Cut to working hours will limit Britain's enterprising farmers

Britain's enterprising farmers could be left with labour shortages, and miss out on lucrative trading opportunities if changes to a key European directive set to cap working hours are agreed.

The European Commission's review of the Working Time Directive (WTD) will have far reaching implications on UK farming businesses.

An obvious problem is the long hours necessary during busy harvest periods, but there would also be major knock-on effects to sectors such as dairying, where farmers consistently work over 48 hours a week, with milking commitments at least twice a day.

NFU President Tim Bennett said: "A cap on the number of working hours per week could devastate many farm businesses.

"Growing crops are time-critical and must be harvested quickly in order to maintain high quality British produce. Many farmers and their farm workers work non-stop from sun up to sundown to maximise this small window of opportunity.

"Also, the proposed system of averaging working hours, even over a 26 week period, would be impossible for many farmers."

For example on a dairy farm, with essential commitments such as milking and calving, farmers would clock up more than 48 hours every week, making the concession of averaging hours meaningless.

Mr Bennett added: "A regulation limiting working hours could severely hamper free trade, and make UK farmers uncompetitive on world food markets.

"To this end, the NFU is working with other UK industries to retain the necessary flexibility for farmers and growers."

Notes to editors:

The Commission consultation, on this and other related issues, closed on 31 March.

It is expected that a report from the Commission will be released sometime during the summer that may include proposals to reform the current Working Time Directive; placing further restrictions on employers and employees with regard to working time.

The European Commission is consulting on current derogations allowed under the Working Time Directive, including the individual opt-out of the maximum 48-hour working week.

Currently, the UK is the only Member State that has adopted the derogation to opt-out across all sectors.

The UK also wishes to retain the extended reference periods for calculating the hours worked from 17 weeks to 26 or 52 weeks, depending on the industry.