These were the elite of growers, the very best.We must have lost 100's, if not 1000's of growers/ market gardeners in the last 50 years.
But because we've lost 2 since Brexit............
I think they probably will one day. We are not there yet but demand is certainly driving innovation in that department.
Unless you are both blind and deaf you must realise that getting a supply of pickers and packers has been severely impacted by our political masters and their pseudo democratic dogma.
. Whilst grain prices aren't up to much either, it's easier sitting on a combine than cutting cabbage...........
I think it will solve a lot of problems. Having a steady trickle of seasonal foreign labour doesn't encourage innovation. Turn the taps off and you have to look elsewhere.
I'm sure it has. I'm not sure a business model that requires casual foreign labour is a great idea though, especially if the end product can be imported cheaper.
When i first came to Kenya you just shouted and a gang of people appeared to dig or pick now whilst you can still get people they aren’t as good as they were. People want to work in offices or shops or warehouses here too there probably aren’t the choices of jobs or unemployment benefits but people have smart phones and computers and they know there’s an easier life out there. Everyone wants their kids to go to University so they don’t have the same drudgery as they do. It’s worldwide
This is something farmers seem to forget. Grand you'll be making more profit and hence be able to afford the increases in food costs. But at the end of the day you're still paying the extra cost that the man on the street is forking out for. Going back to the old ways of a garden full of veg for eight months of the year, saving your own seed from said veg and keeping costs low/out of it is the only way to really save money here.
Bet he won’t be investing his own cash in the job though
Well said.
Straight off the boats and into the fields that should cut the number crossing down straight away.
Thank you. I’ve been reading this with interest but don’t really feel qualified to comment compared to the experienced @Kidds, @SteveHudd And @7610 super q. But since when have qualifications stopped anyone on here?
Thank you. I’ve been reading this with interest but don’t really feel qualified to comment compared to the experienced @Kidds, @SteveHudd And @7610 super q. But since when have qualifications stopped anyone on here?
We‘re only in our 3rd year growing veg, the vast majority of which goes to Riverford. We’re small, growing around 22 acres but I think this is one of our advantages. All labour is local and part time. By growing a range of crops we spread the planting, weeding and picking work as well as reducing the risk from individual crop failures. Typically our pickers will do 4-5 hours work on the days we need them and this is key. They come from a variety of backgrounds from students through to part time office workers and retirees. Would anyone here want to pick veg 5+ days per week for 8 hours + per day? I doubt it, especially if they were employed and it wasn’t their own business, so if we wouldn’t want to do it, why should we expect others to?
The problems I see are two fold.
Firstly, growers have become too big, needing full time staff doing hard unattractive work. Small mixed farms like our/s are seen as inefficient, yet we function when others are struggling.
Secondly, markets. If Riverford don’t want one some of our highly perishable veg (they’re predicting a drop of 10-20% demand this year) what do we do with it? As said elsewhere here, many wholesale markets have gone, meaning we’d have to go from Exeter to Bristol, only for some of it to probably head back down the M5 again.
So ideally we’d have small mixed family farms growing for local markets, but unless someone has a magic wand…..
I think so. Everyone has to eat but it doesn’t have to be organic or delivered in a box to your door. However, as I would imagine that a lot of their customers are probably amongst the wealthier in society I’m not sure that the impact will be as hard as they’re fearing.
But it was short lived, by 1995 things took off again. The recession hit again in 2007, longer lasting, and I still don't think some sectors really recovered. Organic dairy never seems to get affected for some reason.
I can see where you are coming from with regards customers of organic produce. I have had 2 different tenants in the farm cottages over the last few years which have both chosen to buy Riverford and Abel and Cole vegetable boxes regularly. Neither of those would fit your wealthy demographic. It was a life choice for healthier food. Whether or not an economic squeeze will change this, only time will tell.
You are more than qualified to comment. You are doing it, I used to do it and there is a big difference. Those that used to do it are very often stuck in the old ways and unable to progress as a result. New blood is the future, learn from the past but remember that it has gone.
I always thought that 9am-3.30pm was a good days work. You have got the best out of your workers in those hours and they can do both school runs (although Happy Hour was more likely than a school run for my crew)
Has Riverford got too big?Thank you. I’ve been reading this with interest but don’t really feel qualified to comment compared to the experienced @Kidds, @SteveHudd And @7610 super q. But since when have qualifications stopped anyone on here?
We‘re only in our 3rd year growing veg, the vast majority of which goes to Riverford. We’re small, growing around 22 acres but I think this is one of our advantages. All labour is local and part time. By growing a range of crops we spread the planting, weeding and picking work as well as reducing the risk from individual crop failures. Typically our pickers will do 4-5 hours work on the days we need them and this is key. They come from a variety of backgrounds from students through to part time office workers and retirees. Would anyone here want to pick veg 5+ days per week for 8 hours + per day? I doubt it, especially if they were employed and it wasn’t their own business, so if we wouldn’t want to do it, why should we expect others to?
The problems I see are two fold.
Firstly, growers have become too big, needing full time staff doing hard unattractive work. Small mixed farms like our/s are seen as inefficient, yet we function when others are struggling.
Secondly, markets. If Riverford don’t want one some of our highly perishable veg (they’re predicting a drop of 10-20% demand this year) what do we do with it? As said elsewhere here, many wholesale markets have gone, meaning we’d have to go from Exeter to Bristol, only for some of it to probably head back down the M5 again.
So ideally we’d have small mixed family farms growing for local markets, but unless someone has a magic wand…..