A NEW survey has been launched to gauge the severity of labour shortages on UK dairy farms.

Farm owners and managers are being encouraged to complete the 10-minute survey, which will then form the basis from which solutions may be found.

From January 2021, new immigration rules mean dairy farms will struggle to employ foreign labour as farmworkers are not classed as highly skilled and have not been included on the MAC Shortage Occupation List.

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers last conducted a labour survey in 2016, which found over half of the respondents had trouble recruiting staff within the previous five years, with 56% indicating they had employed foreign labour during the same period.

Commenting on the new survey, RABDF’s managing director Matt Knight said: “Sourcing quality labour on dairy farms has been, and I suspect still remains, an issue for many dairy producers.

“The news that access to foreign labour will be limited from next year is an added blow, which is why we need to get an understanding of the scale of the problem and start looking for some short- and long-term solutions," he explained.

“Already the RABDF has schemes in place to help encourage new entrants such as our Entrepreneurs in Dairying training course. We are also working with land-based colleges, youth groups and have also produced the Education and Training Directory specifically for the dairy industry to highlight relevant courses. However, more needs to be done and we need to be proactive about how we encourage more people into the sector and retain them,” he concluded.

The short survey consists of 28 questions and can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NQHMR7R.

The survey will close on November 20 and farm owners and managers completing the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win £150 worth of Amazon Vouchers.