harvest

This story identifies the massive extent to which we depend on a global workforce. It tells us:

The U.K. organization for farmers, landowners and businesses in rural England and Wales has said labor shortages caused by coronavirus could be devastating for this years’ harvest. They are calling for a ‘land army’ of local labour to be recruited to assist the sector, which expects to see its labour supply cut by 75% as EU workers who normally come to the U.K. to work for the harvest season are prevented from coming.

The U.K. agriculture sector was already in trouble, heavily reliant on EU workers as it is. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, when the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, labour supply from the mainland has been dwindling, and the government’s recent immigration stance emphasizing high-skilled migration has provided little comfort.

Now, thanks to coronavirus, we are seeing what happens when borders are totally closed to foreign workers, at least for one sector. According to the CLA, the agriculture sector usually uses around 60,000 seasonal laborers per year to complete the harvest, and they expect only around 25% of that amount this year. Factor in a 20% coronavirus infection rate the CLA is reckoning with, and they estimate some 80,000 people will need to be mobilized to protect Britain’s harvest.