DROUGHT and food prices.

All of us know that prices have been rising all alonng and are supposed to go higher next year.

Well, hang on to your hats and tighten your belts. You may not be interested in HAY but people who feed animals sure are.

Here is what has happened: last year good ND hay sold for $40.00 p ton. One month ago the prce went up to $80.00 p ton. My friend Esther's daughter who lives in Parump/Nevada said she had to pay $200.00 p ton two weeks ago to feed her horse.

Y   Two days ago my neighbor and I stopped at our thrift store to chat with two gals we know and who worked there that afternoon. My friend ran into an older neighbor sheshe knew from her days on the farm. This gentleman had a breeding farm for race horses that his children now run but he still has some horses. He said he had 53 horses "running" in Minneapolis and just had to pay almost $400.00 p ton of hay in Minneapolis. He also said that right here second grade hay is selling for $180.00 p ton IN THE FIELD.  A mix of grass and alfalfa is higher and pure alfalfa even more. Add trucking to drought stricken  states and profit and it looks like hay is almost worth it's weight in gold.

THINK about it: dairy cows eat hay. beef cattle also eat hay. If we think that only meat prices will go up we are forgetting all dairy products. If dairy farmers in many drought states have to pay that much for hay they either raise prices for milk sky high or sell their cows for hamburger meat and go out of business. WATCH the prices of milk, butter and cheese over the next two months.  Many baked goods have milk in them........

Better stock up on powdered milk and freeze some butter you can get on sale. Stored in food grade, air tight plastic 5 gal buckets with gasket lids in a dark, cool place (60 F) the non-instant, non fat powdered milk will keep for quite a few years. Right now I am using the last bucket of milk I put away 4 yrs ago and the milk is still as good as it was when I stored it.

Since I seldom use milk (I'll buy a quart and end up throwing most of it away) I'm not worried about milk prices.  I sometimes use cream, but not often.  I have been buying butter on sale for quite a while now. I don't eat much cheese either.

I pretty much never buy milk, so I'm not terribly concerned there.  I do use cream, generally whipped, but since that a luxury and used in small quantities, a change in the prices won't affect me much.

I also wonder if the price change will be less here in California, since our regulations on milk (requiring it be fortified with extra milk solids) mean that virtually all of the liquid dairy products sold in California are produced here.

I am concerned about the rising price of beef, though, especially as I think most of the poultry sold in grocery stores is overly fatty and not very tasty.  There is a local, free range brand we like, but of course it also costs extra.

One alternative I've been thinking about is goat.  More and more people around here are raising goats.  They generally start out with visions of cheese-making, but the reality is that a goat only produces enough milk for its kid, so if nobody is eating goat tacos and goat curries (both quite tasty, by the way) then there is no milk for cheesemaking.

Farmers here in Kentucky are experiencing the same problems with the lack of hay and animal feed after our hot dry summer.

We don't use much milk, maybe a quart a week, if that.  And usually just to cook with. 

I've already seen a rise in food prices in our area,but we still have very good sales and we buy frugally.  Just the two of ladies in the house - my sister and myself.

I do feel sorry for those who are raising families.  They will definitely feel the pinch. 

Alaska_Prof

Since I seldom use milk (I'll buy a quart and end up throwing most of it away) I'm not worried about milk prices.  I sometimes use cream, but not often.  I have been buying butter on sale for quite a while now. I don't eat much cheese either.

Yes, Prof my love, I know; we have talked about this before..However there are amny people with children and many of them buy a lot of milk. Then there are folks who like cottage cheese ior yogurt (I am one of THEM).

Since I am on a diuretic I should be taking potassium chloride only it eats the lining of my stomach so I drink quite a bit of milk, make yogurt and eat potassium rich foods to make up for the loss. And I also  CHEESE.

LF,

whipping cream is also a very rare luxury for me because of the high butterfat. Like I said to AKProf, there are many people with children who use quite a bit of milk and it might be wise for them to stock up on some powdered milk IF they can still get it for a reasonable price.

As you know, I grew up in the Old Country, a small town of 6000. About 1 in 20 families had a goat for milk, not cheese.Some also had a Friesian Milk Sheep instead of a goat.They tied either one  out along the grassy by-ways of roads and other public land to graze during the day as long as weather permitted.

It was custom to have a kid goat for Easter Dinner, or a small  lamb. Folks usually sold male lambs or male kid goats at age 4 weeks. Dressed out they were not much larger than a very large rabbit but were delicious and more tender than veal. When a goat or sheep got up in age that was butchered too. Yes, I have eaten both the young and grown  goat and some mutton. Goat meat is not bad. Have even eaten horse meat because almost every town over 25000 people had a horse butcher and they had a shop like any other butcher.Quite a few people in Europe ate horse meat and the sausage the horse butchers  made and still do so today.

I have to agree that chickens you buy in a store are terrible in taste and texture and way too fat. We do not have any free-range farms around here unless you count the few local farmers who do have chickens for their own use and a few of those do sell some eggs.

We do have 2 Hutterite colonies not far from here and they do raise fryers to sell every fall from Sept. to Nov 1st. They do raise their own feed but I doubt they are free range chickens. But they are a lot better than what you get in the store, not  very fat and nice, large, meaty birds that have very good flavor. At least they are not fed chemicals even if they don't t range free. Last year they were $7.00 each but will most likely be more this year. They weigh around 4 to 4 1/2 lbs and are worth the price, especially for me. One of those large chickens equals 7-8 meals for me plus 1 to 1 1/2 qrt of good chicken broth from the carcass and trimmings.  I do get eggs from friends who have around 75 chickens that have the run of their farm and later this year will get 3  older stewing hens from them to make broth to can.You might call them Free Range chickens.

They also have too many wild turkeys hang around with their chickens and as soon as season opens I will be getting quite a bit of wild turkey meat since they don't care for it because it is all dark.  The  price of beef does not matter too much to me, what little I buy is already too high priced and the quality leaves a lot to be desired. A few meatless days p week has never hurt anyone if one gets enough protein by eating the right grains, legumes  and veggies.

I don't know if the shortage of hay may affect CA or not, it depends on whether all the CA producers also grow their own hay in CA or whether they  import hay from other states in order ti supply those mega dairies like the one they have near Pendelton/OR .  15 000 cows under roof in one place with a capacity of 20000 cows. I doubt they can grow enough hay in the vicinity to satisfy that kind of demand. Guess the folks in CA will find out sooner or later whether their dairy prices  rise or not.

I need milk to drink for potassium intake because  I cannot take oral potassium chloride tablets or liquid, either one destroys the lining of my stomach and I have to make up for it with potassium rich foods and milk. Not to mention that I do like to be prepared with enough supplies for one year. If I don't live that long my heirs said they  will appreciate my stash since they have two fast growing little boys to feed.

Everybody should do what is best for them or whatever they like best. Nobody has to take my advise, I was just pointing out the possible chain effect the hay shortage MAY have on some foods.

The thing is, not everyone has a basement to store food stuffs in. We have a condo and storage is at a premium. People are just going to have to tighten their belts and eliminate items from their menus that are more of a luxury than a necessity or else be prepared to pay the price. Cottage cheese for example, is a favorite of my DH but the price the last year and a half has been much too high so I don't buy it.
Take the soda pop out of the grocery cart for example and you will save something at least, not to mention the kids now days drink way too much of the stuff. Parents won't gripe about the increase of that or other snacks like they do about the increase in meat and dairy. I get behind some people at the store and wonder how a family could possibly eat that much junk!

thisd is good advice. but i would add that one must and this is very important, store properly. there isnothing worse then having to   toss stored food that spoiled because it was improperly stored. there are too many hungry people in the world to waste food.

my fahter was in europe during ww11 and he told us of the hardships that the people suffered during that time and how we were never ever to waste food. we could hae all we wanted to eat, but we had to eat what we took.

Grelo, goat meat is becoming more available here, both because of the boutique cheese companies' need for the milk and because many of the people of Mexican descent in this area come from regions where goat tacos are standard food.  (Unlike Southern California, were the Mexican-American culture is more from rancheros -- beef based).  I've eaten goat in taco shops and Asian restaurants, but haven't cooked it myself yet.

I suspect the Southern California ranches import hay -- probably from Oregon.  The Central Valley, I think, grows enough for it's own needs.

shortbreadlover

thisd is good advice. but i would add that one must and this is very important, store properly. there isnothing worse then having to   toss stored food that spoiled because it was improperly stored. there are too many hungry people in the world to waste food.

 

my fahter was in europe during ww11 and he told us of the hardships that the people suffered during that time and how we were never ever to waste food. we could hae all we wanted to eat, but we had to eat what we took.

Thank you, Shortbreadlover.

Yes, it is  important how and where you store a supply of anything. It happens that I am lucky to have a house with a cool and dry basement. Yes, it takes a lot of work to keep everything rotated and replaced and USED.

White rice keeps better than brown, latter has only a 6 mo shelf life before it gets rancid because the germ has not been removed. The same goes for corn meal, for longer term storage regular cornmeal keeps much longer than organic, the organic kind  needs to be stored in a fridge or freezer. Buckwheat does not store but about 6 mo unless it is in the freezer.p or in air tight Mylar bags sealed in gasket lid buckets.

Mylar bags work much like Food Saver bags except yopu don't suck the air out mechanically. You can get out all the air possible and then heat seal them with an iron you use for ironing but have to fold a cotton cloth around the edge while sealing or the Mylar will gum up your iron. Open by cutting about 1" off, take out what you need and re-seal or keep sealed for long term storage.. I think 20" X 30" Mylar bags are now around $2.00 ea

 Whole grains like wheat,rye, barley, whole oat groats can be stored for years with oxygen absorbers in air tight buckets..

According to the Mormon supplier of survival food "Rainy Day Food" (formerly Walton Feed) non-instant, nonfat powdered milk sootred in Mylar bags in food grade airtight plastic buckets (with gasket lids) will stay fresh for over 20 yrs.

Since I am not going to live that long I only store enough for a year to 4 yrs, depending on what it s in my wallet or in my check book.

If anyone wants a 1 to 3 months  supply of emergency food without having much space, their best bet is dehydrated food. Lasts for a long time (up to 20 years)  and comes sealed in cans.

It does not take up much room and can be stored at room temperature.However, there is no real meat in those rations but enough protein so one does not need meat; powdered eggs will do just fine if you don't have meat.

Always make sure  you store things in food grade plastic containers or bags.

Even folks in apartments, condos or houses without  basements can keep a 1 to  3 mo supply of dehydrated emergency food in a closet or under a bed just in case of a man made or natural disaster. Dehydrated food sealed in cans will not be lost because of flood (unless the house it is in sails away).

A word of caution: anybody who believes that if we use all of our natural resources we will be energy independent better think twice. All the oil companies are multinational/global   giants and sell to the highest bidder, nio matter WHERE they find the oil.  Last yer the largest exported commodity of the US were not agricultural or manufactured products but OIL and GASOLINE taken out of US ground and sold to Europe and Asia. Most of the oil from Alaska (owned by BP) was sold to Japan.

Lets not fool ourselves, gasoline will never again be cheap, it may come down some every so often but will always keep going up. Too much growing demand all over the world and the mulltinational giants have us by the short hairs.

Maybe more people should get a horse and buggy for shorter commutes, in case of dire emergency you ca n always eat the horse but you can't eat a car or truck.

Many may not realize the farmers have been suffering for the last 20 years, and even longer if you look in history,. Especially during the depression time. The same thing is happening to several farmers the last twenty years. Many have already lost their farms, cattle, or sold off machinery. I have several farmers as friends. Some have had to take a second job. Some have had to sell off their cattle, their milk cows, and other farm animals. I had one farmer tell me several times over the last several years, that the milk checks they do recieve are worthless. That they are not even recieving do compensation on producing their own milk to sell. The comment was made they should just milk the cow and let the milk go down the drain for what they are seeing in the end in pay. Some farmers have went out of the milking business because of this economic financial hardship.  As for hay, this has been an ongoing issue for years. With the drought in more places, it is more talked about in the news. But I know a farmer who has been selling hay and straw for years to other farmers. The last several years, many farmers have went out of raising home grown farm chicken and eggs to sell. They have told me the price of feed is unreal. Then another farmer was telling me the price of fertilizer, and corn or other seeds to plant on the farm was majorily unreal. In our area last year it was over a $1,000 an acre to plant corn seed. That was just to plant the seed. Then that was depending where you bought your seed. That was not for additional cost for the fertilizer on top of the price of seed, or the gas to take to plant it with the hope it would grow. If it did grow then the cost of the fuel to harvest it. Though many in our area have not seen corn good for the last twenty years. The price really went up this year to plant corn seed. If the corn crop didn't do well the farmer just lost that money and the crop to recycle for your farm animals or to sell to others. If the farmer does not have a good year of growing anything, there went there whole financial pay and what they did spend to try to reap a reward in the end. A farmer told me they never see the end of not having to owe something on the farm. Even the cost of fuel for the farm has made several farmers rethink on how they use that fuel to work the farm. Similar to we people who use gas in our cars and try to rethink on where we are going in our vehicles with the gas. The farmers have it worse with trying to think how to save on fuel to still work the farm. Even the cost of electric to keep the farm running has put a crunch on several farmers. It's not cheap to keep the farm running electric wise. I think of what a friend long ago said, if you didn't have the truckers and if you didn't have the farmers what would you eat?

So the next time you think of crying over the price of what things cost in the store. Give it some thought of the farmers who grew or harvested the items that gave the food in the stores. Many cannot even go themselves to the store to buy things for their own families. Thank a farmer for their hard work. Because you wouldn't even begin to eat, if it was not for a farmer. I know one farmer about fifteen years ago, who couldn't even afford to go to the store and get things for their own family. Why? Because of the trickling effects that I mentioned earlier. They had no pay but plenty to owe. The church family they had, blessed them even with a love gift of money so they could even go to the store and get things they needed for their own family. The farmer then had to get a second job to help support his family. He was also working the farm, and this is still a big farm. When I seen them this year, they had the somber look of despare in their eyes when asked how the farm was doing. For we knew many farmers in our area was seeing another disasterous year in growing things and the cost of trying to keep the farms going.  It's a sad thing when you know a farmer may have to give up their livelihood.

Grew up working farms in our area,large truck(veg for market) farms,tobacco farms,dairy farms so can recognize of what you speak enjoynature.  Niece has a large truck farm in PA. you never make back what you put into a crop.  They have cut back on their orchard and pick your own blueberries and strawberries. plus vegs.  Grelo,have had a storage area for foods for quite some time.  I'm still feeding a family and sons drink a lot of milk!  Have and do still use goat and rabbit for meats. Delicious!  Years ago we had a lot of squab,of course we called it pigeon than.LOL Used to cage them when young and feed them grain.  Yes it will be a time of higher prices and perhaps force younger families to re-access their eating habits and buy less junk foods.  We and our children have become a nation of what I call "grazers" in our eating habits.  Grew up eating three meals a day no snacking constantly as they do now. I already notice prices have gone up here for beef,lamb and pork.  

purseglove_MA_F_67

 Grew up eating three meals a day no snacking constantly as they do now.

Another thing I was thinking about is I just subscribed to a magazine called Clean Eating. They have a lot of recipes to cook without adding a bunch of prepackaged items etc... It seems silly to some I suppose, but for years I have used packaged products to cook with and now I am getting away from that as much as I can.

Back to the topic though.We just filled our freezer with a half side of beef. It's always nice to have it in there.When I got to the store now I buy chicken and pork on sale and throw in there. We have a generator so I feel pretty safe stocking it up. As for canned foods I don't stock up a lot but tend to have a lot of some things on hand.

Hi, PG, long time no see...... hope you are doing well dspite of bypasses and all the "candy" doctor prescribes.

Farming can be a risky business no matter where you do it but it really depends a lot on where you farm, how much land you have but especially on WHAT you grow or raise.

When we lived in western WA there were many smaller scale berry farms, anywhere from 5 acres to possibly 50 acres, maybe some large companies had larger operations but most privately owned ones were small

Here in ND and eastern Montana farming  is an entirely different business. There are no truck or fruit/berry farms with the exception of a few places near the bigger cities that grow some Halloween "Pumpkin Patches" to sell pumpkins to the public, the only locally grown things I have ever seen in our grocery stores are pumpkins and then not even that many. Most of them are grown east of the Missouri where the land is more productive than in the west.  I know of no truck farms for vegetables like green beans, strawberries, lettuce, cabbage,carrots  or anything else. Fargo has several Farmers Markets but I guess most of the growers are all small timers with only an acre or a  few acres. This is not good country to grow tomatoes, they get ripe late and then almost all at once. Most home gardeners only grow leaf lettuce, Taller crops don't do well because of wind. It is pretty hard to grow organic here because of grass hoppers, they were terrible this year and too many to use organic methods to get rid  of them.

A very small farm here is 1000 to 1500 acres, a small one 1500 to 3000 acres, medium to large 3000 to 6000 acres and more than that is called  a big farm/ranch. Not many or large  dairies here either. This is more beef,  hay  and small grain country.

Yes, a few farmers here have a hard time but my farmer friends tell me because it is mostly their own fault.Many inherited a good sized farm free and clear but  went in over their heads with millions of $$$ worth of the latest and biggest machinery and that is what breaks or broke them, plus living high on the hog, the newest fancy pick-ups and such.

Most are pretty conservative when it comes to spending, especially the smaller operations, they keep the older machinery and do most of the maintaining and repairs. Most of them also buy crop insurance. I also know of some who grow nothing but whet, others grow wheat and some feed corn. Some grow sunflowers and alfalfa and some other crops in rotation, like rape seed (Canola), flax and a few grow green or yellow dry peas.Soybeans are grown on the east side of the Missouri.  You seldom find a farm/ranch  that grows more than 2 or  3 crops in one year.

There are a some  who have nothing but beef cattle and grow some hay. Some do have cattle plus a small herd of sheep an also grow a bit of wheat one year, peas the next and may flax the next.

All produce in our stores is shipped in from other states. There MAY be a few growers along the Red Rover on the Minnesota border who grow Buttercup or Spaghetti squash to sell to a produce wholesale  company but I would not bet on it..

The son of a very good friend has a farm that is a combination of inherited and purchased land and he has no debts. He remodeled  and added on to the old small farm house  that was on the purchased land by himself, He bought his first machinery used but in excellent condition and still uses  most of  it with the exception of a newer tractor and a neewer  but smaller combine. He owns 2300 acres and only grows  wheat and 300 acres of feed corn. His dad at age 85 still drives the truck that has to go alongside the combine to catch the grain from the combine. His son is now in college but came home this summer to help with harvest. That boy was driving a semi with trailer to the elevator in town when he was 15 yrs old. Their land is not the best, that is why he grows only wheat on 2000 acres and says a very good crop  for him is when he gets 40 bushels p acre with the exception of about 60 acres where the land produces up to 44 bushels p aces. All of his wheat is already in storage to be sold. Corn will not be ready harvest until much later. Last year he comnbined the corn in November when there was already a little snow on the ground.  It had been a wet summer and you can't harvest until the corn is dry enough. Last year that did not happen until very late when the humidity went down enough for the corn to be dry enough to be combined. He should get a pretty good price for his corn this year, although corn yields are not all that great in this part of the country.In some dry years it only grows 2 feet high.

Farming is a risky business just like any other other, there is never a guarantee for success in any business. Not only farms have had a hard time in the last 20 years, many other businesses have also gone under. Let's just say that life is not fair. I feel sorry for any business that goes under because of circumstances beyond their control.

Reading posts like this, make me thankful for where I'm at!  I'm sure some of it will eventually trickle down to where I'm at though.  We've are waaaay behind in rain, like most other states.  But, thankfully, the farmers around here were able to get 2 good cuttings from their hay fields.  The Hay field that connects to our property, the owner was out yesterday afternoon making his second cutting.  He was over to drink a beer night before last, wanting a weather report from DH to check about the rain.  Anyhow, he said finally this year, he has way more hay than needed for the winter, so will be able to sell some this go around.  Up until about 2 years ago, we'd get those giant rolls from him for our horses.  he just charges 30 bucks per roll and even delivers it.

What doesn't make sense to me...is the prices are on the rise for Beef..but the farmers sure aren't seeing the profit.  This whole past year when ever he would take his cows to be sold, he barely made much of a profit.  Said this year was a low one.  He ended up putting one of his pastures of cows up for sale and sold them all.  Not because food was hard to come by, but because he just wasn't making much of a profit at the sales...which could have fooled me as high as beef has been.

One thing that helps him...and the reason he is always able to get such good hay out of his fields..is he also has Chicken Houses.  You know those HUGE ones that raises chickens for the grocery stores.  Because of this, he has all the "free" fertilizer he needs.  He was able to fertilize all his fields 3 times this year.  Talk abut some pretty green grasses!  My kids love going over there to his chicken houses when he gets a new load in.  100s of lil yellow baby chickens running all over the place.  He offered me a job here awhile back to help with the chicken houses...because both him and his wife are in the late 60s...they've always run those houses by their selves, but it's starting to get too much for them.  But..there's no way I could have done it.  Twice a day you have to walk all through out the houses with a large stick.  If you see a chicken that is not as big as the others, you knock it in the head and throw it in a bucket.  You then take all the dead chickens and take out to a HUGE freezer that is outside...then about once a month these dog food places sends trucks around to buy all the dead chickens to put in dog food.  A couple years ago while we were there with the kids to play with the baby chickens.he was culling the smaller of the babies...so I took about 12 or so to keep from being killed...cute lil buggers!  Man did they grow fast!!  After about 17 weeks, despite everything I read on the internet about this breed of chicken not being able to lay eggs...boy did they ever!!  Some of THE best eggs I've ever eaten...almost all were double Yoke!

Boy, did I get way off subject!  Sorry about that.   I sure don't know how the farmers out in your area can afford those type of hay prices.  Hoping next year will be better!!