In a move it claims was prompted by concerns over the Brexit vote, the supermarket chain Morrisons has announced a swathe of price cuts, including an average of 17% off the price of fruit, vegetables and salads.
Morrisons is British farming's biggest customer. According to the trade magazine Horticulture Week, UK growers fear they will be victims of what the retailer is calling one of its biggest 'price crunches'.
British Growers Association chief executive Jack Ward said: "This will make a difficult situation even more difficult for growers. Most producers are operating on wafer-thin margins of only one or two per cent'.
The increase in the National Living Wage is compounding the growers' problems, as they find it difficult to sell at prices that enable them to pay decent wages to workers.
According to Mr Ward, the risk is that production will leave the UK, which is at odds with consumers' stated preference for home-gorwn produce.
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