Success built on sweat - Farmer toils against all odds

Farming alone on a five-acre property is not a job for the faint-hearted, but Norbert Morris, a farmer from Bushy Park in St Catherine, says he has little choice in the matter as labourers have become increasingly difficult to find.

It was just before 10 a.m. and the late-morning sun was already intense when THE WEEKEND STAR visited him on the farm earlier this week. Seated on a white sofa overlooking his thriving okra field, Morris took a moment to unwind before describing the daily struggle of keeping his operation going.

He said finding reliable farm workers has become almost impossible. He complained that many are unwilling to work under the sun or handle farm tools, preferring easier ways to make money.

"People don't really want farm work any more," Morris said. "They don't want bush work or to use a machete or hoe. Some just want money easy and quick," he said, adding that even basic reliability has become a challenge.

Morris said he offers around $20,000 a week for work on his farm, but persons do not always answer the call.

The national minimum wage is $16,000 per 40-hour workweek. It is set to increase by $1,000 on July 1.

For more than 10 years, Morris has committed himself to agriculture, saying that despite the difficulties, he remains determined to continue.

Before turning fully to farming, he said he worked in construction, but the job was inconsistent. That uncertainty, he explained, pushed him to make use of idle land and start small-scale farming.

"I started out just using a small section for pigs and a bit of planting, and it kept growing until I was working the whole five acres myself," he said. "Now I have everything -- okra, squash, coconuts, bananas, plantain, yam, and other ground provisions."

He said that agriculture, though rewarding, comes with many challenges that are often underestimated, especially by those outside the sector.

He recalled having to sell tomatoes at drastically reduced prices just to recover something from the loss, noting that even then, profits were minimal.

Repeated weather disruptions since the hurricane, he added, have made replanting even harder, especially with damaged fields and unreliable market payments from some buyers.

Morris also recounted losing a valuable bull he once owned after turning down an offer of $460,000, saying it was later stolen. The incident, he said, remains one of his biggest setbacks as he tries to rebuild and expand his farm operations.