tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post6795356673055117500..comments2023-12-29T05:25:24.503-06:00Comments on The Midlife Farmwife: Goodbye Drought...Hello Price Increases.Donna OShaughnessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266654110280149719noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-566559276196321542012-10-14T12:48:36.955-05:002012-10-14T12:48:36.955-05:00THere's a hay shortage around us too, but our ...THere's a hay shortage around us too, but our drought was nowhere near as bad as down in the US. I hope everything works out okay for you in the long run. Maybe you'll just get rich off animal talent! :)<br /><br />Lovely pigs you have there.Knatoleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-1685287461427371332012-10-14T11:49:53.699-05:002012-10-14T11:49:53.699-05:00Pigs in space.....errrrr, pigs in chigago....same ...Pigs in space.....errrrr, pigs in chigago....same thing ;-)<br /><br />Yep, prices are up on everything... can't add a thing to your arguments 'cause you are 100 percent correct.<br /><br />hugs to you and keith....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-77300286771660781682012-10-14T07:50:35.912-05:002012-10-14T07:50:35.912-05:00Feed prices went up a month and a half ago in NY. ...Feed prices went up a month and a half ago in NY. We may not do meat birds next year, depending on what happens. <br /><br />It's going to be a toughie, that's for sure.Jocelynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14823007336688773304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-60068221664891170292012-10-13T18:24:53.634-05:002012-10-13T18:24:53.634-05:00Hog feed prices have doubled since 2008 here. A to...Hog feed prices have doubled since 2008 here. A ton of just regular hog feed is $430 this week here. Dothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841500661349030418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-7545471482416286482012-10-13T13:38:31.348-05:002012-10-13T13:38:31.348-05:00I'm not a farmer nor a farmer's wife or da...I'm not a farmer nor a farmer's wife or daughter,but I do know that our farmers are having a tough time too. Chatting to a farmer who we live near to said his wheat crop was down but his barley crop was very good. Why? he didn't say. In my own garden, I had a good crop of onion, beans and potatoes, but everything else was poor. It was a cold long spring with no summer and very wet. Lets hope we have a better time next year.Paula RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550276147711384895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-71923186871832993112012-10-13T13:05:15.621-05:002012-10-13T13:05:15.621-05:00Our Tamworth boar is called Max as well! Prices ha...Our Tamworth boar is called Max as well! Prices have risen here in France, but not by quite so much as yours have. Worrying times.Verahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13235143664894609891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-8817352901225827252012-10-13T11:44:37.801-05:002012-10-13T11:44:37.801-05:00Diversified or Nuts .... yes, depends on the day f...Diversified or Nuts .... yes, depends on the day for most small-time farmers:)) Loved the piggie pictures!OurCrazyFarmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06020242859069231218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-57806629165248498322012-10-13T11:30:28.456-05:002012-10-13T11:30:28.456-05:00How cool would that be to walk pigs around on a le...How cool would that be to walk pigs around on a leash in Chicago. I hope all their talent doesn't turn them into hams!!!Dougnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-57205966479790333642012-10-13T08:31:42.796-05:002012-10-13T08:31:42.796-05:00Yep, you guessed it... our farm is in one of those...Yep, you guessed it... our farm is in one of those "Western" IL counties you mentioned. Specifically, NW IL, and I'm guessing we're in the 16-18 inch rain deficit you mentioned, as we didn't get any of those hurricane rains you all received south of us. Things are B-A-D... my fall vegetables crops are sparse, I'm barely able to fill the CSA member shares. Wells around here are still drying up. As for meat, I'm already guessing we won't be raising the meat chickens again next year. Yep, the cost of grain has gone way up, but it also comes down to other factors.... doing things on such a small scale as we do costs a LOT more (as you know!), so I have to charge more. I also looked around at all the farms within a couple hundred miles raising pastured chickens, and priced mine accordingly. Of course, being in a rural area, many people balked at the price I had to charge. All in all, I think I probably broke even on the darn things. And with the price of grain going up... not to mention that we're still not receiving the rain up here... I'm backing off a lot of livestock plans. I had also planned to increase our goat herd this fall, and didn't. <br />All in all, I'm just hoping for a LOT of snow this winter, and wishing we'd get some fall rain... because otherwise I fear we're in for a 2-year drought up here. Just hoping for a decent crop from our vegetable fields next year.<br />In response to your walking the piglets on leashes, I had to laugh... because when we got our 4 feeder pigs this spring, they escaped the first night (I quickly learned the benefits of electric fencing, which was purchased the very next day!). Long story short,after we lured them back into their pen we had to figure out a way to get them from the easy-escape pen back into the barn. We tried a collar and leash... only to discover that pigs don't have much of a "neck" to speak of... they kind of resemble our American Bulldog in that regard. Those darn piglets slid their necks right out of those collars and ran away again. Needless to say, my strongest male intern ended up carting the piglets to the barn the old fashioned way with no leashes... holding their back legs and wheelbarrow walking them... it was the only thing that worked (my husband wasn't home, the piglets were scared, and it wasn't a good idea to attempt to lift & carry those 50-pound wriggling piglets alone with my citified-freaking- out-interns and small sons!). So... I'm questioning the whole leash thing! Hahaha! :-). PennyWishful Acres Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09117884380360587808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-14595923661531062702012-10-13T07:59:55.954-05:002012-10-13T07:59:55.954-05:00This is a hoot...use the little hams as actors.......This is a hoot...use the little hams as actors....well, it will help offset the cost of grain and hay and straw.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-50557128450051005972012-10-13T06:48:47.095-05:002012-10-13T06:48:47.095-05:00Food prices are increasing here too. Your drought ...Food prices are increasing here too. Your drought plus our washout. rusty duckhttp://www.rustyduck.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-54666810631418980262012-10-13T06:48:35.315-05:002012-10-13T06:48:35.315-05:00Local feed prices are up her in Pa too. Just in ti...Local feed prices are up her in Pa too. Just in time for winter. We always use more feed in the winter. Hang in there, hopefull it will get better in the spring!<br />~Lisa LA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-17898109896008419652012-10-13T06:23:13.816-05:002012-10-13T06:23:13.816-05:00I've been kind'a wondering why you haven&#...I've been kind'a wondering why you haven't posted about price increases for your products as I KNOW you've had to have already seen increases in grain. We don't grow nearly as much meat & milk as you do, and I'm getting worried about the feed situation.....I can't imagine what it feels like in your larger operation.<br /><br />Hope you guys get everything worked out and remember, don't feel guilty (well, not that much) about raising prices....everyone else is at the big-store level and it's not fair for the little guys to have to eat all the costs. You know, because we have a conscience, unlike the mega-chains. I felt guilty raising the price of my raw goat milk to $6 a gallon until I found out the store was charging TWELVE bucks a gallon!<br /><br />If people want good, organic, humanely raised pork from you, then they are just going to have to pay for it, and most rational-thinking people would understand. You shouldn't be expected to shoulder the costs, you need to eat too!<br /><br />Rant finished.Carolynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14436557172029575513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-56577808245804050112012-10-13T00:23:19.283-05:002012-10-13T00:23:19.283-05:00Last month the price on a 50 pound bag of pig food...Last month the price on a 50 pound bag of pig food went up $2.08 per bag. Fortunately my daughter works for a fruit packing house and has dropped off peaches, nectarines and plums thru the summer for our 2 pigs, plus they have been getting a few buckets of grapes off my vines to keep them happy. It is going to be hard for farmers to break even this year for sure. Tombstone Livestockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07022776395762826903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-38988234572855722182012-10-13T00:16:12.355-05:002012-10-13T00:16:12.355-05:00Hey Cro, its' after midnight here why aren'...Hey Cro, its' after midnight here why aren't you in bed? Better question: why am I not in bed? Because finance talk always fuels my insomnia thats why. Donna OShaughnessyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266654110280149719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4212817062207309616.post-30386828750325017222012-10-12T23:38:05.739-05:002012-10-12T23:38:05.739-05:00We were expecting poor harvests here too, but in f...We were expecting poor harvests here too, but in fact they've turned out to be 'average'. Of course this doesn't stop prices from rising!Cro Magnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06840670227576695352noreply@blogger.com