Tolleshunt Major: Family farm facing an uncertain future (From Maldon and Burnham Standard)
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Tolleshunt Major: Family farm facing an uncertain future
11:30am Sunday 14th October 2012 in Local News
Tolleshunt Major: Family farm facing an uncertain future
A family-run pig farm could be forced to close after half a century unless tough trading conditions improve.
Fergus Howie, 38, farming partner at Wicks Manor Farm, in Witham Road, Tolleshunt Major, fears the business, like many others across the country, is unsustainable without more support from supermarket giants.
Mr Howie, who is putting off making a decision on the farm’s future until Christmas, said: “We’ve lost £25,000 over the last five months - that can’t continue.
“The problem is the price of feeding the pigs has gone up and the value of the pigs themselves has not.
“It’s very difficult times for pig farming at the moment and it’s only going to get worse.”
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