United Kingdom is facing an acute labour shortage in the farming industry, which is worsening day by day due to Covid-19 pandemic and Britain’s immigration policies after Brexit. The flow of European employees into Britain has diminished significantly after the changes in immigration policies.
Farming industry has warned the authorities that thousands of animals like pigs, might be culled in the coming weeks unless the administration issues visas to more butchers and slaughterers from Europe. The government announced a plan which issues visas for foreign drivers and workers from poultry industry in Europe, to solve the labour shortage.
A policy services officer at the National Pig Association (NPA), Lizzie Wilson said that the food processors were functioning at a 25% reduced capacity due to the shortage of butchers. The pig farms were facing welfare issues due to increasing number of pigs ready to process, backing-up in farms.
Some of Britain’s pork processors like Cranswick, Morrisons, Pilgrim’s Pride and Karro Food Group have rationed their pork product ranges due to the crisis faced by the pork industry. The president of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters said that up to 150,000 pigs were about to be culled in about a week or two.
A government spokesperson said that the administration was aware of the challenges and crisis that the pork industry has been facing in the past few months. The government is observing the market closely to explore solutions for the issues faced by different industries in the country, he added.
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