Posted on 10/15/2021 5:18:13 AM PDT by blam
At least someone is honest when it comes to soaring food inflation:
“Food is too cheap,” Ranjit Boparan, who is known as the “Chicken King” in the UK, was quoted by Reuters
“In relative terms, a chicken today is cheaper to buy than it was 20 years ago. How can it be right that a whole chicken costs less than a pint of beer? You’re looking at a different world from now on where the shopper pays more,” Boparan said, who produces 33% of all poultry products in the country.
“The days when you could feed a family of four with an STG3 ($A5.55) chicken are coming to an end,” he said, adding that the twin crises of Brexit and COVID are pushing prices higher amid snarled supply chains in the world’s fifth-largest economy. The shortage of truckers to butchers to warehouse workers has exacerbated supply chain pressure. An energy crisis and power crunch have disrupted the food supply chain and added additional inflationary pressures.
He outlined how labor shortages would pressure wage inflation higher that would force him to automate:
“Less labor means less choice, core ranges, empty shelves, and wage inflation, and this isn’t going to change,” he said.
“Right now, I need to be honest about what this means for the consumer as inflation could reach double digits.”
A winter of discontent could be nearing for millions of Brits as soaring food, energy, and power prices hamper the country’s economic recovery.
I can go down to the local feed store and pick up 10 pullet chicks and a 50 lb. bag of feed for $20. It may take a year or so to get to where they’re producing, but it’s not impossible to become self-sustaining when it comes to poultry. Cattle is a bit different, but I know some folks with a few hundred acres that just move their herds around every month.
America needs to get back to her roots.
Another “new normal.”
Interesting that the headline picks up on the old line “the era of cheap oil is over.” Except that was proven not to be true, particularly when President Trump was in office.
And those 10 chickens are going to eat a $11 50 lb bag of feed in about a week and a half.
Excuses. Excuses. Everyone is looking at reasons to raise prices. I’m not buying it. Pardon the pun.
‘America needs to get back to her roots.’
right, let’s all go back to 1860, slaughtering our own animals and farming a hundred acres...yeah, that’s the ticket...
Having anyone produce 33% of all chicken is a bad idea.
Having wooded acreage has its benefits. They find food just fine on their own, and that feed can last more than a couple of weeks.
I don’t see a problem with that. Your dismissive attitude is part of the problem. Some of us actually want to be self-sufficient.
There’ll be riots everywhere if fat women can’t get their nuggets.
“UK’s “Chicken King” Warns: The Era Of Cheap Food Is Over”
Then, Mr. Chicken King...the era of discretionary spending at restaurants is over.
The scarcity of communism is an built in feature.
Chickens don’t need a year to reach market size. Most breeds do it in 60 days and some of the super meat breeds in 40 days. 10 growing chickens are going to absolutely rip thorough that 50# of feed in less than a month. 50# is 22.6kg....
https://www.feedstrategy.com/poultry/poultry-performance-improves-over-past-decades/
Comparing feed conversion rates
With the recent rise in feed costs internationally and forecasts that costs will remain high, the bird’s ability to convert nutrients is a particularly important aspect of overall performance efficiency. A broiler marketed at 2.5 kg may be credited with a live-weight FCR of 1.9:1, which in other words means it ate 4.75 kg of feed in reaching that end weight. But assuming a weight yield of 75% at slaughter and that 10% of carcase weight is represented by bones, together with a typical cooking loss of 20%, the 2.5 kg live would be 1.35 kg of edible meat. In that case, its conversion of feed into edible meat would be 3.52:1.
By comparison, a laying hen may eat 11 kg of feed in producing 5 kg of eggs. This would indicate her FCR as being 2.2:1. Assuming the edible contents of a 60-gram egg weighs 55 grams, the feed conversion for this production becomes 2.4:1. The extent of cooking losses may be 2%, so the FCR for the edible content would become 2.45:1.
10 Baby chicks will not eat 50 lbs of food in a week and a half. Even full sized won’t eat that much.
I can go down to the local feed store and pick up 10 pullet chicks and a 50 lb. bag of feed for $20. It may take a year or so to get to where they’re producing, but it’s not impossible to become self-sustaining when it comes to poultry. Cattle is a bit different, but I know some folks with a few hundred acres that just move their herds around every month.
_________
this is not self sufficiency
that feed was produced and trucked in from somewhere
“UK’s “Chicken King” Warns: The Era Of Cheap Food Is Over”
**************
That is one sector. The era of cheap anything is over. Prices
and wages have gone up and will continue. The hand outs
will cost more.
I’ve got one laying hen out of 6 left. Hawks got the rest but this one is a survivor. She hasn’t had one bit of feed in many months but still lays an egg everyday.
I raised a batch of Red Rangers which are slower growing meat birds than the Cornish Cross, white feathered meat bird and they ended up costing $5/ea by processing time. The Red Rangers take about 12 weeks instead of the 6 weeks that the Cornish Cross take but they don’t eat much more feed because as the name implies, they’re free range chickens. The Cornish Cross could be set loose but they’ll stay right by the feeder and won’t free range.
Then there’s dual purpose breeds. Large birds that lay eggs and get big enough for eating but they won’t be as tender as a six week bird and they don’t have as much breast meat.
Before they invented the Cornish Cross frankenchicken, the Delaware was destined to be the chicken in every pot. Sand Hills Preservation Center was supposed to be working on trying to convert them back to their original purpose but that’s just one guy and his wife.
As Vox Day would say, “He has to go back.”
I got Delawares for the first time this year. Dang those things seem to find a way to escape the run EVERY time...when the Australorps and Orpingtons won’t. Even clipped their wings....they still get out.
Maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong, but I am starting to really dislike that breed. :)
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