Massive corn shortage expected in 2022. Tips for long term storage of feed?

[Chickenric]

It’s being reported that due to fertilizer shortages and massive increases in cost, there will be huge crop shortages and shortages of many staples especially corn this year. Combined with the continuing supply chain breakdown and worker shortages this could get very bad.m in my opinion. Maybe it is overblown, but it got me thinking, what should we be doing to protect our flock and hedge against possible shortages?

How long can we store feed?

Can feed/corn be frozen or vacuum packed for a longer shelf life?

Alternatives to traditional feed?

Curious what y’all think about the possible shortage situation, overblown or potentially a huge problem?

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics...rtages-are-going-be-far-worse-were-being-told

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/factors-expected-to-drive-the-2022-corn-market

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

That report is BS. We may have fewer acres planted to corn but in many areas of the corn belt corn is still profitable even with the higher input costs.

The other point that this report fails to consider is that a lot of inputs were bought before the prices ran up to their current high levels.

In my analysis we will not plant more soybean acres than corn. In fact on our farm in Indiana we are planting the most corn we've planted in the past few years.

We won't run out of corn, we might have a tight supply but we won't run out.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I watch Ag Day, US Farm Report, and a few other "morning" (if by morning, you mean the period of time when the sun is having its coffee before getting up and going about its day) shows when I can't sleep. They've been discussing the impact of oil prices and supply chain disruptions on fertilizer supplies. Their overall assessment is that prices will come up further - how much further is very crop dependent, as some crops need far more nitrogen fertilizer than others, with estimates ranging from an extra $40 - $130 per acre in increased fertilizer costs. Supply chains are already flexing around increased transportation costs, and the trains are (mostly) moving again. I don't expect mass shortages, I do expect further inflationary pressures.

Dried whole grains - the sort of things that make up most chicken feed - store very well, and I expect my local mills will continue to do so. Once crushed, the extra surface area speeds oxidation, which diminishes some vitamins, but certainly not all. So I'm better off buying what they have stored, and only recently crushed, instead of buying what they have crushed, and trying to store it myself. Apart from oxygen, I also have to concern myself with moisture, the molds etc in my always moist air, insects, and rodents - that's a lot of extra risk for me to take on.

I'll be adjusting flock size further, considering increasing egg costs to my buyers, and continuing to develop my acres of weeds - thinking of scattering some combination of sorghum, teff, amaranth, buckwheat and/or hard winter wheat this Spring to add to the variety. The legumes, herbs, forbs, and grasses in my pasture are all doing ok to well, but I'm low on actual grains. Oh, and I'll be scattering more methi (fenugreek), too.

That said, my solutions are impractical for most, and even with my acres, and the assumed additional grain production, it only bends the feed curve a bit. Its impractical, and not cost effective, to try and provide a nutritionallly complete "home grown" feed for my birds - and I'm in one of the most forgiving climates in this nation.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That report is BS. We may have fewer acres planted to corn but in many areas of the corn belt corn is still profitable even with the higher input costs.

The "report" is from ZeroHedge, hardly known for moderate, temperate, balanced reporting - and its a reprint from "TheMostImportantNews [dot] Com" by a guy pushing a book "7 Year Apocolypse"... Hells, even I am not that pretentious, and my ego is so great I need double doors on a building to bring it in with me...

Almost regret responding now, except that what I'm doing this Spring is exactly what I would have been doing, regardless - and more of what I was planning on doing (and have been doing) since buying the property a few years back.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Probably not a doomsday type scenario but prices are up and likely will continue to go up...I'm hopeful that maybe some of this pressure will push "big ag" back towards something a bit more sustainable.

Corn, for example, requires a lot of nitrogen fertilizer to grow. You CAN create that unsustainably, which we do currently.

Alternately...pick up a chicken. Now find the end where corn goes in. Watch out for the pointy bit! Now flip the chicken over, and you'll find the end where high nitrogen fertilizer comes out!

Yet, in most of our current processes, unsustainable synthetic fertilizer goes in, and the waste that comes out is under (or not at all) utilized, creating a huge waste stream.

The handling of organics is messy, and the labor market is brutal right now, but if we can find a way to close the loops better, we'll avoid some of the issues that non-loop systems tend to present.

 

[raingarden]

A corn shortage does not mean that there will be no corn available to feed the flock. I means you will be paying more for it. Growing chckens in the back yard is not cost effective now. It will be even less cost effective next year. No big deal. It's still cheap entertainment.

 

[glib]

i think if worst comes to worst, they can have most table scraps. I think it’s a lotttle over blown but it’s definitely a present issue. chickens were wild animals before they were pets/ domesticated, so I think they’ll be okay

I tend to agree with Sara, table scraps as far as they can go. But if you have more than one chicken per person, you will need something extra, and most of the current grain reserves have been bought, China alone soaking 60% of the existing world reserves. But it would not be the worst idea to buy and store any type of whole grains that you may find in metal trash cans (to keep rodents out). It also helps to have a grinder so they can be soaked, ground and fermented as the need arises. One of the advantages of fermentation is the increase in proteins, both due to bacteria breaking down some indigestible ones, and also getting some nitrogen from the air to make new ones.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

It’s being reported that due to fertilizer shortages and massive increases in cost, there will be huge crop shortages and shortages of many staples especially corn this year. Combined with the continuing supply chain breakdown and worker shortages this could get very bad.m in my opinion. Maybe it is overblown, but it got me thinking, what should we be doing to protect our flock and hedge against possible shortages?

How long can we store feed?

Can feed/corn be frozen or vacuum packed for a longer shelf life?

Alternatives to traditional feed?

Curious what y’all think about the possible shortage situation, overblown or potentially a huge problem?

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics...rtages-are-going-be-far-worse-were-being-told

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/factors-expected-to-drive-the-2022-corn-market

Not just fertilizer, also Roundup. If the bugs destroy crops, then...
We were organic dairying for a while, lots of people cheat. (and said it's no big deal. ) I'd say over 90% of them do, so there's no counting on organic solutions either.
We thought organic farming would fit more with the ethics we like to have, but when you have to decide to let your cow have a huge chance to die or give it antibiotics and have to sell it - we were done. Every single organic farmer we talked to said they "cheated" in some way or another.

 

[Kiki]

The "report" is from ZeroHedge, hardly known for moderate, temperate, balanced reporting - and its a reprint from "TheMostImportantNews [dot] Com" by a guy pushing a book "7 Year Apocolypse"... Hells, even I am not that pretentious, and my ego is so great I need double doors on a building to bring it in with me...

Almost regret responding now, except that what I'm doing this Spring is exactly what I would have been doing, regardless - and more of what I was planning on doing (and have been doing) since buying the property a few years back.

Notice how this OP is brand new with zero posting history?

This wasn't a random let me join a forum to ask a serious question post.

 

[Sara S]

It’s being reported that due to fertilizer shortages and massive increases in cost, there will be huge crop shortages and shortages of many staples especially corn this year. Combined with the continuing supply chain breakdown and worker shortages this could get very bad.m in my opinion. Maybe it is overblown, but it got me thinking, what should we be doing to protect our flock and hedge against possible shortages?

How long can we store feed?

Can feed/corn be frozen or vacuum packed for a longer shelf life?

Alternatives to traditional feed?

Curious what y’all think about the possible shortage situation, overblown or potentially a huge problem?

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics...rtages-are-going-be-far-worse-were-being-told

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/factors-expected-to-drive-the-2022-corn-market

i think if worst comes to worst, they can have most table scraps. I think it’s a lotttle over blown but it’s definitely a present issue. chickens were wild animals before they were pets/ domesticated, so I think they’ll be okay