Did you know there was an egg shortage? Neither did I until the supermarkets blamed bird flu for a drop in supply that led some to import to fill shelves.

But egg producers were quick to call foul. The shortage, such that it was because there were more than enough eggs left to make an omelette, was because farmers had reduced flock sizes over several months due to supermarkets not being willing to cover the increased cost of keeping the birds.

I saw a TV interview with one farmer of a 38,000 bird flock who faced losing £10 a bird. You do the maths but that’s an awful lot to shell out for no return.

You may have noticed that supermarket egg prices increased but producers claim not enough of that extra money passed back to them.

At a time when supermarkets are reporting profits in the hundreds of millions if not billions then maybe producers have a right to feel aggrieved.

Pig farmers equally are struggling again, with many saying they are losing up to £28 an animal when they go to slaughter.

Suddenly there’s nothing rasher than being a pig farmer unless you listen to sheep farmers who are seeing big drops in prices compared with a year ago. How long before flocks get the chop, too?

All this may have been bearable had it not been for George Eustice, former DEFRA secretary but now a backbench MP, coming out to say that the Australia trade deal signed in 2021 was “not very good”.

As the Westminster member of a Cornish farming family I think some of Mr Eustice’s erstwhile agricultural compatriots were left with their chins on the floor.

When the details were announced, Mr Eustice was an enthusiastic backer of the deal signed by Liz Truss who he now declares was not a good negotiator. Antipodean farmers must be rubbing their hands with glee because stock from their large-scale enterprises that operate to lower welfare standards will be able to enter the UK market tariff-free in fewer than 10 years to fill the vacuum left by the number of UK livestock farmers who will have exited the industry in a decade.

Christmas is traditionally the time when families gather, and that’s as true for farming families as it is for any others. The elephant in the room for many is the subject of succession – when will the parents or grandparents step aside for the next generation to take over, bringing in new ideas and processes that can help make the farm viable.

There may be no need to tackle the tricky subject this year. Like every other family, many farmers will be struggling with the cost of food they buy and energy they use, compounded by the fact that the food they produce does not provide an income and the energy they consume to grow it comes at far higher cost than a domestic supply.

So the topic this year may turn to ways to get out of farming and do something else, especially as banks are now said to be evaluating the securities held against investment loans taken by farmers during happier times.

If the banks are going to start playing rough then, for some, it may be better to move out sooner rather than later and salvage something. It’s going to be a cracker of a Christmas, but possibly for all the wrong reasons!

Kevin Prince has wide experience of farming and rural business in Hampshire, where he lives near Andover, and across southern England as a director in the Adkin consultancy. His family also run a diversified farm with commercial lets, holiday cottages and 800 arable acres.