Farmers struggling to find staff with skills required for agricultural work

They are warning that investing in education, skills and career pathways is now critical to protecting the nation's food supply, as pressure on food security ramps up with global conflicts.

It comes with a renewed focus on getting young people into work, education or training, as the number of those aged 16 to 24 in none of these pathways recently surpassed one million.

Meanwhile, former health secretary Alan Milburn declared that the UK is facing a “lost generation” over the number of young people not in education, employment or training (known as being Neet).

The survey of almost 500 British farmers by Arla has found that people with the required skills are not available.

More than four in five of respondents say that they have had very few or no applicants for vacancies with the right skills, a figure that has not dropped below 80 per cent in the last seven years.

Half of farmers say it is much harder to retain staff compared with before Covid and Brexit.

Inspiring the next generation and attracting a younger demographic into the food sector is also a pressing issue, with an aging workforce across agriculture and food production.

Just under half of British farmers are over the age of 55 and the average age of workers in the supply chain is 46, up from 40 in 2018.

However, John Banks, a dairy farmer near Thirsk, in North Yorkshire, is bucking that trend.

He runs his third generation family farm with his brother, wife, nephews and nieces, and has seen a huge rise in young staff members over the last decade.

“We’ve done a dairy expansion over the last 10 years and with that our need for people to work with has grown alongside the dairy herd,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“Over those 10 years we’ve found some ways to help try and fill the need.

“We’ve become a much more attractive place to work for young people, for both young men and women.

“Ten years ago we would have had very few women working on the farm - right now more than half of our workforce are women - so it has opened up a whole new workforce for us.”

The 60-year-old has engaged with local agricultural colleges and made sure the farm has a presence on social media, so younger people can find out about the career.

The farm offer apprentices and also part-time work for youngsters at nearby colleges.

“Engaging with local agricultural establishments is key, and the social media side of things comes automatically from that,” he added.

“It’s about proactively engaging with some of the younger potential staff.

“I do believe that a lot of the jigsaw pieces are there, but part of the challenge for us right now is that the jigsaw pieces are not arranged as they should be.

“That’s from both the colleges, ourselves and farmers and employers and the young people themselves.”

Bas Padberg, Managing Director of Arla Foods UK, said: “Securing the future of British food starts with securing people. Behind every litre of milk and every meal on the table is a skilled workforce producing, processing and transporting food.

“We need to inspire young people earlier and connect them to food.

“When people understand more about where it comes from what is takes to feed a nation, helping to be a part of that becomes a much more attractive proposition.

“If we want a resilient food system capable of feeding future generations, we must invest in the skills, education and pathways that will build the workforce of tomorrow.”