Herefordshire NFU chair says farmers squeezed on all fronts

"They have changed the situation with BSP (basic payment scheme), they've not nailed down exactly what's happening with the new environmental schemes, and there's not enough money in the new environmental plan," he said.

"But we are delighted with what the government has done about seasonal workers – allowing 45,000 seasonal workers to come to the UK, which is absolutely vital to Herefordshire with its fruit, vegetable and poultry industries."

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Added to the challenges Mr Quan cites, is the fact that "supermarkets aren't paying enough money so production is falling. Costs are through the roof but prices aren't rising.

"Many products are being replaced by produce from water- and regulation-depleted areas of the world, which is unsustainable in the long term, especially if you want British food on British plates. It's best to keep production in the more efficient parts of the world, like the UK," he said.

At Arkstone Court in Kingstone, John Watkins, who supplies seven per cent of McDonald's potatoes and chicken destined, via Avara, for Tesco and Nando's, observes that, although he lives, eats, sleeps and breathes farming, he sees the younger generation falling out of love with the industry as the challenges mount and farms become bigger.

"My father brought up a family of four with a 360-acre farm. Today, I farm 2,500 acres," he said.

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Mr Quan also points to a drop in the price of sheep thanks to the Australian trade deal, adding: "We've been sold down the river with the Australian and New Zealand trade deals, because they are going to flood our market with cheaper imports.

"There's a significant drop in the market for sheep at the moment as a result, down 80p a kilo (£15 a head)."

A seasonal worker tends to blueberry bushes at Winterwood Farms fruit farm in Maidstone, Kent, before they are harvested later this year as owners are struggling to fill positions for fruit pickers in the summer months with the number of seasonal workers

And although "it seems we have reached the peak of prices as fuel has come down, feed has plateaued and started to come down, there has been a lot of expensive input over the last year.

"We have also lost some of our European markets because we now enjoy third-country status. There is a lot more paperwork to get into markets we used to get into.

"In Herefordshire, because we enjoy very high environmental status, we are going to squeeze production out of our county. We have the lowest production of tomatoes, for example, since the 1970s.

"Producers can't afford to produce at the prices being offered. There won't, for instance, be many turkeys in Herefordshire within the next two to three months, and the same will happen with chickens."

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But, in case anyone imagines that a reduction in the county's poultry farming is a magic bullet for the recovery of the Wye, Mr Quan sounds a note of caution, pointing out that the loss of chicken farming (rumours are that production will drop by 10 per cent) "would ruin the economy of Herefordshire

Avara is the county's biggest employer with hundreds of other people's businesses dependent on the company. We need economic activity in Herefordshire. If you want to maintain animal and people welfare you have got to make a profit."

The problems with the Wye are being dealt with, says Mr Quan, but adds that "it will take 15 years to sort out. Farmers have to become more adept at dealing with the legacy phosphate by planting crops that will take it out of the soil.

"Life is an evolving feast. Whatever we do today is best practice and we then have to evolve to deal with the challenges of the day."

Farming in Herefordshire has been a substantial success story and we should be proud of what we do.

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