Spot on Captain.
It is a huge issue here. In the past year I have seen 50# poultry feed bags go from $10 to $15. I used to sell free range eggs for $1/doz. Now, cage raised are $2/doz in the store. My costs are way up and have to sell for $2/doz to commercial/high quantity buyers, and even more to the small guys (1-3 doz purchases). What's funny though is that demand is through the roof. I have added another 40 or so birds to my flock this year. Hope I can keep them all fed.
The same is true with livestock feed costs. An $8 bag of "sweet mix" (corn, oats, barley with molases), is now up to $13. Corn prices are just through the roof.
Wheat is the same. $10/50# bags last year this time. This week they've cost $31 for the same bag. Crazy prices although I don't know how that can be blamed on ethanol, but all the farmers where I live have nothing good to say about ethanol production.
That along with the high price of gasoline, hay and straw prices are through the roof (2006-$75/ton, now=>$140/ton). That puts the cost of feedlot beef and particularly milk through the roof.
Three solutions:
1) Drill in ANWR and build new refineries
2) Put ethanol production on the open market. If it is worthwile, it will make money and take off. Quit subsidizing it and paying farmers to grow corn that will not directly benefit livestock and people
and
3)Quit giving away all of our wheat and grain to countries where some tin pot dictator or his thugs will keep the food out of the people's hands. I would much rather feed my chickens on cheap wheat than feed thugs and make them rich to make us feel good.
I go through 2-3 50 pound bags of jasmine Thai rice a year, and after years of paying $22-$25 for each bag, I just paid $40 on Saturday.
Rice prices are on the rise.
Yup. Glenn Beck just had a couple large segments about this on his Tuesday show and how rice was going through the roof.
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