Food prices June 2021

FarmerJamie

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No produce auctions close here, either, or at least ones on the weekend so I don't have to take a day off from work.

I do negotiate bulk deals with the local farmers at the weekly market when I can get there in time
 
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CrealCritter

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We have farmers markets like you. This is geared toward bulk sales. Bushel, half bushels, etc. some locals with big gardens bring smaller amounts. Anyone can sell/buy. Many buyers here are supplying their own market stalls in surrounding housing communities, say 50 miles out. The melons are brought in in those huge cardboard containers like you see in stores, on a pallet. Corn in bulk bags, etc. There were squash & cukes aplenty.

On flip side, there will be some flats of smaller quantities -- limas, dozens of eggs, 3-6 cantaloupes, vice the tubs of 100. A single flat of okra or jalapenos. You never know. 😁 I've gotten some good stuff.

ETA...basically, no garden here this yr. 😞 Life happens
I have a friend in GA. He currently sells tomatoes plants for $3 each in cell trays or $4.50 in a 4 inch cup (about 8 inches tall in the cup). He keeps very good record and has electricity metered so he knows his costs very well. This year, he calculated his cost to produce a tomato seedling at $1.27 cents per plant in a cell tray holding 48 plants. He said seeds from some varieties and hybrids can be up to $1 per seed, so just the cost of soil mix, cell trays, and electricity for lights and heat mats, and fertlizer is included in the $1.27. This is compared to 2002 when he could produce tomato seedlings for about .09 cents each.

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Mini Horses

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Seed has been getting very pricey for past couple yrs. So much so that the catalogs say "10 seeds". I have always tried to use heirloom & save seed. Now I appreciate the cost of production is high, with all factors involved, yet I'm annoyed to have to pay the much higher price and only 10-12 seeds.

A couple weeks ago, at a TSC, the mgr had marked all seed to $1 a PKG. Didn't need but I picked up a few heirloom that I regularly plant, just for fresh seed. Most were reg $3-4....and seed that happens 2nd yr of plant. Those I rarely get at home plant as I don't have them surviving that long.

Things like that I stockpile. And canning lids on markdown. If you garden & can, you prepare for it. 🤫

Another seed issue for big crop farms -- many are ones that cannot be saved. Some won't repro the same BUT the producer has patent and will only allow crops be grown with newly bought seed. I've read where some farms were in litigation from producers over this -- charged with growing from patented seed not bought, etc, etc. Imagine, a silo of corn and you can't plant from it!
 
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flowerbug

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any GMO technologies they have put into corn are protected by license agreements that the farmers have to sign before they get the bags for planting.

if you have a field of unaltered non-GMO corn next to another that is you better be sure that it doesn't pollinate at the same time otherwise you may not be able to plant from your own crop even if you've done nothing to encourage crossing.
 

CrealCritter

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I don't grocery shop. I was at the farm store and went down the canned food isle, to grab two cases of bottled spring water, which I drink a lot of. I was shocked and bewildered. Is this normal, $7.99 for a quart of canned peach or pear halves and $6.99 for a quart of pickled beet eggs?
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Mini Horses

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Agree about comparison -- HOWEVER

Costco (Kirkland) & Dole still offer peaches in jars roughly $8 & $4.50....most are cans, run In $2.50-$5. range, dependant on the store, size, syrup. Etc.

Those at Rural King are pricey! 👍☺️ Sure pretty tho.
 

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