Scottish farmers have warned that Britain’s food supply is 'at serious risk' after the UK government scrapped a key visa route for skilled overseas farm workers.
The controversial change, introduced on 22 July 2025, removed Skilled Worker code 5111 from the Temporary Shortage Occupation List.
The decision means dairy, pig, poultry and horticultural producers can no longer recruit skilled staff from abroad to fill critical vacancies.
In Dumfries & Galloway alone, more than 25 dairy farms rely on overseas workers from countries such as the Philippines to keep operations running.
Farmers say the loss of access to those staff will hit food production, drive up consumer prices and increase reliance on imports.
Rory Christie, who runs the Dourie Farming Company near Port William with his brother Gregor, is among those raising the alarm. He also chairs the Milk Suppliers Association, SAOS and the Association of Dairy Producer Organisations.
“Our family has employed local people for over 70 years, and we will always look to local labour first,” he said. “However, the reality is that with rural depopulation there are insufficient skilled or indeed unskilled local people to fill the gap.
"This isn’t about uncontrolled migration — it’s about targeted, skilled people filling essential roles to keep food on our tables. The government is naïve if it thinks its decision won’t have a huge negative effect on food security and food prices.”
Christie added: “Farming isn’t bypassing local workers. We’re filling unavoidable gaps. Without access to overseas skills, the entire food supply chain — from farm to processor to retailer — is at risk.”
His family business operates a 1,200-cow dairy herd and a 200-sow pig unit, relying on both local and international staff to supply food seven days a week.
NFU Scotland and the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers have joined Christie in calling for an immigration policy that supports skilled, willing workers across agriculture and food processing.
Recruitment specialist Andy Backhouse of CAS Recruitment is also lobbying for change nationwide, warning that rising salary thresholds, combined with the removal of Skilled Worker code 5111, are already choking recruitment despite farmers’ sustained efforts to hire and train locally.
The Migration Advisory Committee itself has previously acknowledged that “domestic supply is insufficient to meet demand in key sectors with sustained vacancy pressures” and that employers have “undertaken significant efforts to recruit locally and upskill, but persistent shortages remain.”
The sector is urging ministers to take two immediate steps. First, they want Skilled Worker code 5111 to be reinstated for key farm roles, returning those jobs to the shortage list and placing them on the immigration salary list.
Second, they are calling for clarity ahead of the upcoming Migration Advisory Committee review, so that farm businesses can plan, invest and retain staff with confidence.
Farming leaders warn that without action the UK risks undermining its food security and leaving the supply chain dangerously exposed.
