Faversham, England — The British strawberry industry is in a jam, hit by a shortage of seasonal labourers for picking the fruit and the fear that much of the crop will be left to rot on their stems. After weeks of uninterrupted sunshine the season is in full swing in the so-called Garden of England, but the shortage of seasonal labourers is being worsened by Brexit. "We will end up with a problem," said Alastair Brooks, who runs a 60ha farm near the town of Faversham in Kent. "The recruitment agencies that we use for recruiting are saying that they are not going to be able to fill any vacancy after August," he said. His operation produces about 1,200 tonnes of strawberries and 400 tonnes of raspberries from April to November. "There’s definitely a tightening of the labour market," said Brooks, who employs 20 permanent and 180 seasonal workers. "If you go back to last year, there were four or five applicants for every job, and this year we have to chase people. We will see fruits lef...
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