NFU Scotland have welcomed the government announcement about the continuation of the seasonal worker scheme for 2025, but has urged decision makers to continue looking long-term.

The scheme will provide a total of 43,000 seasonal worker visas for horticulture and 2000 for poultry next year, a decrease of 2000 visas for the horticulture sector compared to last year.

The government said the announcement would provide certainty and help the sector secure the labour and skills needed to bring high-quality British produce including strawberries, rhubarb, turkey and daffodils to market.

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Rishi Sunak’s administration had confirmed the scheme would be extended for five years in May, however, the new Labour government was yet to confirm it would continue that commitment or announce the numbers of visas on the scheme.

The government said the announcement would provide certainty and help the sector secure the labour and skills needed to bring high-quality British produce to market.

NFUS horticulture chair Iain Brown, a soft fruit and veg producer from Fife said: “The seasonal agricultural workers scheme remains crucial to the success of Scotland’s growing and ambitious horticultural sector. Soft fruit alone is worth £145 million annually to the Scottish economy and more than 430,000 tonnes of vegetables are produced each year in Scotland.

“It is a positive that 43,000 SAWS visas will be available to the horticultural sector across the UK for 2025 and the survey responses that show tremendous levels of satisfaction for those workers taking part in the scheme is excellent news for all involved in the scheme’s operation. But we are ambitious for growth and we have a fantastic story to tell around the quality, taste and sustainability of Scottish soft fruit and veg. To deliver on that ambition we need long-term certainty over labour supplies.

“We need the government to respond positively to the recent recommendations by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) which recognised how important SAWS is to domestic food security. The government response must translate into a long-term commitment to a seasonal workers scheme, one that gives growers confidence to invest.”

For years, the industry has been pressing the critical role that seasonal workers have within the UK’s farming and growing businesses.

Chronic worker shortages have been damaging for the industry, with approximately £60 million worth of crops lost in 2022 due to a lack of labour.

Confidence of farmers and growers is also at an all-time low, with the availability of a workforce being one reason.

Food security minister Daniel Zeichner said: “Confirming the seasonal worker visa allocation for 2025 gives growers and producers certainty, allowing them to plan ahead and secure the labour they need to grow and thrive."

While the NFU has welcomed the news as a 'relief', it has called for a long-term scheme for horticulture and poultry businesses to plan around.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: "Farming and growing businesses don’t just work on year-to-year production cycles, they plan their business operations years ahead.

"Horticulture and poultry businesses in the UK both had the ambition to grow, but essential to this was long-term certainty.

“We don’t want to see a return to empty supermarket shelves or further years where £22m of crops are left to rot in the fields and we want to ensure consumers have access to their favourite Christmas centrepiece during the festive season.

"We have an ambitious industry that wants to drive productivity to support the health and wellbeing of our nation, but action is needed to make this a reality."