An owner of a farming business has said the UK could bring migrant labour from outside of the EU to plug in the shortage of workers after Brexit.
The UK farming industry has constantly raised concerns over the increasing lack of migrant labour, which is affecting the ability for some farm businesses to survive.
Minette Batters, deputy president of the NFU, has demanded urgent action on seasonal labour decline. She said that "food is rotting in the fields and still we see no action".
The NFU’s labour provider’s survey reveals that there was a 29% shortfall in seasonal workers for horticulture businesses in September, raising the average shortfall for the year to 11%.
But Tim Chambers, who runs fruit and vegetable farm W.B.Chambers & Son in Kent and voted for Brexit, argued that farmers could attract labour from outside of the EU, from countries such as Ukraine and Belarus.
He told The Daily Express: “I am very positive. I did not vote for my business, I voted for the greater good of the country.
“The workforce can come from outside of Europe. The rest of Europe has a labour shortage.
“Other countries in Europe are already solving that by bringing in workers from Ukraine and Belarussian.”
Prominent politicians have also called for British people to fill roles vacated by EU workers after Brexit.
A Conservative MP has said young Brits should "get on their bikes" and take farming jobs to alleviate the shortage of migrant labour post-Brexit.
Ukip has also said British students could provide labour for fresh produce industry to help cut migration.
Prime Minister Theresa May has suggested a seasonal agricultural workers scheme could be reintroduced after Brexit.
During May's House of Commons statement on Brexit on Monday (23 October), Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston asked May if she will reinstate the seasonal agricultural workers scheme.
May says the migration advisory committee is looking at Brexit and its impact on farming, and whether or not it will be necessary to reinstate it.
