Shortage of workers an issue for farmers

Over a quarter of farmers have experienced difficulty in sourcing farm workers in the past year.

“Did you experience any difficulty in sourcing farm workers in the past year or not?” was one of the questions put to 524 farmers in the Irish Examiner/ICMSA Farming opinion poll.

Yes was the answer from 27%, and 73% said no.

More than half of those interviewed are in the livestock or cattle sector, and 22% of them said they had difficulty in sourcing farm workers.

One in three of those interviewed are in the dairy sector, and 34% of them had difficulty getting workers.

In the smaller sample of tillage farmers (6%), 26% had difficulty getting workers.

The findings come as Ireland approaches the labour market’s definition of “full employment”, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August at 5.6%.0

Results in another part of the poll may indicate that farmers do not see immigrants as a source of farm workers.

Only 31% agreed, when 524 farmers were asked their view on the statement “Given the ongoing migrant crisis, Ireland should take in more migrants”.

That is down from 33% agreeing in the 2015 poll.

This time around, 55% disagreed (53% in 2015), and “don’t knows” were unchanged at 14%.