My wife and I drove up the mountain to get some good deals on gulay (vegetables) at a place where farmers bring their harvest. Traders also bring produce from a large trading post in an adjacent province. My thinking was we would buy in bulk before the prices go up because of increased diesel and fertilizer.
The rainy season has ended and the hot dry one has started. Though we were at a higher elevation at the foot of a volcano it was very hot. My old car was overheating a bit as we went up and up.
It was busier than usual with many farmers bringing their harvest on horses. The other forms of transport like jeepneys and tricycles were there also. My guess is they were not farmers, but traders and others hired for transport.
With few exceptions the price of everything was very low. The potatoes were the lowest I have ever seen here. Tomatoes, cabbage and radish were low also.
What is going on? 
The week before we had gone to a large grocery store in a nearby city and had seen the same thing. Cheap vegetables. And these grocery stores aren’t known for cheap vegetables. Most people get those at the local public market.
A “perfect storm” is affecting farmers now, and it will only get worse IMO.
Better weather brought abundant harvest which caused a glut or over supply. Prices plummited for many vegetables. Sadly the farmer is hit the hardest. Now the heat. Now the high price to get the harvest to market with the shocking rise in diesel fuel. How will they pay for the higher costs of fertilizer?
We need to encourage others to grow their own food and share with those in need. As a follower of Jesus I believe we are living in the “perilous” last days. There is a horse set loose of war and another of famine in the Book of Revelation. May we be about our Father’s business in these times. 