Posted on 04/08/2022 12:34:19 PM PDT by Mariner
ROME -- Prices for food commodities like grains and vegetable oils reached their highest levels ever last month largely because of Russia's war in Ukraine and the “massive supply disruptions” it is causing, threatening millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere with hunger and malnourishment, the United Nations said Friday.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month, up 12.6% from February. As it is, the February index was the highest level since its inception in 1990.
FAO said the war in Ukraine was largely responsible for the 17.1% rise in the price of grains, including wheat and others like oats, barley and corn. Together, Russia and Ukraine account for around 30% and 20% of global wheat and corn exports, respectively.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Prices go up for the US and the rest of the world equally.
The poorest will starve. Everyone else will pay the going rate.
$5 for a gallon of milk or loaf of bread. $20 for a chicken.
I've already seen $9 for 5lbs of organic flour.
There have been no northern hemisphere harvests since the war in Ukraine began. So who is getting rich from these increases in prices?
“There have been no northern hemisphere harvests since the war in Ukraine began. So who is getting rich from these increases in prices?”
What we are buying/eating now was harvested last year or the year before and has been in storage.
Commodities.
Just part of the ongoing media campaign to try to convince people: “See? It’s not BIDEN’S fault!”
Dirt is basically sand with some color. To grow food in dirt requires the massive annual application of fertilizer.....a lot of which comes from (came from) Russia. (Potash, as in potassium).
The era of the "family farm" is long gone. Now, we have "agri-business," which is basically "hydroponics in dirt."
Take away the modern chemical fertilizer, and yields will drop off a cliff, and millions will starve around the world.
Search out what's already happening in Chile, Peru and Sri Lanka to find out what happens when food prices spike and the cost of food goes beyond what people can pay. It's not pretty.
There is no magic political formula to fix this reality, and the USA is not immune.
The real question is what happens to new-crop planting there, and throughout Europe, over the next 4-6 weeks.
Nobody’s done anything substantive yet.
Food growers, like gasoline distributors, factor in their own anticipated cost increases. To continue to sell existing stock at the old price, when they are already being hammered by higher production costs, would be suicidally stupid, leading to bancruptcy.
Note I said food growers, not farmers, because food production is now an industrial process. “Farmer Brown” is long gone.
There are hundreds of products made from petroleum. The same people who think that electricity comes magically from an outlet in a wall probably think that the only use for oil is gasoline for vehicles.
“and the USA is not immune”
Well over half of Americans have no idea the impact soaring food and energy prices will have.
And they’re gonna be pissed when it shows up in earnest.
From no AC when it’s 90deg in the house, to triple the price for a chicken. Even filling up the F-150 could go over $200.
It will hit like a sledge hammer.
And again, people are gonna be really pissed off.
Volatile.
Do you grow commercially?
How’s it lookin’ out there?
Farmers here in the Big Valley are talking about 50% increases in input costs, including water.
“Food prices soar to record levels on Ukraine war disruptions”
Serves Putin right!!!
I grow a few crops commercially, but not on the same scale as most farms. I specialize in producing seeds for other people to plant :)
Things are going to get rough. Most of the farms surrounding mine are conventional. Because of the terrain most of the fields aren’t irrigated. The water table is close enough to the surface that it usually isn’t a problem, but if we get a serious drought it could be. The local meat processor had a wait list 2 years long and growing last I checked, so even if some farmers decided to shrink their herds their options would be limited.
I did notice that the manure spreaders seem not to be as active as usual yet. Most years, people start spreading manure before the ground is done thawing, just to make room in the tanks. I get the impression they’re trying to hold off this year so they can get the most out of it when they spread it. That’s just a guess though, I haven’t heard anybody actually say that.
Seeds, seed potatoes, bare-root plants, and baby chicks all seem to be selling a bit faster than usual, although not as fast as they did early in the pandemic. People aren’t panicking, but they’re definitely bracing themselves. And anybody with gardening space is trying to plan how to get the most out of it. That’s been a popular discussion topic lately!
I think the area where my farm is will probably do ok. There’s a strong culture of “every problem has a solution, and we’re gonna find it”, especially in the rural areas. A few years ago when I was working at a call center, there was some serious flooding that knocked out a lot of the roads. Some of my coworkers traveled by kayak part of the way, but when talking about it they acted like that was no big deal. I expect they’ll deal with food shortages and supply disruptions the same way.
All the same, I have books on how to modify an engine to run on wood or charcoal, ready to lend out if my neighbors need them. And I’m working on putting together ways to formulate animal feeds for things like chickens, which normally get store-bought food. We’ll see what happens.
Gallon of milk at Lindl was $1.23. Flour - $1.54. Eggs - $1.60.
Shop at Lindl.
Farmer Brown still is alive and well in the country. Many Farm Stalls along the roads during the summer to buy fresh produce fruit and honey in my area.
The same with Eggs.People who have chickens sell their fresh eggs.
It is the people in the city and towns that will have issues.
On our local news here in Pennsylvania it was reported Farmers are going back to basics. Using Manure as Fertilizer now to save money.
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