A shortage of butchers could impact food supplies over the Christmas period, especially pork.
The government has spoken out about the shortages and said they're "continuing to work closely" with the pig industry.
Ministers are considering plans to ease visa restrictions for up to 1,000 foreign butchers, according to The Times.
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A spokesman for the Department For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the PA news agency it was aware of labour shortages.
“We understand the importance of seasonal labour and we are aware of the challenges that the pig industry has faced in recent months because of the Covid-19 pandemic and labour shortages, and Defra has been working closely with the pig and processing sectors during this time,” he said.
“We are keeping the market under close review and continuing to work closely with the sector to explore options to address the pressures industry is currently facing.”
The Times reported the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said the industry is short about 15,000 workers, with has forced its members to just focus on keeping supermarkets stocked with basic cuts of meat.
A BMPA spokesperson was quoted as saying: “We really should have been producing Christmas food from about June or July onwards this year and so far we haven’t, so there’ll be shortages of party foods and things like pigs in blankets. Anything that is labour-intensive work could see shortages.”
The newspaper said Home Secretary Priti Patel has resisted the move to recruit foreign butchers.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Pig Association has warned the UK is heading into an “acute welfare disaster very quickly” with the country facing a “mass cull of animals”.
Rob Mutimer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The problem in the industry has got very considerably worse over the last three weeks. We are within a couple of weeks of actually having to consider a mass cull of animals in this country.”
He said pig farms of all sizes are running out of space to keep their animals, “which is a real worry coming into winter”.
Asked what a culling situation would involve, he said: “It involves either shooting pigs on farm, or taking them to an abattoir, killing the animals, and actually disposing them in the skip at the other end of the chain.
“So these animals won’t go into the food chain. They will either be rendered, or if not, sent for incineration. So it’s an absolute travesty.”
Mr Mutimer added that his pigs are usually around 115kg when they go to slaughter, but are now getting up to around 140kg.
“The pens and the sheds and everything just weren’t designed for animals of this size and we’re really heading into an acute welfare disaster very quickly,” he said.
A Home Office spokesperson told PA: “We are closely monitoring labour supply and working with sector leaders to understand how we can best ease particular pinch points. Similar challenges are being faced by other countries around the world.
“We want to see employers make long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad. Our Plan for Jobs is helping people across the country retrain, build new skills and get back into work.
“The Government encourages all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options wage increases and investment.”
The British economy has been hit by shortages in many sectors over the past few months, including labour shortages due to new immigration rules affecting the availability of HGV drivers.
