Is there any news of what the government is intending to do regarding seasonal harvest workers ? From what i've read so far it looks like if you are a daffodil grower then you are going to be out of business by 2021 since 99% of pickers currently come from the EU . The saws scheme doesn't seem to cover non edible crops at the moment , i'm not sure of the figures for pickers needed but its going to be quite a few thousand , i think the 3 biggest growers in Cornwall alone have over 6000 acres between them and i'd guess that would be over 2000 pickers needed.
People have mentioned an exemption if the work is 12 weeks or less but i can't find anything in the updated immigration information. I see lots of talk about English unemployed doing the task but realistically there weren't enough English people willing to do the job back in the 90's and the acreage of crop grown now has vastly increased since those times. e.g. largest grower in the area when i started in 1989 was about 400 acres , now there are 2 firms within 10 miles that are over 2500 acres each .
People have mentioned an exemption if the work is 12 weeks or less but i can't find anything in the updated immigration information. I see lots of talk about English unemployed doing the task but realistically there weren't enough English people willing to do the job back in the 90's and the acreage of crop grown now has vastly increased since those times. e.g. largest grower in the area when i started in 1989 was about 400 acres , now there are 2 firms within 10 miles that are over 2500 acres each .
