Rural Workers Co-op
Creation of a cooperative of rural workers to meet the demand of South West Scotland
Show MoreThe ability to recruit good quality people is becoming tougher, particularly in agriculture where demand for workers can be seasonal or casual - it can be difficult to ensure the right people are in the right place and the right time. Similarly small family businesses struggle to keep pace with employment legislation and can find the associated administration difficult.
South West Scotland is one of the most intensively farmed areas of Scotland, accounting for around 26% of all holdings in total, 85% of dairy herds and 39% of Scotland’s beef breeding herd (2016 Agricultural Census). The labour intensive and seasonal requirement for labour makes it more surprising that there is not a farmer owned labour agency in the area.
The aim of this project is to investigate the reasons why the South West is one of the few main agricultural areas of Scotland which does not have a farmer owned labour agency providing services to rural businesses, as well as pull together the people and agencies who would be required to make it a possibility.