A mushroom farm in Co Down might not be able to remain open in the future due to short-term visas for seasonal workers. Gerard Fegan has operated the farm in Mayobridge for 30 years, but he claims he has rarely faced such a manpower crisis. Currently, seasonal workers can come to the UK for six months to work in the horticultural sector, including at companies like his. However, due to training for new workers taking between two and four months, Gerard says he's losing employees just as they're getting up to speed with the process. All in all, the impact of Brexit and losing mainly EU workers has had an effect on business.
"It takes between two to four months to train a harvester to get up to speed" Gerard said, "and then by six months they're gone. You just bring them in then and repeat the process again. So you're constantly recruiting and training."
Source: itv.com