A “pick for Britain” campaign will be launched by the farming industry and government to recruit up to 70,000 British workers to harvest fruit and vegetables from next month.
Workers who have been laid off and students will be among those targeted as the industry fears that crops will rot in fields because travel restrictions mean only 10 per cent of the usual eastern European workforce will be available.
The National Farmers’ Union is calling on the government to relax rules to enable furloughed workers to come and work on farms without losing all 80 per cent of their wages now guaranteed by the government. It is concerned that many who want to help with the harvest will stay at home if their earnings from
