Archive photo with automatic weeding. – Photo: MIset
UK farmers need to replace workers with automation, supported by the UK GMO Subsidy Replacement Scheme.
The advice comes from a government panel on measures to tackle the growing acute labor shortage in the United Kingdom. The situation of fruits and vegetables abroad is alarming. Investments and therefore the growth of British farming enterprises are under pressure. Farmers hesitate due to lack of labour. Outdoor vegetable production in the UK has shrunk by 9,000 hectares since 2010, when 121,142 hectares were planted. In 2021, the trade deficit in fruits and vegetables is €11.6 billion. That is, the country imports more than it exports. The trade deficit was at a 10-year low.
British Alternative GMO
In one of the recommendations, the group recommends that the UK’s own subsidy system, which replaces the EU’s GMO programme, should focus more strongly on job substitution or productivity gains. Instead of the GMO system, where subsidies went to farmers’ associations, the group believes the new British subsidy system should focus on direct support to farmers from 2026. The British government commission was headed by John Shropshire, founder of G’s, one of England’s largest farms.
More waste
Landfills are also severely degraded due to the presence of crops on land. The British Farmers’ Union NFU estimates that labor shortages alone could cost €70 million in waste in the first half of 2022. It is not yet harvest season.
