only 4.5 out of ten. Some farm families are facing serious financial difficulties or mental health and relationship problems. The number of farmers in distress who come to the association Farmers at a Crossroads (Boeren op een Kruispunt) is hovering around 200 applicants each year. Innovation Innovation is of great importance for the economic development of agriculture and horticulture in Flanders. Innovation helps to maintain competitiveness, but can also meet global challenges such as feeding the growing world population, the supply of adequate fiber, biomass and bio-materials and the limited availability of natural resources. A survey carried out in 2014 among the LMN farmers shows that 43% of the businesses carried through an innovation on the farm in the past two years. This percentage is highest in the horticultural sector (52%) and lowest in cattle (35%). In horticulture, ornamental plants sector has with 62% the highest proportion of innovative businesses. The results show that process innovations are most prevalent. More than half of the companies mainly invests in machinery and infrastructure such as sheds and greenhouses, followed by innovations in marketing, such as the switch to another distribution channel or the start with various forms of short-chain sales. In third place come organizational innovations, such as the recruitment of additional workers, the takeover by a new manager and the adaptation of the legal structure. Agriculture within the agro-business complex The agricultural sector does not stand alone, but is a part of a much broader agro-business complex. Alongside the agricultural and horticultural sectors, an important role is also played by agricultural suppliers, the food industry and distribution. The trend is that a decreasing number of businesses generate an increasing turnover and value added. According to the latest figures, the Flemish agro-business complex counts 35 471 businesses, achieves a turnover of 61 billion euro and a value added of 8.4 billion euro, and employs 159 104 people. The food industry is the largest employer and is responsible for the largest share of turnover and net added value. A major problem for agriculture is the price-making The farmer is faced with rising commodity prices which makes production more expensive. Input prices, costs for energy, feed and machinery, exhibit both in Belgium and the EU on an upward trend. On the revenue side, there is more volatile and lower selling prices. That price volatility is partly due to the reduction of the market support