Northstar, a name the calf graduate, all grown up
Is still hanging around biting everybody right...well you know where. Even though we are enjoying this long spell of warmer than normal weather, what happened last summer is having lasting ramifications for farmers and ranchers from the southern borderlands to the far, far north.
Nobody has feed...well, some folks do, but there are a lot of shortages and staggeringly high prices for what is out there. We are about out of haylage, maybe a couple of days worth left, and buying round bales...spring and green grass can't come soon enough for me!
The guy we buy our crop seeds from called the other night...talked to the boss for quite a while. He wanted to give us a heads up that the seed we buy from him will nearly double in price for this year...drought in Texas wiped out most of the seed crop. He is big, successful farmer but he will be out of feed soon and told of dozens of customers who are feeding out their last bits. He thinks a lot of folks who have bought from him for a long while won't be in business this summer.
And yet, the big players are still manipulating the CME, while the milk to feed ratio drops like a rock. I am sure somebody will still be making milk come spring...the Chinese are buying dairies in New Zealand so their farmers can be trained how to do it right (first clue...leave out the melamine...it tends to kill people.)
China has also become the world's number one nation for feed grain and oil seed production and yet they are still huge importers of food products and feeds....and ammunition or so they say.....
***Dad update. It has been a really tough haul for Dad and for Mom, who has been an amazing trouper through it all, but yesterday she reported solid progress. He is in rehab now and is doing stairs and getting around without the walker. Your prayers have been appreciated more than you could possibly imagine...thank you!
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6 comments:
First, it's good to hear that your Dad is doing better.
Second, I don't know why, but there's hay all over the valley here. Every farm seems to have row upon row of those round hay bales--often wrapped in white plastic--lining the edge of the field looking like long, segmented centipedes minus the legs.
So relieved to hear the good news about your dad. Your dear mom must be exhausted.
That business with short feed supplies and doubled prices . .
Good grief.
When do farmers get a break?
Three cheers for Dad and Mom! As my hubby likes to say, "Getting old isn't for sissies," and they seem to be champs!
I wouldn't know about the natural things affecting seed prices (like the drought in Texas) but I would strongly suspect that Monsanto's largely successful efforts to get a monopoly on the industry plays its role in pricing, too. I am appalled at the lawsuits Monsanto files against farmers because some of Monsanto's GMO seed blew into the farmer's fields. Talk about killing the competition.
Joated, thanks! Glad to hear that your area has plenty of hay
Cathy, thank you. Sure is a challenging time for dairy, although many kinds of farms, such as corn, are doing well.
Aka, I don't really see that Monsanto has that much of a monopoly. they sell one kind of seed, but there are many others to choose from. We have grown theirs. We have grown other kinds. You get different performance, different costs, etc. with Roundup Ready vs. conventional. You have to decide what you are looking for and what you want to pay for it. There is no problem finding seed because of them that I see though, just more competition for ANY seed due to adverse weather and competition for seed stocks from China, ethanol production etc. Very complex situation. Our seed is not GMO but the farms that raise it are in Texas and they are in the middle of a drought of historic proportions. If the parent plant doesn't grow there is no seed to sell, and what is produced costs more. I think another thing that is coming into play is that more and more farmers are growing sorghum because of the high cost of corn seed, once again causing competition.
Wonderful about your DAD! Prayers still for you Mom and Dad!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Linda, thank you. Prayers are very much appreciated. Looks as if he may come home next week which is wonderful news.
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