The Scottish Government has hit back at Michael Gove after the announcement of the new seasonal labour pilot scheme. The two-year pilot scheme will allow non-EU migrant workers to work on farms and then return after six months. A total of 2,500 workers will be able to come to the UK each year under the scheme.

However, this scheme does not go far enough to address the major issues facing Scottish agriculture and the demands for migrant workers that exist according to a statement from the Scottish Government: “It is extremely disappointing that despite Mr Ewing raising it repeatedly with Michael Gove the UK government failed to consult with the Scottish Government on these proposals.

Our agricultural sector is at huge risk from a hard or no-deal Brexit with up to 22,000 non-UK seasonal migrant workers employed in the soft fruit and vegetable sectors alone.

“With only 2,500 workers for the whole of the UK, this pilot falls far short of meeting the sector’s needs and fails to recognise the need for an economy-wide solution.

“The evidence is clear – current UK government immigration policy is harmful to Scotland’s interests.”

Indeed, going by figures from 2017 the Scottish Government estimates that there were 9,255 seasonal migrant workers engaged in Scottish agriculture alone.

The majority of large-scale seasonal migrant workforce is concentrated on a small number of very intensive horticulture units. The figures show that on average, these seasonal migrant workers were employed for just over four months of the year, corresponding to the key soft fruit harvest period.

Figures for 2018 remain unknown but it is believed that the numbers of workers may have fallen back on part due to the strength of the sterling.

Another contributing factor is the drop in EU migrant workers that are coming into the country to cause a perfect storm for the soft fruit industry.