A Scottish farmer is giving away his entire crop of blueberries, worth R42 million, to charity, because cheap imports and high labour costs have made harvesting the fruit economically unviable.
Growers in Peru and South Africa can sell their berries in the UK at a far lower price, while a shortage of pickers caused by Brexit has made the harvest unviable.
‘They’ve started planting huge areas of blueberries in the subtropics like Peru and South Africa,’ said Peter Thomson, who started growing blueberries in 1976.
‘Their costs of production are so low that we can’t compete.’
Normally 200 workers would have picked around 300 tonnes of blueberries this year, with 50 more working in the packhouse.
In 2014 the price paid to Scottish farmers was £17.50 per kilo; today it is less than £7. Labour costs have risen from £7 an hour five years ago to £10.10 today, before the payment of benefits.
The cheaper imports started last year after countries including Peru and South Africa, where pickers are paid substantially less, started using a new cultivar of the blueberry plant.
Blueberries usually require a frost before they flower, but the new cultivar does not need a frost to thrive.
The new variety is larger and firmer, and can be shipped – rather than airfreighted – over a number of weeks without spoiling.
Another economic impact has come from Brexit, which has pushed up the price of labour and made it difficult to find skilled pickers.
Brexit means labour now comes from Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, or Nepal, and is more expensive.
‘We have no realistic prospect of making money unless the supermarkets are prepared to pay (more) for Scottish blueberries.’
He plans to continue farming cherries but may build houses on some of his land.
[Photo: LC-click / 31 images for Pixabay]