The government has confirmed the visa allocation for the Seasonal Worker visa route for 2025 with a total of 43,000 seasonal worker visas available for horticulture, and 2,000 for poultry next year.
The NFU has been pressing the critical role that seasonal workers have in the UK’s farming and growing businesses with the government for several months and, prior to that, over a number of years when they were in opposition.
The scheme's extension was previously confirmed by the Conservative government earlier this year. However, following the general election, the new government had not confirmed whether this would be carried forwards until now.
Prior to the election, NFU President Tom Bradshaw met with the then Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to discuss the importance of the scheme and once again raised this with the new Defra Secretary Steve Reed, following Labour's election victory.
The Seasonal Worker visa route had previously been extended until the end of 2024, under a two-year extension which the NFU lobbied for as part of a catalogue of evidence offered to the government.
Businesses breathe a sigh of relief
Responding to the announcement, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the news will come as a “relief” to many horticulture and poultry businesses, allowing them to plan for the year ahead.
“But farming and growing businesses don’t just work on year-to-year production cycles, they plan their business operations years ahead,” the NFU President advised.
Tom said in the midst of record lows in farmer confidence, worker availability has been a “significant barrier to growth – a key mission of the new government”. While the poultry and horticulture sectors have the ambition to grow, long-term certainty is needed to enable this.
“We don’t want to see a return to empty supermarket shelves or further years where £22 million of crops are left to rot in the fields.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
In July this year, the MAC (Migration Advisory Committee) echoed years of NFU lobbying on the importance of the scheme when it published its report stating that the visa route was ‘clearly needed to maintain current levels of domestic food production in the short-to-medium term’.
Tom urged the government to publish its response to the MAC “as soon as possible” and reiterated calls for assurance on a long-term seasonal workers scheme.
He added: “We don’t want to see a return to empty supermarket shelves or further years where £22 million of crops are left to rot in the fields and we want to ensure consumers have access to their favourite Christmas centrepiece during the festive season.
“We have an ambitious industry that wants to drive productivity to support the health and wellbeing of our nation, but action is needed to make this a reality.”
Survey shows positive worker experience
Published alongside the announcement was Defra’s 2023 seasonal worker’s survey report. Conducted in early 2024, it shows 91% of respondents reported a positive experience from their time in the UK, while 95% expressed a desire to return.
Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner said: “This government recognises that food security is national security, and this can only be achieved by supporting food and farming businesses.
“Confirming the seasonal worker visa allocation for 2025 gives growers and producers certainty, allowing them to plan ahead and secure the labour they need to grow and thrive.”
The government has said it is working with industry to improve these numbers through farm compliance checks, and welfare checks on workers in addition to working with international partners.
Access to labour is one of the key priorities for the NFU's national poultry board and is also one of ten key building blocks identified by the NFU as necessary to deliver long-term growth for the industry under our growth strategy for horticulture.
