Although I do not claim to be an expert, it seems that many farmers are shutting up shop and going out of business in our area and they will soon be a dying breed.

They face tough competition from foreign exports who sell produce very cheaply and at the same time their costs are rising beyond all belief. With inflation at an all time high, they have increased costs for fuel, animal feed and pesticides and they have other costs such as wages to pay too. Fortunately, there are some cost effective options out there, such as using Pestforce for crop protection.

Many people blame the giant supermarkets who demand unrealistic prices in order to keep consumer pricing down and exerting pressure on the farmers resulting in tiny or even negative margins.

In this case we also have to examine our own spending habits as most people will buy the cheapest produce on offer at the local supermarket, even if this means that farmers across the country are going out of business.

There are still some profitable areas of agriculture, but we have to make sure that we support our local farmers, even if it means paying a little extra for quality produce, otherwise there will be more farms going out of business in the coming years and we will then be forced to rely on foreign imports. Vital skills will be lost forever to coming generations.