66% of Irish farmers finding it hard to secure labour

[Eldorado]

Two out of three Irish farmers are finding it difficult to secure sufficient labour for their farms, a new survey from Farm Relief Services (FRS) has revealed.

There was a total of six out of 10 farmers who say they have a poor work/ life balance, while one in three would not recommend lifestyle to family or friends.

Four out of five Irish farmers also believe the Green Agenda will have a negative impact on the viability of their farms and six out of 10 feel farmers will require more external labour on farms to address the new emissions reductions.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/66-of-farmers-finding-it-hard-to-secure-labour-for-their-farms-1404463.html

[itsnotoutthere]

https://www.beefcentral.com/news/dutch-govt-to-shut-down-up-to-3000-farms-sparking-more-protests/

[Ozymandias]

1 hour ago, Eldorado said:

Two out of three Irish farmers are finding it difficult to secure sufficient labour for their farms, a new survey from Farm Relief Services (FRS) has revealed.

There was a total of six out of 10 farmers who say they have a poor work/ life balance, while one in three would not recommend lifestyle to family or friends.

Four out of five Irish farmers also believe the Green Agenda will have a negative impact on the viability of their farms and six out of 10 feel farmers will require more external labour on farms to address the new emissions reductions.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/66-of-farmers-finding-it-hard-to-secure-labour-for-their-farms-1404463.html

This is nothing new. The problem has been going on for years.

In 2017, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) proposed that employment permits be extended to skilled farm workers from non-EEA countries in order to meet the demand. At the time, IFA Chairperson Maura Canning said

“Farmers need two things: extra help to cope with an expanding workload and skilled workers who can handle specialist tasks on farms, particularly those with machinery. For example, the shortage of skilled workers in the dairy sector has resulted in an increase in working hours for many farmers, which is of concern from a health and safety and quality of life perspective”.

She pointed out that “a number of farmers who have ... have identified skilled individuals in countries outside the EEA, which have an already established intensive dairy industry, but due to our current work permit system they are unable to employ these people.”

Addressing Labour Shortage Central to Improving Safety on Farms - Irish Farmers' Association (ifa.ie)

[pellinore]

The Net Zero drive is going a bit tits up. The UK is now starting to replace the tax lost through petrol and diesel by taxing electric cars, which until now has been the big incentive to change over.

Changing agricultural methods, if it means less efficient production, will result in higher costs. Governments around the world are going to have to go very heavy handed with the stick now they are abandoning the carrot of lower costs.