The Harsh Reality of Farming Life

[wolram]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/13/ncosts113.xml

This is so much rubbish, year after year i see more fields laying fallow, one time traveling through the countryside one could see nothing but rape crops growing and empty fields, one of the local farmers takes his daughter on her paper round morning and night
so it shows how busy he is on the farm.

 

[Evo]

I've noticed fresh produce is skyrocketing. A good example is spaghetti squash. It has always been 59-69 cents per pound. Now it's 98 cents per pound!

 

[turbo]

It's going to get worse in the US, as the push for biofuels diverts food crops to fuel production. I put a few hundred dollars into building up the soil in my 1500+ sq ft garden over the last couple of years. That garden is the best investment ever! We have lots of squash and carrots stored in the cellar, two big chest freezers full of food, and cupboards full of pickles, salsas, and other home-canned stuff. When my wife goes to the grocery store, she only has to buy meat, flour, cheese, rice, dry pasta, and some cheap staple vegetables like potatoes and onions that we use a lot of. We're not immune to increases in food prices, but we avoid a lot of it.

 

[arunbg]

Well, prices of rice in my state are shooting up too, and it is the staple food of nearly everybody! Apparently rice cultivation is not lucrative any more in the state and supplies are dwindling.

Right now, my dad is overseeing the raising(about 4ft) of a plot of land our family owns for small scale farming. The area comes around an acre or so. The expenditure so far has crossed $3500 and it is still only half finished. Even ordinary soil doesn't come cheap these days.

 

[turbo]

Well, prices of rice in my state are shooting up too, and it is the staple food of nearly everybody! Apparently rice cultivation is not lucrative any more in the state and supplies are dwindling.

Right now, my dad is overseeing the raising(about 4ft) of a plot of land our family owns for small scale farming. The area comes around an acre or so. The expenditure so far has crossed $3500 and it is still only half finished. Even ordinary soil doesn't come cheap these days.

That is pretty expensive, by some standards, but that would be a bargain price here in Maine. My amendments were organic fertilizer, composted cow manure, dolomitic limestone, and peat. I'm glad I didn't have to treat a whole acre, much less raise it 4 ft. That's over 7000 cubic yards of topsoil, worth perhaps a quarter of a million dollars.

 

[JasonRox]

I still find food prices relatively cheap.

(Yes, I buy my own food. Yes, I buy other than Kraft Diner. In fact, I don't buy Kraft Diner. I buy mainly fresh foods such as produce (I don't buy meat) and organic foods.)

 

[arunbg]

That is pretty expensive, by some standards, but that would be a bargain price here in Maine. My amendments were organic fertilizer, composted cow manure, dolomitic limestone, and peat. I'm glad I didn't have to treat a whole acre, much less raise it 4 ft. That's over 7000 cubic yards of topsoil, worth perhaps a quarter of a million dollars.

Quarter a million
Are you sure? I'd like to export soil, any takers?
Seriously, that would give returns of up to 5000%.

 

[turbo]

Quarter a million
Are you sure? I'd like to export soil, any takers?
Seriously, that would give returns of up to 5000%.

Decent screened topsoil in the US can run around $30/cubic yard plus delivery costs.

 

[Moonbear]

The article isn't putting most of the blame on the supply end, but on the fuel costs for processing and distribution.

Many basic foods are more influenced by the cost of oil than the actual ingredients. Wheat, for instance, makes up only about 7p of the cost of a loaf. This is completely outweighed by its baking, packaging and distribution costs, all of which are determined by the price of fuel.

One problem we have in the US on the supply end is that people just don't want to be farmers anymore. When the kids decide they don't want to take over the family farm, they sell it off to developers.

 

[brewnog]

Never have I heard of people buying soil before!

You can have as much of mine as you want for £10 per tonne! And it's fertile as buggery too.

 

[wolram]

A few years ago when i was a kid ,i used to get pocket money potato picking, farmers do not even grow potatoes around here now.
They will not admit it but i am sure the EU pays the farmers to grow nothing.

 

[brewnog]

I quite disagree. I'm not in touch with too many farmers, but I'm sure there's less set-aside land than ever, especially around South Yorkshire and Derbyshire (pastures of which I'm familiar). There isn't much arable land round Staffordshire which isn't being heavily farmed either.

 

[EnumaElish]

The world is experiencing a relative grain shortage and it might get worse before it gets better.

 

[mgb_phys]

Recently moved to Canada from the Uk.
I would say that fresh fruit / vegetables are around twice the price here than in UK supermarkets - although meat is cheaper. The C.A.P must be doing some good!

 

[Cyrus]

I blame fat people...eating all my tasty delicious food. "Yes, Ill have the super deluxe extra 5 patty big mac please....and a diet coke."

 

[mgb_phys]

I blame fat* people, for only eating stuff that is produced in a plastics factory - making food that is actually grown a rare and expensive commodity.

(* although personally I could lose 10kg )

 

[Averagesupernova]

One problem we have in the US on the supply end is that people just don't want to be farmers anymore. When the kids decide they don't want to take over the family farm, they sell it off to developers.

I would disagree with this. Where I come from someone else simply gets bigger farming more land and there are fewer farmers remaining when an individual does not want to take over an operation from another individual. Developers buy up land when they have a place for it to go (building houses). If there is no demand for houses, then it is farmed. Now developers and non-farmers may buy up land and cash rent it to someone to actually farm it, but obviously this is not causing a dwindle in crop production.

 

[scorpa]

I would disagree with this. Where I come from someone else simply gets bigger farming more land and there are fewer farmers remaining when an individual does not want to take over an operation from another individual. Developers buy up land when they have a place for it to go (building houses). If there is no demand for houses, then it is farmed. Now developers and non-farmers may buy up land and cash rent it to someone to actually farm it, but obviously this is not causing a dwindle in crop production.

True rising costs are pushing out the small farmers...well the normal sized farms anyway forcing them to sell out to the big operations like hutterite colonies that can afford to deal with costs. Another thing that is happening now is rapidly expanding cities are forcing farmers to sell their land to them so the city can expand which does of course result in a decreased amount of farm land.

 

[Moonbear]

I would disagree with this. Where I come from someone else simply gets bigger farming more land and there are fewer farmers remaining when an individual does not want to take over an operation from another individual. Developers buy up land when they have a place for it to go (building houses). If there is no demand for houses, then it is farmed. Now developers and non-farmers may buy up land and cash rent it to someone to actually farm it, but obviously this is not causing a dwindle in crop production.

And where do you "come from" that this is the case? It's happening all over the eastern US...and there are plenty of people snapping up those houses. It'll slow in the next few years with the current downtrend in the housing market, but it's already happened.

 

[hypatia]

I know of several family owned farms who are really struggleing. 20 years ago they hoped the kids would take over operations, now they hope they don't, because they are just breaking even. Its been really hard for them the past 5 years. Very sad to hear them talk about selling out.