Wondering what other folks thoughts on this one are....

Not so sure, but then again,..............

Why are we still pushing the production of corn?
Why are we still paying or subsidizing farms to NOT produce?
Why are we relying on other countries for food we can produce here, in far larger quantities and with far better quality control?


They say the Ukraine accounts for 1/4 of the worlds wheat and grain production, but how much does the U.S. buy from them?
The U.S can outstrip any two other countries in wheat and grain production, why are we not doing so and then selling the surplus?
The U.S can produce far more then 1/2 the worlds rice supplies, yet we don't, Why?

Potato says we need to accept more ethanol to water down our motor fuel, giving lie to the fact that he is in bed with the corn mafia!

 

The only apparent shortages in my neck of the woods are some boutique fruit and some vegetable crops. Most staples are ok.

The short fall is due to covid international tourist travel restrictions which have made itinerant agricultural pickers thinner on the ground. Not a deliberate Stalinesque contrived famine.

 

There was time (when I grew up) we only ate what was in season now people have come to expect they can get any type of veggie or fruit 12 months out of the year so we now import stuff from all over the world. My opinion the day of reckoning will soon be here and that won't be the case any longer. Corn production will be down by 20 million acres -no fertilizer we have plenty of oil in the ground we don't need ethanol as an additive. The feds pay farmers not to plant in order to keep the price up but with inflation it makes no sense. When the dollar tanks the house of cards will collapse and food will be dear commodity.

 

YUP!
Most retailers here sell fruits out of season, most sourced from Cali or Mexico! What happened to producing here IN SEASON and not having to import from elsewhere? Demand has pushed this and it's not going to end well! However, all we need to do is go back to consuming within season, and cut off the outsourced supplies and were golden! BRING BACK THE AMERICAN FARMER AND HIS FARMS, STOP THE STEAL!

 

Famine seldom has anything to do with lack of food. It usually is due to either diet choices, meat instead of grain, etc, or lack of money to buy food by members of the population. If the USA went to grass fed animals in areas where grain production is not feasible, and ate the grains feed to most of our swine and cattle production, but keep some of our poultry production, the change to mostly veggie diet would allow quite a few more people to live in the USA or feed more people overseas. But remember what you get if you increase food production, cut the mortality rate, and maintain the existing social order. Egypt is a perfect example, between 1960 and 2020, the population went from about 27 million to about 100 million and they used to buy a lot of wheat from the Ukraine. They no longer can grow enough food to feed themselves or earn enough money to buy food. Several other nations are in the same situation. Much of the rest of the more populated countries depend almost totally on the high production rates of modern agriculture with its inputs of fertilizer, insecticides, fuel for equipment and the equipment itself, as well as irrigation, crop processing, and transportation and storage. If they lose these inputs, they will not raise enough food on their lands for their people. We can neither assume that someone else will either sell them food, nor that they will have the money to buy it. Since someone must supply the agriculture inputs, some system must be used to insure those supplies. At the moment it is the rich taking care of the poor, in the past it has been either war or famine changing the supply and demand for those in need of food.

US rice production is a bit of a problem, the two largest areas of production either require large scale of irrigation from ever shrinking water supplies, or the fields are subsidized by the government in the name of "flood protection". Rice, sugar cane and sugar beet production exists due to either the government making world supplies more expensive or subsidizing the inputs.

While in the past we did live on locally produced foods, we also had widespread deficiency diseases by the end of winter or due to a lack of needed elements in our local foods. Scurvy and chicken breasted adults died out with foods with C, D, and more calcium.

Don't know if they are predicting food shortages or planning them, question may well be moot as the best laid plans men and mice often go astray. A lot of the world can see these problems coming and are trying to get to areas where there is at least a chance to eat in the long run. Much of Asia, most of Africa, and much of central and south America are on the cusp of failing. If I lived in those areas and had a family, I would be trying to sneak into those countries that may have enough food as well. But the lifeboat we live in is rapidly reaching its full capacity and will either require limiting the number in the boat, severe rationing if everyone is allowed on it or it will sink.

 

NO FERTILIZER FROM RUSSIA!!

 

It's planned in my opinion. Other than just trying to gain full control of the people, is my opinion on why they are doing it. Bedumb is at fault for our prices ,, 100% ,, he can blame Putin , Russia, Ukraine,, the fk'n tooth fairy if he wants to ,, but he 100% owns that. Just because he's a 110% idiot.
This whole mess is the democrats fault ,,, covid lockdowns, everything is on them . Nothing they did helped 1 damned bit. All that freight sitting off the coast of kalifornia ,,, dems fault . Everybody says get out and vote to make things better ,,, I have absolutely 0% faith in us having honest elections this year ,, or on '24. If ya ask me ,, while we still have access to a little food ,, it's time to load your pack and march on out to your local commie headquarters and take care of business. These SOB's are not working for the American people anymore,,, they're working for themselves and all them illegals they're bringing into our country . It won't be our country in a short little while,,, it'll be all these damned illegals they're bringing in. Them sob's are already getting free phones , free rides , free places to stay , money for food , Healthcare. And we're paying for it ,, wether we can afford to put food on our tables or not . We're the slaves ,, working to pay for the elites new house guests . All them sons of bitches can rot in hell ,, and it wouldn't bother me one damned bit to send every worthless piece of all of them straight to hell.
F'k them ,,, yall have a ood day.

 

When the Big Farm/Commercial Farming interests started pushing Congress to produce more ethanol from corn (which is a horrible idea, btw), and Congress bought into it, we saw an across the board shift, from multiple grain production in this country, to corn. Remember, before the big push for corn-produced ethanol, this country actually used to have such a surplus of that grain, that we fed not only our own needs, but exported plenty of it, at bargain basement prices, too. Remember how mad Mexico got, when they passed the corn for ethanol laws??
Pushing the price of corn up, caused many of the farmers (and Big Farm/Commercial Farming) to stop producing wheat, and start producing corn. Bigger profit, ya know? So away went the idea of the Midwest being "the world's bread basket". Not a big deal, there were places like Ukraine and Russia, who could produce plenty. But along with corn prices rising, we saw an across the board increase in the price of most meats, because.....hey, we use corn to fatten up cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.

Now, we're going to see an incredible decrease in the amount of wheat coming out of Ukraine and Vlad's wanna-be USSR, so those prices will go up. Now the question is, will they go up high enough, to push some corn farming interests into switching back to growing wheat? Meanwhile, good ol' Stumbling Joe has plans to up the ethanol in gasoline to 15% over the summer, supposedly to help bring down the price of gas. Because, you know, the Big Oil companies will just drop the price for us! Oh, and let's not forget, that your modern cars aren't really designed to burn ethanol efficiently, so you'll probably see a dip in your MPG, by burning that gas. Ironic, isn't it? The same dipstick that wants the auto manufacturers to average 40 MPG by 2026, is going to push more ethanol into our gasoline, which will serve to DROP the mileage you'll get in your car!

 

Problem is always as the wise lady said, too late to change anything by voting and too early to shoot the ba*****. Going to be a rough ride and the da** people in charge still think more of the same thing that has failed is the answer. Stay out of crowds, the cities, keep your head down, have your supplies ready, have caches, and be gray. Don't know if it can be saved at this point, if half way honest election in 2022 and 2024, and if the Republicans don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, we may a faint chance, provided it doesn't all go up in smoke due to some idiot hitting the launch button somewhere in the world.

 

It isn't too early to take out the trash. These traitors should have been shot or hung from lamp posts years ago...and the illegal alphabet agencies that support them!

 

You have touched on some complex issues here. Massive corn production is in large part to the policies and perks Earl Butz set in motion long ago and the get big or get out policies that killed the small family farm system leading to farm consolidation. Go back a step before that and FDR and the depression and post depression era policies. Subsidized things were once a good thing for the small family farm but evolved into a money making crony scheme for the biggest farms. About 20% of us operate completely independent of the USDA/NCRS/FSA and do not accept anything they are trying to *Give* us. Lots of strings attached with the things they *Give* Direct and Indirect Subsidies, Crop insurance, Disaster Payments, CRP, Wetlands Management and tree management are all great tools for the Government to manipulate and control farms. Put 10 acres in CRP and read the fine print of the contract and you will find you have agreed to actions and restrictions on all of your land not just the 10 acres enrolled in the CRP. As far as paying farmers not to produce........ that is not exactly correct it is more like they will not pay you the subsidies if you do produce. A good example of how they exert the manipulation is my "Farm Census" attitude, refuse to fill them out and send them in. Every time the census rolls around the FSA calls and visits for a couple of moths first asking nicely that I comply and send it in. Then threatening to withhold any and all subsidies that I receive (They get kind of pissed when you tell them withhold away, I don't receive any subsidies or Government payments.) then finally threatening to fine you if you do not comply..... The fine btw for non compliance is $100 and they have no mechanism to force you to pay it. I really should stop using the term family farm as 90% of the giant corporate farms are family owned privately held corporations. Hell even my little farm and businesses are held in a S Corp with each venture being a subsidiary within the parent corp. Lots of reasons I do that but the biggest two are taxes and how I pay myself. A third big is reason is to keep each business aspect st arms length from all of the others negating liability from one aspect from hurting the others. The giant operations operate the same way just on a much more massive scale and at the tune of millions of dollars, not my piddly tens of thousands of dollars. And by being compartmentalized it allows them access to many millions more dollars in subsidies.

Why do we rely on other Nations for food that we can mass produce? That is because of our fair trade agreements and treaties. Falls in the same category of why we pay huge import tariffs to countries we export to and charge little or tariffs on things exported to us.

Potato says we need to accept more ethanol to water down our motor fuel, giving lie to the fact that he is in bed with the corn mafia!

Go back to Earl Butz and fence row to fence row and get big or get out. In that Era there was no market for that volume of corn and the market was artifically created. Prior to those policies HFCS was a niche market and today HFCS is in literally almost everything and we wonder why Americans are a bunch of fat asses with chronic health issues. Grain feed for livestock was supplemental and the giant feeds lots of today did not exist and 90% of meats were produced by small farms on pasture and woodlots. Today 5% of meats are produced that way. As late as the 1980s Grocery stores still had regional buyer agents that went around cutting deals and making contracts with small farms to supply local stores. My first money making foray into agriculture was in 1983 with a contract to supply 50 Dozen Eggs per week over 6 Months to a store. Things were already going to crap for deals like that then though as everything particularly poultry and livestock was becoming consolidated and centralized under a handful of big corporations........ but back on topic LOL Ethanol and Biodiesel made from soybeans and actually getting to be mostly made from palm oil imported from Asia. Are a market developed to play the crony game and dispose of what would otherwise be huge surpluses of corn that there was no use for. HFCS and Bio Fuels are also a means of regulating grain prices and keeping small and midsize farmers chained to the Government Teat.

The biggest farm subsidies of all are indirect and are called SNAP and the School Lunch program.

My advice always to anyone getting in to small farming similar to my operation is when the Government knocks on your door offering programs and help......... slam the door and hide until they go away If you do sign up for their programs, have a lawyer who is working for your best interest read the documents and explain clearly all of the bonus material in the fine print that you are agreeing to. You may very well be signing away your autonomy and independence otherwise.

American Agriculture and the whole food system have gotten VERY complex and that complexity is by design. Much easier to Pay Out, Pilfer and manipulate in a very complex system than in a simple and easy to understand transparent system

 

Nope it is not just Democrats fault, the Right is just as culpable in selling us out and profiteering at We The Peoples expense. Two sides of the same coin that roll in the same direction. Depending on where you are looking from is which side of the coin you will see.

 

Well, when Taylor Farm produce factory in california takes out about 20 percent of the US fresh bagged salad market. Thankfully the inner city doesn't have fresh veggies available to them anyway or we'd all be in trouble.

Fire contained at California food plant; evacuations remain

 

Honestly, there won't be a food shortage.
What there will be is a shortage of money to be able to afford food.
It's going to get expensive.
Farm inputs going up: fuel, fertilizer, seed, pesticide, feed, silage/hay
Transportation issues: Fleet vehicles aging out (california), regulations, fuel and driver shortage throw in a border strike or two (Windsor and now Mexico International trade halted at Texas border crossings as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections)
Bird flu and the culling of hundreds of millions of chickens across the globe.
Lower live cattle and hog prices but higher processing costs (fuel/labor) at meat packers.

means that there will still be food, but it's gonna be hella expensive unless you signup for them FEDBux food stamps.
If you can't afford it, you can still get your 3 hots by giving up your freedoms to uncle sam.

Soylent green anyone? Not I, I've got all kinds of strawberry jam canned up. I might even be able to get a side chick outta this .. wife said something about Juan the pool boy. Whatevs.

Start or learn how to can soon. It's not going to get cheaper to feed yourself in the future.

 

As a mint farmer, I'm all too familiar with the gov. crooks demanding I "Join" their gang or else kinda deal! I was almost being forced to purchase my mint seed from one of the state repositories ( which is gang speak for We want total control of the entire thing from birth to death) and that every harvest, you are required to collect all seed and then, after testing, you send it back to the state repositories so they can then charge you for the next crop! NOPE, i'm a certified 100 percent organic mint operation using heirloom seed as my base crop, so they can fuck off and die for all I care, they cannot touch my seed or even demand anything of me! I have been working with several other operations here in the valley to bust the states stranglehold on the mint farmers, and so far, we are winning this fight! This state is so freaking corrupt with all it's taxes, fees, permits, and all that, Plus, if you don't buy your own harvesting equipment, your on the hook using Co-Op ( State) owned crap that is so old and busted, and costs you up to 20% loss of product, not to mention the super high fuel burn to run that crap, NOPE! I customized a couple of newer harvesters to convert them into Mint harvesting, pressing, and processing, so that I'm not on anyones hook! As such, the state is super bent because I'm selling 100% pure mint oils non blended, at full strength and i'm more then double the going price, and I cannot produce enough to meet the demand for what I produce, so the state has tried to shut me down because I operate above them and they don't get shit from me! Latest from them was to cut into my water supplies, which they cannot because i'm not on water rights or a well, I'm strait rain fall and river water and sued the snot out of them already as they cannot deny me what they themselves do not own! Far from over, i'm sure they will come up with a new thing to try against me, but my attorneys are just a little more agile then the states, so as long as I can hold them off a few more seasons, they will have nothing they can ever hold me too! As it is now, outside fuel and other needed things I HAVE to purchase to run the farm, I pay absolutely NOTHING to the state other then the taxes, which is something else we all need to fight!

When I first took back the families farms, I found my self in a major fight with the state, who demanded I take on one of their "Recommended" crops, such as Grass Seed or one of the feed crops, I told them to go pound sand, these farms have always been mint farms, and always will be, and that I had my own seed and they wouldn't be forcing me to do anything else! They tried to shut me down, but lost that fight before it even went before a court, so it's been a fight ever sense! Then there was the fight over the seed it's self, but what they didn't know was back in the 60's and 70's my grand father and unckles held back all their seed and stashed it away in their own little hidey-hole, just in case of a fire or flood, or other issue, apparently my thieving uncles and his worthless welp had no idea that stash existed, and I was able to recover it all and plant it, while holding the next three crops in reserve, so i'm all set for live as long as I continue to replenish my seed! I was "offered" seed for any number of other crops, and all the hoops you had to jump through which basically made you "Incorporated" with the state and the system, basically it was your membership to the club, and I just laughed at the states inspector and told him to GTFO my property and not to come back! I have been threatened by other operations, (but none in the mint business) and I found the county sheriff is more then happy to look into such things in hopes of finding the crooks and hanging them by their own ropes from their own trees!

You wanna see corruption at it's deepest in this state, look at the Hops growers, or the Marion Berries Farms, talk about corrupt, or worse, the grape farms that want to sell to wineries or start their own! HAHA, What the state hasn't figured out is the 60 acres of grapes i'm also growing, nor the winery or the distillery I have up and running and producing, just wait till they find out about all that! LOL, I'm way ahead of them, my team of lawyers are all over it, so that when the state comes knocking, they get the treatment dry, no lube or kiss afterward!

 

You are right,,, no doubt about it. It's about time for a massive house cleaning tho. The ones we have , have been in way too damn long and corrupted the system to benefit themselves. Term limits , and no benefits will start cleaning up the system.

 

Funny that you mention Marionberry on my walk around this evening I stopped at the wine bunker and extracted these two bottles for lunch with some guest tomorrow afternoon. Winery a few miles West of here makes this hooch with the fruit coming from over your way This Marionberry has became one of my favored beverages with meals.

 

Plenty of fertilizer from Washington DC to offset that...

 

BAM! I'm surprised sometime that you haven't had an "accident"...