Horticultural farms were the most likely farm type to employ migrant labour
Migrant labour makes up twenty percent of the agricultural workforce in Northern Ireland, a new report has found.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has released its new report ‘Migrant Labour in NI Agriculture’, which presents survey results for the agricultural sector on migrant labour.
The statistics are compiled from a survey of farm businesses completed in November 2017.
An estimated 1,404 non-seasonal and seasonal workers from outside the UK and Ireland were employed in agriculture in Northern Ireland.
Using June Agricultural Census employment figures, the 1,404 migrant workers equate to 20 percent of the paid agricultural workforce.
Horticultural farms were the most likely farm type to employ migrant labour, with approximately 70 percent of the estimated migrant labour used on these farms.
Thirty-two percent of non-seasonal migrant workers present were from Bulgaria, with 28 percent from Lithuania and 16 percent from Poland.
Importance of migrants
The report states that almost all the responses from farm businesses with migrant labour stated that migrant labour was important to their business.
When asked how their business would adapt if a future UK government placed significant restrictions on the recruitment of workers from EU countries, the most common response was reduce production (34 percent), followed by recruit more workers from the UK and Ireland (23 percent) and invest in labour saving technology (18 percent).
Sixteen percent of responses indicated the farmer did not know how they would respond with a further 8 percent of responses included in the other category.
Of these latter responses, around two fifths said it could lead to closure of the business.The release of the survey follows news of the Prime Minister stating that low-skilled migration will drastically fall when the UK ends EU free movement access after Brexit.
Theresa May said higher-skilled migrants from around the world will be given priority, with lower-skilled immigration curbed.
For the farming industry, a pilot scheme will allow businesses to hire non-EU migrant workers for a period of six months.
SOURCE: Farming UK
