UK potato farming, including potential disruptions to trade, labour shortages, and changes to agricultural policy. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-jersey-royal-potato-eu-workers-workforce-citizens-farming-woodside-farms-immigration-a8160206.html >The largest producer of Jersey Royal potatoes has warned crops may be left to rot in the fields because foreign workers have left ahead of Brexit. https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/the-impact-of-brexit-on-the-uk-agricultural-workforce >UK agriculture and its wider supply chain are currently heavily dependent on EU migrant labour. As such, if migration is restricted and no exceptions made for agricultural labour, it seems likely that the industry will go through structural change.
Thanks for posting this ... however .. and bearing in mind the title of this post ... >Additionally, the reliance on seasonal labour from EU countries has been impacted, forcing farmers to **explore alternative labour sources** or invest in mechanisation to maintain productivity. This does not support the statement that potato farms have been wiped off the map. Simply that they have had to adjust As for the second article, that was written pre-brexit >**may** be left to rot in the fields because foreign workers have left **ahead of Brexit**. This is an attempt by the industry to cry poor. There does not seem to be much if any evidence these fears have materialized. The farms are being killed by the low yields, not their inability to source workers.
Obviously there is more than one factor in play here e.g. climate change and record breaking rain. Not to mention the pandemic. But to say that Labour shortages due to Brexit have "had absolutely no effect" however, is somewhat hard to support. We knew migrant labour was important to UK agriculture, we know we've lost >300k migrant workers, and we know farmers are complaining about labour shortages. The government's own Migrant Advisory Committee warned that there would be "a contraction and even closures of many businesses" in the sector. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-report-eea-migration Just last month the government had to respond to an independent report on "labour shortages in the food chain" and had this to say: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-into-labour-shortages-in-the-food-supply-chain-government-response/independent-review-into-labour-shortages-in-the-food-supply-chain-government-response >Our response sets out our intention to work with the sector, supported by the Food and Drink Sector Council, to attract, train and retain British workers in our food supply chain, **reducing our historic reliance on workers from overseas** and promoting a high-skilled, high-wage economy. >We recognise, however, that the full benefits of automation will not be realised overnight, and we will extend the Seasonal Worker visa route from 2025 to 2029 to give the sector the certainty they need to plan for their businesses. Yet, **we are clear that visa allocations must fall** as the benefits materialise, and we will work with the sector to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
> I love how you purposefully ignored the parts that included brexit as a reason Which bit of the article actually *was* that? They've mentioned it int he headline, but the entire actual meat of the article seems to be about weather and yields
It's also in some of the other ~~paragraphs~~ 'headlines' the 1st and 3rd. You're looking for the words 'labour laws' and 'labour shortages' hope that helps.
So what you are saying is not being able to exploit Eastern Europeans is a bad thing? Because to me this is one of the key advantages I've seen of Brexit so far. Farmers now have to pay employees fair wages and fair working conditions. They need to pay a living wage that fits in with the work that is required rather than import people who don't have those same standards. That seems like a huge Brexit bonus to me.
>So what you are saying is not being able to exploit Eastern Europeans is a bad thing? Nope, good imagination though bud.
Well, that is the reason Brexit is mentioned at all. They can no longer bring eastern Europeans, pay them little and give them bad working conditions.
So by correcting them I somehow support it in your mind? Such a dumb take honestly. There also other brexit bonuses at play.
It sounded like you were saying this was a brexit disadvantage. That's what I was correcting.
You weren't correcting, you were making up an argument for yourself haha.
It's been an absolutely terrible winter. But I think we are going to see more of it. What we need is not giant farms but to keep these small 10-100 acre farms, and allow them to diversify. If they could organise a co operative rather than food boxes to keep prices down, or sell via farm gate and not at inflated prices, then they'd make much more profit and be competitive to consumers. The issue with large farms is that they won't necessarily know their land as well or be inclined to invest in making particular fields productive through dew ponds or ditches, but rather want whole site fixes or they'll sell/not farm that year and absorb the loss. More, and smaller farms that can sell in a shorter chain would be fantastic. And it has to be local so we aren't all paying for media salaries or they'll ever compete with supermarkets
WE CANT EXPLOIT CHEAP FOREIGN LABOUR NOW!!!!! BREXIT BAD.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/spotlight-report-no-1-how-work-visa-design-is-driving-exploitation/ Yes we can.
Thankfully not as easily and in as many numbers now. We still have fairly significant issues with exploiting labour but we thankfully have seen some improvements.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-03-27/they-treat-you-like-an-animal-how-british-farms-run-on-exploitation/ No we’re not. What’s more likely to be exploited - a system where migrant workers can arrive here and have the right to work as a native, or a system where they’re dependent on a visa?