Fifty-one-year-old farmer Rosetta Glegg shows off one of her prized hens. - Photo by Rasbert Turner

When Rosetta Glegg's sewing machine stopped humming 20 years ago, she did not know that her second love - farming - would have borne as much fruit as it has.

The 51-year-old resident of Cocoa Walk, near Riversdale in St Catherine, who operates on a plot of land a short distance from her home, told The Gleaner that her farming has been a thriving business.

"Let me tell you, farming is kinder to me than my dressmaking was, so the farming is more fulfilling to me," Glegg remarked while tending to her pigs.

Like other agriculturists, Glegg, who rears chickens, goats and pigs, has struggled with industry woes such as farm theft, which has driven her to abandon rearing cows.

The high cost of animal feed has also forced her to improvise.

"I pay more than $1,000 per bag for pig feed and each bag costs me $30 to transport them from Bog Walk, so that is why I have to use grass and even chocolate to feed them," Glegg told The Gleaner.

The St Catherine farmer, who can be found in the field as early as 5 a.m., said despite the difficulties endemic to agriculture, she would stick with it because of the independence she enjoys.

rasbert.turner@gleanerjm.com