"For the second time this year we have seen supermarket shelves empty of fresh veg and slow to be replenished. Customers have faced rationing, with strict limits on how many cucumbers and packs of peppers they can buy."

The explanation we have been given for these shortages include the European droughts of last summer, rough seas and thwarted logistics. Slightly different reasons to those when eggs disappeared from the shelves and had to be rationed, but still a surprise to customers that these staples are not on the shelves when wanted.

UK farming has done a fantastic job in recent years at keeping shelves full of fantastic high-quality, home-grown produce at incredible value for money. Over the last year farmers have seen their costs rise dramatically, with the headline suggesting an increase of over 25%. Shoppers have found this inflation reflected in food prices, but very little of this has found its way down to the grower. As a result, many UK farmers have simply stopped producing. The risks of waiting for a better price are just too high.

Many in the agricultural sectors worst affected by this untenable situation predicted these shortages happening if farm prices did not increase, but intense competition among retailers to keep food prices low meant these warnings were largely ignored. So minor challenges elsewhere in the supply chain have led to empty shelves  – with Brexit probably playing its part in reducing the enthusiasm of producers in mainland Europe to supply the UK market.

In the case of eggs, supplies returned to normal when retailers increased prices, and accepted that primary producers must get a reasonable return to maintain production. We must hope the latest empty shelves scenario galvanises retailers to take a longer term view of the supply chain and recognise the costs involved in production. Empty shelves are not good for anyone, producers, retailers, or consumers.

That said, the recent shortages have clearly shown that the market is not limitless and unless primary producers in the UK can see a return, then they will simply stop producing. As has been seen in recent weeks, it is not as easy to fill the gap by buying overseas in this post Brexit world.

Of course, retailers want to offer value to their customer, but as costs increase, primary producers cannot be expected to soak up all those increased costs and, in many cases, lose money. There is plenty of data available on all the factors that can affect the cost of production, so it is not difficult to manage and maintain supply from farmers through a fair pricing structure.

UK farming offers fantastic value in the food it produces. The UK household shopping basket cost is one of the lowest as a proportion of household income in the world, but our farmers work on incredibly slim margins. In order for them to maintain a consistent food supply and to avoid more shortages, the lesson has to be learned: UK farmers must be paid a fair price for what they produce."