The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is calling on the government to step in and support the agricultural sector to ease the current labour supply chain shortages, especially the pig sector as it experiences a serious processing backlog.
CLA Deputy President, Mark Tufnell said: “The current labour shortage is having an unprecedented impact on supply chains.
“In the pig sector in particular, the labour supply issues at pork processing plants are of serious concern. This backlog causes animal welfare issues and is economically crippling and extremely distressing for both the farmers and the pigs.
“We urge government to act swiftly on the calls for a Covid visa recovery scheme to help ease the current labour shortages.
“We have seen the government rightly step in to support the poultry sector but it needs to act to help all agricultural sectors experiencing similar supply chain issues.
“The government has to protect and secure British food production at this crucial time. Longer term it should introduce measures that ensure there cannot be a repeat of the issues currently being experienced.”