Worker shortages are threatening "irreversible" changes to Norfolk and Suffolk's vital food and farming sector unless the government takes action, warned industry leaders.

The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) says the consequences of Brexit and wider economic pressures - combined with a labour crisis, fuel supply issues and rising energy costs - are having a “real-time significant impact across the agri-food supply chain”.

It says 102,360 people work across the sector in the region, representing an above-average 14.7pc of the workforce. But 5,566 jobs were advertised in August as vacancies soared by 123pc this year compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The LEP has written to the government's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA), calling for a series of immediate and medium-term measures.

They include an enhanced Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme which "gives foreign workers a guaranteed offer of sustained work", urgent clarification of new environmental payment schemes for farmers, and a "significant increase in funding" for labour-saving innovations such as automation and robotics.

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Corrienne Peasgood, principal of City College Norwich and Easton College, is chairman of the LEP’s agri-food sector council.

She said: “Our members are working hard to deal with these issues, but many are reporting that without greater government intervention in the short term the effects will be profound – directly to the businesses concerned and, more widely, resulting in food shortages and food price inflation.

“It is clear to us that we are witnessing rapid and transformative change across the sector. The agri-food industry will rise to these challenges and undoubtedly evolve to adjust to the new conditions, but such structural change will take seasons, not weeks. Support as we transition is essential.

"Failing to act now will result in changes to the sector that will be impossible to reverse.”

The LEP says the worker shortage is affecting the whole food chain, but particularly seasonal fruit and vegetable picking, meat processing and logistics.

An acute shortage of butchers is causing major problems for the region’s pig industry, forcing some farmers to cull their animals and quit the industry, while turkey farmers are struggling to find the extra labour needed in the run-up to Christmas.

After Brexit ended the free movement of workers from the EU on January 1, the government introduced a new points-based immigration system and expanded its Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme to bring 30,000 workers into the edible horticulture sector in 2021.

It has also recently offered temporary visas to 800 butchers and 5,500 poultry workers to ease the shortages in the pig and poultry sectors.

The government is encouraging the sector to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers and says it is working with the food and farming industry to raise awareness of career opportunities to "reduce the sector’s dependency on seasonal migrant labour".

The LEP says employers are working hard to offer more attractive packages, but although the average salary in the food sector was £20,399 in August 2021 – higher than the national average of £18,924 – businesses still anticipate a poor take-up of roles even if pay is increased.

Seasonal roles, long hours and rural locations all contribute to making agricultural and food processing roles less attractive, says the LEP.