A turkey farming boss has warned that the UK could face a “national shortage” of turkeys in the lead-up to Christmas brought on by a lack of labour following Brexit.
Kate Martin, chairwoman of the Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association (TFTA), has suggested suppliers could run out of the birds before Christmas this year.
She said that while small British farms that use local workers have been less affected, supermarket shelves are likely to be hit by a shortage of skilled European employees.
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The TFTA, which represents producers of high-end free range turkeys, said some poultry farms have already had five times more orders this year than the same time in 2020.
Mrs Martin told the PA news agency: “This year it’s looking like there is a national shortage of turkeys when we’re talking about supermarket shelves, rather than buying direct from your farm.
“It is the supermarket shelves that will be emptier on turkeys this year than they have been before, only because there have been less turkeys placed on the ground, only because the big processers know that they will not get them processed.”
Asked whether supermarkets will run out of turkeys before Christmas, she said: “I think everyone needs to get their orders in very quickly.
“We have seen an absolutely unprecedented number of orders come in.
“Come Christmas, if you leave ordering your turkey from your local farm supplier, you are going to be out of luck.”
On whether Brexit is to blame, Mrs Martin said: “We’re small producers, we use local labour, but for the big processors it is 100% caused by a labour shortage.
“This situation with turkeys is caused by the fact that European labour is no longer available to us, and they are skilled workers who have been coming to us for years.
“People are now missing a whole host of their workforce that they have been training and investing in over the last however many years, and those workers are no longer available for us to use on a seasonal basis – they will go find work on mainland Europe instead.”
She added: “We’re an innovative industry and we will get through it but there are less turkeys to be had.”
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