Farming is often a little behind other sectors of the economy when it comes to new trends.

This is in part due to the age profile of farmers, which makes them a little more conservative than their peers in other businesses.

But they usually aren’t too far behind, which is why we all should perhaps be reflecting on recent comments by a Galway chef and a Dublin financial planner.

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Michelin chef JP McMahon was reacting to the closure of a Galway restaurant, Gemelles.

“As independent cafes and restaurants close, the multinational chains come in to clear up,” he said (a major coffee chain has opened a branch in the former Gemelle’s premises). Financial planner Eoin McGee agreed, highlighting that every €1 spent on a local business is worth €2.50 to the local economy.

That type of statistic is familiar to anyone engaged in farming. Remember the study by UCD’s Michael Wallace into the massive value that suckler farming in the west of Ireland has to the regional economy?

Twelve thousand jobs and €700m was the tally a decade ago. Every euro generated by farmers of all enterprises generates further economic activity up and downstream.

This is an economic truth used to justify support schemes for farmers – it’s as valid a form of rural development as there is.

But anecdotal evidence is that farmers, particularly younger farmers, are buying an increasing proportion of their tools and workwear online.

And that will break the ripple effect described above.

We’ve all seen gaps appear in the main street of our local town, as shops of all kinds are rendered uneconomic due to a falling footfall. Giant retail parks might be partially to blame, but online has been the real gamechanger.

Amazon, Temu, and the like, offer literally any product you can think of, and at prices that might leave Jeff Bezos a margin, but would inflict a loss on your local clothes or electrical shop.

The same is true of farming. Co-op shops, independent merchants and family hardware shops might be a little dearer, and there is a genuine temptation to buy online when time is an issue.

Of course price is a factor, but no-one is quicker than a farmer to know when they are being gouged.

But if we all shop online, we lessen the turnover of those shops, and force them to demand a higher margin on the things we continue to buy from them. Or worse still, they close.

Bearing

Bezos won’t answer the phone when you need a bearing on a Saturday afternoon or on a week evening.

He won’t care if you run out of baler wrap and there’s rain forecast.

If we don’t shop local, even when it costs a little more, we can’t expect local services to be there when we need them. In the end, you get what you pay for.