The Impact of Post-Brexit Rules on UK Agriculture and Harvest Season Workers from Bulgaria and Romania

One of the sectors of British industry most seriously affected by the new post-Brexit rules is agriculture. This year, too, questions are being raised as to whether part of the harvest will remain unharvested after the large outflow of seasonal workers from the EU countries, and especially from Bulgaria and Romania, due to the restriction of freedom of movement.

Andrey Ivanov, who is the farm manager of a large British company, a producer of jams, sweets and marmalades, as well as fresh produce, came to the Island to pick strawberries as a student 23 years ago.

“Spring surprised us a bit. It was cold and the harvest is late,” he said. And he noted that for the moment they have enough people:

“We have many Bulgarians. Most of the workers on the farm are Bulgarians. /…/ Workers arrive from all over the world. At the moment we have workers from South Africa on our farm, last year we had from Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. This program there are 5 approved companies that can bring in workers. Depending on where these companies have offices – we also get workers. Because Bulgaria and Romania were among the most workers all these years after 2007 until the new program, so the most are the workers from there”.

We have 13 full-time employees, all the rest are seasonal workers, Ivanov pointed out. According to him, if a person lives in England and is a local, then he needs a permanent job in order to cover his expenses, which cannot be done with seasonal work.

In an interview with BNR, Andrey Ivanov emphasized that visas are very easy, and the requirements are minimal. But workers cannot come to work without a visa.

According to him, there are quotas for seasonal workers. For the entire industry, it is 45,000 people per year, with an additional 10,000 approved if the industry needs it, he explained.

Robotization has a future in the industry, Ivanov was categorical.

“We have to move with the times. Our biggest expense is strawberry picking. This is the most labor-intensive work in our production. We are trying, we are working with the local university for the third year on a picking project – the robot is already there, working, picking , but picking speed can’t beat what a worker can do. Speed ​​is between 3 and 5kg. Worker – fastest can pick up to 45kg. depending on produce. Average between 25 – 30kg. a worker can collect per hour”.