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[BazaJT]

The farmers of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire are getting worried that produce in the fields will rot and die due to fewer immigrant workers coming and picking their crops.Now here's an idea,if this is the case why don't they[the benefits people]get the long term unemployed and say to them here you go we have a job for you,and if they turn it down/refuse then stop their benefits for the duration of the picking season?
Seems perfectly reasonable to me

[New POD]

And in the Summer ? Students !!!!

[Doctor Gollum]

Bah, seasonal agricultural visas are hardly a new concept...summer/autumn in the Northern hemisphere and summer/autumn in the Southern hemisphere...

Worse ways to see the world

[STEMO]

Crops will grow, immigrants will pick them...move on, farmers.

[zirk]

Shouldn't have Voted Out then, should they.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

So, who picked these crops 20 years ago ? 

[biggriffin]

So, who picked these crops 20 years ago ? 

The pikeys, they would follow the seasons, and now they find it easier, to pinch diesel and cut trees down.
Also students would pick hops and summer type work.
Then farmers got greedy cut the wages, brought in foreign students under the student work programme, pay'd crap money,.
Now they pay gangmaster's who rip off the pickers.

[ted_one]

The farmers round here grow f all,they are selling all their land off to the bent council and developers,so in essence we won't need any one to pick the crops as the only thing that's growing round here is bricks and concrete.

[Nick W]

So, who picked these crops 20 years ago ? 

The pikeys, they would follow the seasons, and now they find it easier, to pinch diesel and cut trees down.
Also students would pick hops and summer type work.
Then farmers got greedy cut the wages, brought in foreign students under the student work programme, pay'd crap money,.
Now they pay gangmaster's who rip off the pickers.

You missed a step before the last sentence: eastern European countries joining the EU creating yet more available labourers willing to work for cheap.

Now that this has become standard, there will be a huge hole in that part of the labour market, that will only be filled by throwing money at it. And that will be one of many causes of inflation over the next few years.

[zirk]

So, who picked these crops 20 years ago ? 

Mostly Polish on 6 months Tourist Visas before Poland joined the EU, but why would they want to do that anymore now they can get real Careers in the EU.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

When my wife was a kid, her mum took her and her siblings to the local farms to pick fruit, spuds etc during school holidays, as did many of the other local families.
When my kids were young, my wife took them with her and did the same thing. When I was on short time at work I joined them, picking spuds for the local farmers.
As someone mentioned, travellers (they hadn't sunk to being pikeys then) would regularily turn up and do the work for some cash.
This worked well enough for the farmers for god knows how long, until they suddenly had a never ending supply of very cheap labour queuing up to work for them.
I don't believe for one minute they will go broke without this. They are well known for being the greediest of greedy businessmen.
I well remember a local multi millionaire farmer, sat in his brand new range rover, telling me that if he didn't get another few acres of spuds harvested in the next couple of days he would go bankrupt.
I told him he was talking utter bollix, he went slightly red in the face, laughed, and then drove off.
They are angling for enormous post Brexit subsidies. If they are too greedy and price their goods too high, people will vote with their wallets / purses and buy imported produce instead, and that is how markets should work.

[TheBoy]

So, who picked these crops 20 years ago ? 

Eastern Europeans, same as 30 years ago...

Unlike the lazy spongers on benefits, they are generally hard working and grateful.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

In my experience of casual farm work 30 years ago I never of or  met an eastern European doing the job. Also, we didn't have a benefits system 30 years ago which gave people with a couple of sprogs £500 - 600 per week to sit on their arses.
I don't have a problem with Eastern Europeans, or anyone else coming here to do those jobs, as long as we don't have anyone left sat on benefits who is capable of doing a days work.
People can surprise themselves just how hard they could work if the alternative was to starve. 

[TD]

IMO

Farmers may have to pay more for workers....and you would think food prices would go up...
However the amount of food that gets binned is staggering, because the EU say supermarkets carnt sell veg that doesn't look like it should. That is carrots that aren't straight, parsnips the same/etc/etc.
When we leave the EU supermarkets should be able to sell 'odd shaped' veg and the wastage will stop and keep the prices much the same 

[Sir Tigger KC]

I expect there will be a visa scheme for certain occupations like Apple Pickers and Brain Surgeons.    Although I think it would be good if we encouraged, invested and trained our own youngsters first before shipping in cheap or ready trained foreigners.