Each year a sea of rippling yellow flowers cover swathes of Aberdeenshire farmland.
Picked by a small army of seasonal workers, the daffodils – and peony – are, when at their finest, bunched and sent on their way to markets across Europe.
In fact, anywhere between one and two million bunches of flowers are produced each year from sites in the Mearns.
But with their growers, N J McWilliam & Co, suffering from a dearth of local workers it has emerged a plan to create 12 caravans could hold the key to the future of the enterprise.
They would house the workforce – now largely from overseas – who have been staying, unsustainably, in accommodation across Angus.
Without the caravans, which would sit on a site near to the daffodil fields, the farm suggests the very existence of their enterprise will be at risk.
N J McWilliam & Co have been running Haughhead Farm, Laurencekirk, for more than 130 years and, among other ventures, supply cut flowers to supermarkets across the Grampian region as well as far as Europe and the USA.
The planning documents state: “In previous years it was possible to employ local people but this has dwindled over the years and is now none existent.
“The current situation sees seasonal workers residing in caravan parks and other accommodation in Arbroath, Forfar, Brechin and Stonehaven.
“They are forced to travel long distances at high cost and with excessive
emissions.
“Their working day is made longer by travel time and the cost to the employer is excessive.
“And due to the nature of the work it is difficult for workers to get accommodation as they are often wet and muddy, which is not appealing to landlords.”
The proposed site, near to Haughhead Farm, is grassland which has been deemed too poor to use for crop production.
Planning documents add: “These workers are essential to the present and future running of the farm.
“Refusal of this proposal would make it impossible for the farmer to find accommodation for them, which in turn would put the future production of cut flowers at risk.”
