Andrew RT Davies AM – the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs – has broadly welcomed the initiative by Lantra to put potential employees, with the relevant skills and experience, in touch with businesses to ensure vacancies are filled in the coming months.
Lantra is the awards body for land-based industries in Wales, and has initiated the scheme to counter any potential labour shortages in the sector caused by the Coronavirus outbreak.
The new service run by Lantra will help us address this, matching skilled people with employers looking for workers such as sheep shearers, sheep dipping contractors, foot trimmers, fruit pickers and vets to jobs in, it is anticipated, less than 14 days.
Mr Davies said:
“We don’t know what the future holds in terms of farming and agriculture here in Wales during and after the Coronavirus pandemic, but we can assume that there are likely to be labour shortfalls in some areas of the industry.
“This is especially true as many farms are family-run businesses, and if one member of that family falls ill, with Coronavirus or something else, then there is the danger that the day-to-day work – which is seven days a week – could lead to essential tasks being left undone.
“This could affect not just the business, but also the welfare of animals and livestock.
“It’s also about food security, because in just the last few weeks, we have seen supermarket shelves stripped bare of food. This is something we cannot allow.
“We must not let our precious agricultural sector suffer, and it’s more important now than for decades to protect it, to develop our food security, and keep farming working for the nation.
Skills matching forms can be completed online at www.wales.lantra.co.uk.