Many times the farmers are given such a low ball offer, that is basically expecting them to sell for loss. The farmer does the obvious. Takes their produce, dump in a lake near by as garbage, because it often doesn't economic make sense to take it back.
Sometimes its worse than that. They just take their lorry and drive over the produce in the market and just take a bus back.
That doesn't make any economic sense either. How is "selling at a loss" (i.e. taking in less money than it costs to produce) worse than dumping the produce (taking in no money whatsoever)?
There has to be some other factor at play here.
I guess its just a way of saying they won't negotiate to sell at low prices ever. Because once you do, people use it as precedence to bargain again.
Also stifle the supply to some extent and the next time around the demand goes up.
"When produce is too far gone to sell & there's no processing market (say, melons), it often gets fed to livestock."