May 8, 2020 4.32 pm This story is over 46 months old

Student land army required to work on Lincolnshire farms

80,000 seasonal workers are needed on farms this summer
Photo: Shooting Star
By Local Democracy Reporter

The Greater Lincolnshire local enterprise partnership has called on students to join a student land army to help harvest food.

This will require voluntary work on British farms over the summer during the coronavirus pandemic.

The LEP has brought in this scheme to support national food security through local food supply chains.

80,000 seasonal workers are needed from the end of May to help bring in the UK harvest on farms across the country.

Students are the primary target of this campaign due to their summer break from education.

Sarah Louise Fairburn, chair of the food board at the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, said: “The food sector in Greater Lincolnshire employs 56,000 people, produces a quarter of the country’s vegetables and is nationally important in keeping our nation fed.

“Because of travel restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus, our farms are struggling to recruit the workers needed to bring in the harvest this year.

“A student land army can have a significant impact on the national effort to overcome the pandemic emergency and will give students a chance to earn an income while they’re not studying.”