Feed prices

[Fixit]

Have a friend with a feed store . New wholesale price sheet came in yesterday. Everything had gone up .80 to a $1.00 a bag . Just a heads up that retail feed is going up .

 

[wyoDreamer]

When I bought my first pickup, it had a bad fuel gauge. On the day I picked it up from the dealer, I went to the gas station and filled the tank. I then drove across the state wo Wisconsin, a 4 hour drive, to visit my parents. The gauge went down like it should. By the time I got home, the gauge read a full tank of gas ... what? I went to the gas station and filled it up. Gauge read 1/2 tank ?!?!
I called the dealer and set up an appointment to get it fixed. When they called to confirm my appointment later in the week, the receptionist said "the guys asked me to ask you to not fill the tank before bringing it in as they will need to drop the tank to fix it." So I went to the gas station and filled the tank full and wrote down the mileage. Knowing how big a tank it was and what gas mileage I was getting, I calculated how far I could drive before needing to add more fuel so I didn't run out. I had a 5 gallon jug of gas in the bed of the truck and I think I was sucking fumes when I drove onto their lot. I got a BIG thank you from the mechanics for leaving them with an empty gas tank. They were surprised a "girl" could figure out how to drain a gas tank so close to empty and not run out, lol.

 

[farmerjan]

that's about the same price i spent about 10years ago for the same amount. we've still not used it all up. a few lbs left.

And the ones producing it are doing more and more for the same return... until they get to the point that there is no more room to "tighten the belt". The only way is to get bigger and bigger so the costs can be spread out over a larger number of animals/acres.... and the small farmer CAN NOT compete. You add in the new proposed minimum wage.... if it should come about.... NONE of us farmers will be able to pay that without getting bigger..... the antithesis of this whole self sufficiently group that believe in the smaller, take care of yourself and your family/group......
So, then where are you going to get things when we can no longer afford to keep businesses open because the input costs are more than what we can possibly sell things for???? Or are allowed to sell things for????? The big companies will just get bigger because the small ones cannot compete. And then the prices will be so far out of the budget that people will do without, go without, and suffer for it. And you will only be able to obtain what the big companies want you to have.
Instead of trying to change this country to be so like all these other ones that are supposed to be so wonderful....those people should just move and go live in one of these "wonderful" countries and see how much freedom you have and how well you live. Leave us dumber ones to just suffer through our less than perfect type of government and country and continue to have to work for a living and be able to work enough to get ahead if we want to.

 

[farmerjan]

Most of the raw materials for so many of the solar components, and batteries is mined in places like China. We don't have the rare earth minerals that are required for some of this building of panels and other stuff. The costs will go up as the control gets tighter and the sources of these rare minerals are diminished.
Talking windpower.... do you know that the blades are made of a type of fiberglass.... that is NOT RECYCLEABLE and the life is about 20 years???? So then they wind up in a landfill.....for what????? At least if metal, they can be recycled.....

Yeah, let's have universal zoning that will work in the dry deserts of Arizona, and the wet of Washington state,..... and as @Lazy Gardener says in the cold of Maine and the "subtropic" temps in Florida and Ga and Texas......

This administration has gotten to the point of being totally insane and so power hungry to keep doing all these Executive Orders to such an extreme there is no way to even keep up with them, or to see any reasoning for them except to be able to keep ordering things that even the worst dictators have not done at the speed and frequency as has been done in the last 2 weeks. This is worst than the most insane mob boss......

 

[farmerjan]

I have been feeding DE in feed for years. We get our feed custom made.... we run a cow calf operation, and so get our feed by the ton delivered bulk. The best way to incorporate DE in a small operation is to add to the loose mineral/salt mix... or in a sweet feed. Our custom mix has about 100-150 lbs per TON.... very miniscule in the scheme of things.
Use like a TSP mixed in a 2 qt scoop of feed once or twice a week... or a pinch daily....
The same with our chicken feed...I have some purebred show birds, had a free range laying flock and also, I raise broilers (CCX) that I get from a couple commercial poultry houses when they come and get the birds.... I get the left over "culls" that are usually the small ones..... sometimes get 10, sometimes get 100 or more; about every 8 weeks or so if they leave any behind. Don't do them in the coldest weather because they come out of a climate temp controlled house and cannot take the cold shock.... So I also get a 16% layer feed delivered bulk.... 2 tons at a time..... and feed it to the layers and the ccx. I have the DE added to the feed when it is being made... I feed pellets so they don't waste it like a finer ground mash feed.
The DE actually is "rough enough" in the gut tract that it will puncture the soft bodies of worms/larvae and they will die and be expelled. It also does the same in the manure... as the larvae hatch from the eggs.... It works the same as a dust... and I add it to say ashes that I put in the coops for a dust box... especially in the winter if the birds cannot get out to dust. And I have used it direct on them as a dusting powder instead of a commercial brand if they have lice.
DE is VERY IRRITATING to any soft moist tissue... don't breathe it as it will iritate your nose and throat and eyes if you get in a "cloud" of it. But it does the job without "chemicals" if used properly. Some people feel that it is not good to use. The vet did some fecal samples on some cows that were wormy, fed DE and then did some again. That is the ONLY thing we changed.... fecals came back nearly 100% clean in a month and the cows looked 200% better just by getting them "wormed". Sold me on it. I did it after another small "hobby " farmer swore by it. We were using the same vet, and he mentioned it, so I tried it. Now I wouldn't do without it.

 

[Mini Horses]

I've been seeing this for a while. Often the price stays same but quantity is less in similar package. Hay will take a huge hit as everything about it takes fuel and fertilizer! Plant it, fertilize it, cut it, row it, bale it, move it......unless you do this by hand or a team you need fuel every step! Same with most feed crops. We're in trouble.

Same with groceries. So, big garden everyone!

I saw BOSS go from $19.99 to $24.99 in one week @ TSC. Bought same 40# at WalMart for $17.76. guess where I'm still buying it!?

 

[CrealCritter]

I love these renewable energy discussions when so many forget there was a big push for solar in 70s. Did work then? why? Because the sun doesn't shine 24x7x365. Same with wind it's doesn't blow at a constant speed needed to produce constant electric 24x7x365 The best natural renewable electric power is hydro, which has already been captured "Hoover Dam" is just one example. And as far as batteries you know lithium is some nasty stuff. What kind of toxic waste are we leaving for the next generations to deal with? Maybe we go the route of communist north korea and hardly have any electric at all and no freedom. Or we stay a republic and use the natural resources God gave us in our blessed lands and have both freedom and electricity? I don't know what's... your thoughts?

 

[CrealCritter]

there's a lot in here to reply to and i won't be able to do that.

my take is that if you are worried about a minimum wage requirement that doesn't affect you directly unless you are paying someone else. IMO for a self-sufficient organic grower of produce there are limited input costs, feed prices are a different consideration, but if you are buying from someone else who is also doing organic production then input costs can be lower, labor costs may have to go up, but to me when looking at whole system costs anyone doing organic production no matter what the labor costs might be should be able to out-compete a larger ag-chem grower. simply because lower input costs.

if you want to debate that it's ok with me, but to me that would primarily deal with the idea that you are working either in a mono-crop situation or not being able to scale effectively to compete, but that's a cost of equipment which a smaller grower shouldn't get too embedded in dealing with. if you're not doing ag-chem stuff then you're also possibly able to avoid a lot of the other expensive equipment.

this is all me winging it on a short bit of time here so, well, ignore it if you want, just some comments on things how i see them.

if you want to talk more about growing things and gardening i spend a lot more time on TEG because i am primarily a gardener and not doing things with animals and feeding issues.

No debate needed... It's Common Sense! You raise the minimum wage, EVERYTHING you purchase will have to become more expensive, to offset costs.

Pretty Simple to understand.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I can say that I intend to be growing a huge garden this year, and putting up a lot of veggies... if I'm able to get out of the house. Just might put out a little "end of drive way" veggie stand. Mixed color of beans, and mixed color/shapes of summer squash would be an easy sell. Also, Bright Lights Chard, and the color mixes of lettuce. I've been considering this for a few years. Even doing a "no price" "pay what you think it's worth" option for my veggies. I've heard of folks doing that in restaurants, with profit margins actually being equal to if not better than fixed pricing.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Now, that's an interesting idea (barter/donation). You just might see some interesting stuff show up. A local hospital had a little "market wagon" set up in their parking lot last summer. Gardeners would come and place their excess produce on the wagon for others to partake of. It was done up real nice, and I was delighted to see it, though I never contributed.