Member

It is not as if farming is, generally speaking, a profitable business. I farm because the tenant who farmed my land could no longer afford to pay the rent, as farming was no longer profitable enough—it was not viable. My noble friend Lord Blackwell referred earlier to margins; they are pretty thin in farming. Of course, in my case, it may have been that the land was not high-quality enough, but that is a reflection on the state of farming today. In some parts of the country where the land is particularly fertile, farmers find it easier to make a reasonable income, despite the difficulties, but that is only in certain parts of the country.