RABDF looks at sector's reliance on foreign labour, to inform Brexit negotiations.
 
Dairy farmers are being urged to complete RABDF’s migrant survey which sets out to determine foreign labour’s current contribution to the sector.
 
“We are becoming increasingly concerned about the effects Brexit may have on the use of non-UK citizen labour on UK dairy farms which we anticipate could be at an all-time high,” says RABDF chairman, Mike King.
 
“Two years ago, we carried out the first migrant survey in the dairy sector and found that one third of dairy farmers had employed foreign labour. We are revisiting their current contribution and in addition, aiming to identify if there are any potential issues.
 
“The survey has also been designed to determine where dairy farming needs Government to support to maintain its non-UK citizen labour workforce,” he says adding: “We will be sharing our survey findings with Government and in particular, to Gisela Stuart MP who is currently leading an inquiry on the status of EU nationals in the UK.”
 
RABDF's survey comes as the NFU's horticulture chair admits that farmers are finding it harder to employ workers from overseas in the wake of the Brexit vote. The union clashed with right-wing think tank Migration Watch UK this week, over the think tank's report which suggests harsh immigration laws post-Brexit could present an opportunity to improve wages and standards in farming, and attract Britons to picking jobs and other agricultural labour work.

A copy of the survey can be found here.