Paul Harris believes the industry needs to be more solutions-focused than problem-focused when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.
Recruiting and retaining staff is an increasingly common issue faced across the UK's agricultural industry.
With the pig and poultry sectors often reliant on seasonal worker schemes to help address the issue, Paul Harris, chief executive at staff specialist REAL Success, says the industry needs to start owning the problem and stop looking to the Government for solutions.
The low availability of domestic labour is largely due to agriculture not competing with other industries, in terms of working conditions, working hours and health and safety, says Mr Harris.
He says: "One of the challenges with agriculture is that it is very insular, so it looks for answers within its own industry. What I think we should be doing is looking outside of agriculture to see what other industries have done to solve this problem."
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The construction industry also previously struggled to attract and retain staff, due to long working hours and poor health and safety.
This has since drastically improved, says Mr Harris, partly due to legislative changes but also by improving the facilities on offer, and ensuring health and safety is now a culture within the industry and not something that is simply complied with.
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"In agriculture it is often all about compliance, so I think the industry needs to focus on culture rather than compliance," says Mr Harris. He adds: "I think we are often looking for sticking plasters and the seasonal workers scheme is a sticking plaster."
Mr Harris explains working conditions, working hours and health and safety are the bedrock of attracting and retaining staff, all of which are within the realms of the farmer to do something about on their own farm.
He says: "Where we are going wrong with how to attract people is that we are talking to each other. Go and talk to some people outside the industry about what they have done."
Mr Harris says a change in attitude is required when it comes to addressing the labour issues experienced across UK agriculture.
He says: "For me it starts with seeing people as the most key resource. Once you have done that the first practical things to do are improve working conditions, working hours and health and safety."
While the poultry industry in some cases is considered ahead of other sectors in terms of staff facilities and cleanliness, Mr Harris says the livestock sector in general is difficult to attract people into.
Consequently, the facilities and benefits which farms provide their staff have got to be better than other industries.
"If we are going to say it is a dirty job, lets compensate by providing decent facilities. The farmers that do provide the best facilities get the people to work for them."
Mr Harris says farmers must recognise the job market is now a candidate's market, and farms will have to compete with each other when recruiting.
"Farmers have to recognise that every candidate is comparing, no candidate has got just your job that they have applied for."
Overall, Mr Harris believes the industry needs to be more solution focused than problem focused when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.
"I am not bashing the industry and saying your working conditions, working hours and health and safety is awful. We understand the problems, but we need to now come up with some solutions."
He adds: "We have got to think creatively, because I believe we can make this industry really attractive in the next ten years, and not somewhere where there is nobody working in it, because that is the risk. I genuinely think we are staring down the barrel of nobody wanting to work in our industry at all, right across agriculture."
Mr Harris says people have to be put at the top of the agenda in order to address the labour issue.
"Working conditions have got to be improved, as have staff conditions. Put health and safety at the center of your business alongside your people, as a culture not a matter of compliance."
