Leebert Biggs removing weeds from a tomato plot on his farm at Content, St. Elizabeth, recently. - Photo by George Henry

George Henry, Gleaner Writer

Malvern, St. Elizabeth:

Moulding yam hills or planting sweet potatoes are what Leebert Biggs likes to do, and nothing is going keep him from doing just that. Not even the nuts and bolts of the welding shop where he had gone to learn welding could change it.

He loved agriculture from he was a boy, and at age 57, it is no different. He has been farming for all his life. Today, he grows beetroot, cabbage, melon, cauliflower, thyme and tomato on just under two acres of land in Content, St. Elizabeth.

Mr. Biggs told Farmers Weekly that he had an interest in auto mechanics and metal work, but moved away to do full-time farming. "My parents did not have it to send me to school and so I decided that I wanted to earn something on my own. Farming was what I really loved. I grew up and saw my father, David Biggs, doing farming. I take it very serious and nothing I love like farming," Mr. Biggs related.

He said he saw a way then to achieve his goals from the dirt. He is now comfortable with the progress made over the years.

It may sound like he has no challenge, but the farmer said he has had to dump some of his crops due to the lack of available markets. This makes him disappointed with the efforts of the authorities to farmers.

"Sometimes people from RADA come and tell us what to plant and what quantity, and when the crops are ready they don't come and assist us with selling them and we end up losing," Mr. Biggs lamented.

"More attention will have to be paid in helping farmers like myself, with the marketing aspect of the crops, or some persons will get discouraged and jump out of the business," he reasoned.