Pig World
  • News
      • Animal Health
      • Breeding
      • Business
      • Environment
      • EU
      • Food Safety
      • Housing
      • Marketing
      • NPA
      • National Pig Awards
      • New Products
      • Nutrition
      • People
      • Pig Fair
      • Politics
      • Training & Education
      • Welfare
  • Features
    • Animal Health
    • Breeding
    • Environment
    • Farm Visits
    • Herd Recording
    • Housing
    • Marketing
    • Nutrition
    • Products
    • Training
  • Comment
    • AHDB Pork
    • Chris Fogden
    • Dennis Bridgeford
    • Peter Crichton
    • Red Robin
    • Veterinary View
    • Zoe Davies, NPA
  • Numbers
  • Pig Prices
  • Magazines
    • July 2025
    • June 2025
    • 2025 Innovation supplement
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • 2025 Buildings supplement
    • February 2025
    • 2025 Nutrition Supplement
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • 2025 National Pig Awards supplement
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • August 2024
    • 2024 Pig Health supplement
    • July 2024
    • June 2024
    • 2024 Innovation supplement
    • 2024 Pig & Poultry Fair Guide
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • 2024 Buildings Supplement
    • March 2024
    • 2024 Pig Nutrition supplement
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • 2023 National Pig Awards supplement
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • Health Supplement
  • Suppliers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Classified
  • Events
    • Pigs Tomorrow
    • National Pig Awards
Podcast
Pig WorldPig World
  • News
      • Animal Health
      • Breeding
      • Business
      • Environment
      • EU
      • Food Safety
      • Housing
      • Marketing
      • NPA
      • National Pig Awards
      • New Products
      • Nutrition
      • People
      • Pig Fair
      • Politics
      • Training & Education
      • Welfare
  • Features
    • Animal Health
    • Breeding
    • Environment
    • Farm Visits
    • Herd Recording
    • Housing
    • Marketing
    • Nutrition
    • Products
    • Training
  • Comment
    • AHDB Pork
    • Chris Fogden
    • Dennis Bridgeford
    • Peter Crichton
    • Red Robin
    • Veterinary View
    • Zoe Davies, NPA
  • Numbers
  • Pig Prices
  • Magazines
    1. July 2025
    2. June 2025
    3. 2025 Innovation supplement
    4. May 2025
    5. April 2025
    6. March 2025
    7. 2025 Buildings supplement
    8. February 2025
    9. 2025 Nutrition Supplement
    10. January 2025
    11. December 2024
    12. November 2024
    13. 2025 National Pig Awards supplement
    14. October 2024
    15. September 2024
    16. August 2024
    17. 2024 Pig Health supplement
    18. July 2024
    19. June 2024
    20. 2024 Innovation supplement
    21. 2024 Pig & Poultry Fair Guide
    22. May 2024
    23. April 2024
    24. 2024 Buildings Supplement
    25. March 2024
    26. 2024 Pig Nutrition supplement
    27. February 2024
    28. January 2024
    29. December 2023
    30. November 2023
    31. 2023 National Pig Awards supplement
    32. October 2023
    33. September 2023
    34. Health Supplement
    Featured

    July 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    July 6, 2025
    Recent

    July 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    July 6, 2025

    June 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    June 4, 2025

    2025 Innovation supplement now available

    June 4, 2025
  • Suppliers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Classified
  • Events
    • Pigs Tomorrow
    • National Pig Awards
LinkedIn X (Twitter)
Pig World
Comment

The term ‘unskilled labour’ does a great disservice to our migrant workforce

Zoe DaviesBy Zoe DaviesMarch 1, 20173 Mins Read
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

The last few weeks have, unsurprisingly, all been about Brexit.

Due to the hard work that Lizzie (Wilson) has put in, writing letters to ministers in all the relevant departments and the fact that they are all clearly in listening mode, we are meeting with more civil servants than ever and trying to get important points across about the pig sector.

I was lucky to be invited to give evidence at the recent EFRA select committee on labour, in the House of Commons. The focus, so far, has all been on seasonal labour from agriculture, which although important to some, is not what the pig industry needs as we largely rely on permanent staff.

The other point I had to get across was that although farm work is largely termed as ‘unskilled’ because people don’t usually need a degree to be able to do it, it doesn’t mean that people that are involved in agriculture have no skill. To me, this always seems to be an unfair description.

Anyway, the session appeared to go well, I got all of the points across that I needed to and dropped the Minister for Immigration, Robert Goodwill, in it for not sending back a suitable response to the letter we sent jointly with the poultry industry.
Let’s hope Neil Parish, who chairs the EFRA committee, drags him in too…

Second on the list was a very useful meeting with the Department for International Trade. We took the major processor representatives along with us, as they have first-hand experience of exporting and know where the key sticking points are, but found the team to be very useful and representatives from both Defra and DExEU (the new Department for Exiting the EU) were present, which shows cross-government working.

What impressed me most was that, unlike many, they actually had a plan for what they were going to do once Article 50 is triggered and the team (including specialists working with embassy individuals) is growing exponentially in order to facilitate it.

Comfortingly, their view is that trade with the EU at least won’t be too disrupted as we know plenty of countries will want to continue to export to the UK, too.
They also confirmed that welfare standards would be included as part of any trade negotiations. We have a meeting with DExEU coming up and no end of roundtables, so if we don’t manage to get the key messages across I will be very surprised.

On a slightly different note, Georgina (Crayford) begins her Nuffield journey this month. She’s off to Brazil for the scholar’s conference and I am sure will be keen to share her experiences with you all.
Not surprisingly, her Nuffield is all about antibiotics, so it’s very relevant. Figures on the eMB-Pigs database are starting to look much better by the way – keep it coming!

Share. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email
Previous ArticleLA-MRSA risk ‘very low’, FSA confirms
Next Article Young farmers join The Co-operative’s leadership training scheme
Zoe Davies

Read Similar Stories

Comment: British pork reimagined: Data-led marketing for a changing consumer

July 9, 2025

Comment: Market recovery, export growth and on-farm innovation

July 7, 2025

Comment: Encouraging signs as big pig issues discussed in parliament

July 4, 2025
Latest News

Who has gone the extra mile? Nominate 2025 Chris Brant Award winner now

July 14, 2025

ABN kicks off pioneering long-term mill project

July 11, 2025

Red Tractor to press ahead with new tiers for outdoor pig producers

July 10, 2025
Sponsored Content

THE GATEKEEPER OF RESPIRATORY HEALTH – MYCOPLASMA HYOPNEUMONIAE (M.HYO)

April 30, 2024

Tackle the root cause of PWD with free diagnostic tests

March 1, 2024
Current Pig Industry jobs
  • Assistant Pig Farm Manager – Ref 1761 Leicestershire

    • Leicestershire
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
  • Senior-Level Pig Stockperson – Ref 1760 Hampshire

    • Hampshire
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
  • Pig Stockperson – Ref 1759 North Yorkshire

    • North Yorkshire
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
GETTING IN TOUCH
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Meet The Editors
  • About Us
  • Email Newsletters
  • Subscribe
  • Reuse permissions
OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
PARTNER EVENTS
RELATED SITES
  • Farmers Weekly
  • Agronomist & Arable Farmer
  • Farm Contractor
  • National Pig Awards
  • Pigs Tomorrow
  • Poultry News
  • Weekly Tribune
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2024 MA Agriculture Ltd, a Mark Allen Group company

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.