Cornwall flower growers fear that 80 percent of their crops will die in the spring due to a shortage of 2,500 EU workers.
Around 80 per cent of Britain’s daffodils are grown in Cornwall, generating around £100million for the UK economy.
January sees the start of harvesting and the daffodil industry needs approximately 2,500 workers to pick more than a billion stems.
Many growers are concerned that 75% of next year’s crop won’t be harvested due to labour shortages.
As they try to find workers, smaller growers may stop producing daffodils.
Most of the labor supply comes from east Europe, in particular from Romania and Bulgaria.

Many growers fear that 75% of next year’s crop won’t be picked due to labour shortages

Because they are unable to hire workers for their fields, small growers might stop producing daffodils.
Following Brexit, UK Government plans for immigration have seen the UK stop issuing visas to low-skilled migrants working in Europe. It has also drastically decreased the numbers of immigrants coming to the UK.
A plan to recruit seasonal workers from different parts of the globe does not include flower picking in its scope.
A lot of local growers tried to find workers, with little success.
‘If we can’t recruit more pickers, there won’t be a daffodil industry left. “The situation is very dire,” James Hosking from Fentongollan Farm in Cornwall near Truro told the Guardian.
‘If only 50% is picked this spring, the following spring you’re looking at 25% of that. And that means you’re out of business.
‘There’ll be no alternative but to stop growing daffodils. That’s the end of an industry the UK leads the world in.’

Around 80 per cent of Britain’s daffodils are grown in Cornwall, generating around £100million for the UK economy

Jan is the beginning of harvesting. To pick over a million stems, approximately 2,500 workers are needed by the daffodil business.
Varfell Farms, Penzance in Cornwall is the world’s biggest daffodil producer. They produce 500 million stems per year, and require 700 pickers.
Although the crops can be worth many thousands of pounds, Covid and Brexit have meant that there are only around 400 flower pickers.
Workers at Varfell Farms earn £890 a week on average and their top pickers can earn up to £1800 a week.
Alex Newey, owner of the company, stated earlier this year that the farm must let the daffodils die in the fields.
He stated, “We don’t have enough pickers for them to harvest them.”
“We are losing hundreds of thousands of Pounds.”

A large portion of the supply of labour comes from eastern Europe, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria in recent years.
Newey said that there are significant recruiting drives for workers from the local area to help harvest crops.
“It would be unrealistic to believe that Covid, along with the high unemployment rate than normal, will make it possible for those people to come and work in that field.
I would recommend that you respect a harvester of daffodils because it is hard work.
You’re outside in the cold, it’s Cornwall. There it blows very hard.
“It is wet, and you are bent over to pick daffodils for 3 months.
“Frankly the people we had to bring in and do this job, the locals, might last for a few days or weeks, but certainly not for two or three more months.”
The government has promised to extend the visa scheme to include non-edible crops such as daffodils.
The government is yet to make any announcements, despite the fact that there are only two weeks before harvest season.
MailOnline reached out to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for comments.