Feed prices

[Martin]

heard some of "you and yours" this morning - a chook farmer was being interviewed, and he mentioned that feed had leapt from around £160 ton to £230 - ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shirley]

yep - we paid a lot more this time around than we normally do.

[red]

yup - our farmers suppliers warned us food ws going to go up alot soon.

[Stonehead]

In November 2004, bread wheat averaged £83 a ton. Bread wheat for November delivery this year is averaging £221.50 (Liverpool), which is up £6.50 a tonne on the week before.

Feed barley is up to £178 a tonne. When we started three years ago, we were paying around £70 a tonne.

A lot of livestock farmers are going to get caught by the rises as they're on fixed price contracts to the supermarkets and food processors so they will have to pick up the extra costs. Arable farmers will also miss out - I've spoken to a couple around here who are on fixed price contracts to supply barley at £89-90 a tonne, and then watch as the buyers flog it off for £160-180 a tonne. But the media usually tells it as "farmers will reap the dividends of higher cereal prices".

Some will, most won't.

[Annpan]

I also heard the show today and they did seem to be blaming the supermarkets for controlling prices and that 'farm gate" prices haven't changed much... so livestock farmers are screwed, because they need to absorb the feed price rise, while selling to the big 4 at the same price as before. The poultry farmer was saying that he gets £1.60 per bird is that not a discustingly low price to pay for the life of an animal irrespective to to the cost of grain (I am not vegetarian but strongly believe animals deserve respect)

I just think that it shows how unimaginative and diverse we have become in this country, in general, as consumers our food habits do not change with the weather. Nor do we plan ahead for tough years - I am thinking feeding animals (and ourselves for that matter) on food other than grain... (or on animals that are fed on grain)

[Stonehead]

Nor do we plan ahead for tough years - I am thinking feeding animals (and ourselves for that matter) on food other than grain... (or on animals that are fed on grain)

Some of us do! But even when growing mangels, potatoes and jerusalem artichokes for our pigs, we still have to use barley for feed to give them a balanced diet. We also have to use compound feeds, too.

Ideally, we'd have 25-30 acres so we could grow our own barley and oats, but the price of a farm with that much land is well beyond our means. And of course, then we'd need a tractor, implements and a combine or the cash to pay someone to do the work.