APOLOGIES in advance, but I have to return to a well trodden path once more; there is now an acute shortage of seasonal workers, and I know of at least three growers who have lost crops because of it, the hard working Marshall family from Blairgowrie being one of them.

The Marshalls are not alone; I have visited another grower who I can confirm has lost 25 tons of strawberries and 10 tons of raspberries due to labour shortages, with a value of around £150k. The problem is much more widespread than that. There is not a grower among us who does not have much higher costs compared to last year, primarily due to a shortage of pickers, and exacerbated by the unusually warm weather making crops ripen much faster than usual.

The situation is on a knife edge. This is so frustrating, because we have managed to convince everyone except the PM that there is a problem, and also that we have a simple solution. Our local Conservative MP, Kirstene Hair, and our SNP MSP Graeme Dey have both been strong advocates of reintroducing the SAW Scheme at the earliest opportunity.

Fergus Ewing visited my farm in June and is fully supportive. I had conversations with Mike Russell and Willie Rennie at the Highland Show, who are both well informed of the situation and in complete agreement. I have spoken to Michael Gove four times in the past 12 months, and despite being a Brexiteer, he accepts the need for a scheme at the earliest opportunity. Sources tell me that the Home Office would not stand in the way.

Which leaves the Prime Minister; I am reliably informed that she is not persuaded by the whole fruit and veg industry, British Summer Fruits, British Growers, NFUS, NFU, the EFRA committee under a Conservative MP Neil Parrish, and many MPs of all colours all telling her the same thing.

As farmers, we might empathise with her dogged sticking to the task, despite all that is thrown at her, but her intransigent attitude towards this existential problem for the fruit and veg sector in the face of all the evidence has led me to the conclusion that she is just thrawn, and it will take a disaster to make her change course. I fear we won’t have long to wait.

You can have too much of a good thing, but despite the shortage of grass, the low level of the irrigation dam, and the cereal crops burning up, it’s very hard to wish for cooler weather and rain. With any luck, subsequent shortages of whatever it is we are growing will be offset to a large extent by higher prices. Soft fruit crops are top quality and sales are very good, with the caveat of higher picking costs because of the labour shortage and the warm weather bringing all the fruit on at once. Our workers are having to work long hours to get the job done, but they are happy as they are being well paid for it, and it is completely voluntary.

One thing which isn’t optional is making sure our employees are safe. I have had personal experience of accidents on the farm over the years with several close shaves with machinery and animals, as I’m sure many of you have, but I am probably unique in being injured by Kate’s hair straighteners, accidentally (or on purpose, it’s hard to be certain) left on a chair in our bedroom; I sat on them stark naked after coming out of the shower one evening a few years ago, and am now the proud owner of a permanent V sign branded on my bottom. It’s gradually fading through fifty shades of pink.

Unfortunately, and as most of us know, farming’s health and safety record is not a laughing matter, with 27 fatal injuries in 2016/2017 according to HSE. 23% were struck by a moving vehicle, 18% were as a result of a fall from height, and 15% were injuries by an animal. Other key causes were being struck by an object, contact with machinery, drowning/asphyxiation and being trapped by something collapsing or overturning. On average there are 13,000 non-fatal injuries in farming, forestry and fishing each year, and according to the 2017 HSE report the worker fatal injury rate of 7.61 per 100,000 workers in 2016/2017 ‘remains higher than any other main industry sector: around six times that in construction, and 18 times that across all industries.’

For that reason, I was very pleased to see Ringlink announce a joint venture with NFU Mutual to provide health and safety training. This is something the ring have been working on for years, and NFU Mutual have a proven track record of working on farms, which makes them an ideal partner. There are three different levels of service on offer depending on how much support each business needs, and I have signed our business up. The consequences of a serious accident far outweigh the cost of this service. As an incentive to encourage uptake, they are offering a 10% discount for a period of six-months for any training events undertaken through Ringlink, by members who sign up for the Health and Safety Service.

Without making excuses for the industry, one of the key reasons for our poor safety record is the low profitability of agriculture; when you are struggling to make ends meet, corners tend to get cut, and I suspect it is more often the smaller farm businesses that are less up to speed regarding health and safety.

Therefore, I think it would make sense to have support towards measures and grants which improve safety on farm, whether it is towards capital grants such as improving cattle handling facilities, or support towards a health and safety audit or staff training.

Grants are already available in England to improve cattle handling facilities, and I think it would be a positive move to do something in Scotland. We can’t afford to wait for any support which might come; our cattle pens, which I remember working in with my father, grandfather and brothers as a child, are no longer fit for purpose, and we are taking the opportunity to put something safer and more efficient in place.

Whatever we do, it will cost a lot more than the old setup. My father paid £100 for the hefty wooden beams from a warehouse in Dundee almost 50 years ago.