More than half of recruitment companies in the UK say they could not find the labour needed by farmers to pick their fruits and vegetables, reports The BBC, citing data from the Association of Labour Providers. Most of the workers who come to pick fruit and vegetables are seasonal migrants with 99% of seasonal workers on British farms coming from Eastern Europe. AG Recruitment and Management, a seasonal supplier of agricultural labour states that it works in Romania to supply labour for 80 growers across the UK. Over the next few months it needs to find 4,000 people to pick fruit however, the agency said it is nowhere near that target. Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union reported a 17% drop in seasonal workers coming to the UK last year. A key reason for the recruitment challenges is Brexit as many of the workers are unsure about which documents are now needed to work in the UK. In a statement, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commented, "We have been clear that up until December 2020, employers in the agricultural and food processing sectors will be free to recruit EU citizens to fill vacancies and those arriving to work will be able to stay in the UK afterwards."