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U.K. Farmers to Test Fruit-Picking Robots Amid Labor Shortage

U.K. Farmers to Test Fruit-Picking Robots Amid Labor Shortage

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. farmers are speeding up efforts to deploy robots onto their fields as the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit expose a lack of available people needed to pick fruit and vegetables.

A newly formed consortium, backed by fresh-food suppliers, will trial robotics on farms this season. It aims to manufacture the technology and roll it out next year, according to the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre, one of the coordinators of the project.

The coronavirus pandemic is increasing the need for automation in food production due to disruptions at meat plants and on farms. Growers in Europe have struggled to secure enough people to pick this year’s harvests as lockdown measures have restricted movement of labor across the continent.

U.K. Farmers to Test Fruit-Picking Robots Amid Labor Shortage

Britain in particular has also faced shortages of seasonal labor as the nation’s plans to leave the European Union have led workers to seek employment elsewhere. Less than a third of migrant agricultural workers are expected to arrive this year due to the coronavirus.

“This could cause severe problems for numerous market sectors, such as fruit and vegetable picking, which ultimately will reduce the availability of food for the U.K. at a time when it is needed most,” said Simon Pearson, professor of agri-food technology at Britain’s University of Lincoln.

U.K. Farmers to Test Fruit-Picking Robots Amid Labor Shortage

While fruit and vegetable growers have explored automation in the past, the development of new technologies can be lengthy and comes at a high cost to farmers. The deployment of robots may also require a redesign of farms that are adjusted for human labor.

Trials will take place on farms growing strawberries, apples, blueberries, lettuce and broccoli. The consortium, which comprises the Agri-EPI Centre together with University of Lincoln, the National Farmers Union and others, has the backing of more than 100 of the U.K.’s fresh food producers.

U.K. Farmers to Test Fruit-Picking Robots Amid Labor Shortage

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