The run away cost of feed

[Desert Rooster]

Quote:
WOW, i thought i was the only mechanic on this forum that has chickens, good to know theres someone else

 

[eggbuster]

Quote:
Yes, it's all a mass conspiracy...

No, nobody controls the grain markets. It's all based on worldwide supply and demand. They are expecting poor wheat crops in drought stricken Russia, and China is importing large amounts of corn, so grain prices are going up.

Well, to confuse the issue more, we have a friend in Texas who owns a farm in Romania. He just asked if we wanted to import wheat because they cannot sell it over there. No one wants it. Not Russia not any one. He said there is too much wheat.

 

[jaj121159]

Corn prices jumped a couple of weeks with a double whammy. Corn production isn't as forecasted in Illinois and Indiana and the percent of ethanol used in fuel went up to 15% from 10%. Thing I hate about high corn prices and ethanol is CRP land is being gobbled up and land that shouldn't be farmed is now being farmed. Then the farmers complain about the lack of pheasants. Go figure!

 

[The Chicken People]

Quote:
WOW, i thought i was the only mechanic on this forum that has chickens, good to know theres someone else

My Husband raises chickens and he is also a mechanic! Thats where he sells our eggs to customers and co workers to help supplement the feed bill!
Wish we could buy in bulk but we have no place to store it!

 

[rungirl]

I was just discussing this with the guy who own the feed store this weekend. He could believe it either. It's pretty unusual for feed to be this high during harvest season. The price of corn has been high this year, which is good news for farmers but that just means the cost of fertilizer will go up now because the fertilizer companies will want to get their cut of the pie.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The OP's comment was on the price of feed going up. The best I can determine, the Russian wheat export is expected to drop 6 to 8 million metric tons this year compared to 2009. Romania's wheat export is expected to drop 0.3 million metric tons in 2010. Other major wheat exporters in the region, such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan are also expected to export less due to dry weather. This is just wheat, not other grains. Production of some of the other grains is down too. Then there is demand. Not just ethanol in the US but the demand in the emerging economies like China and India.

The following is an October 8 price report if you want to wade through it. This is the change in projections from September to October, not a total change for the year. Costs are higher because the total grain available on the world market is down but the demand is not down.


Futures prices traded sharply higher this week following the release of USDA’s WASDE report. While the report was bullish for wheat, it was especially bullish for corn and soybeans, and spillover pushed wheat prices 60 cents higher on Friday. Corn and soybean prices also reached their maximum daily limits, with corn gaining 30 cents and soybeans gaining 70 cents. A weaker dollar provided additional support earlier in the week, leading to a 16-cent rally on Tuesday. Overall, CBOT nearbys gained 64 cents, closing at $7.19/bu. KCBT nearbys were up 69 cents, to $7.58/bu, and MGEX gained 58 cents, to $7.64/bu. Corn prices gained 62 cents this week, to $5.28/bu, and soybean nearbys were 78 cents higher, to $11.35/bu.
USDA released their October World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) on Friday. USDA reduced their 2010/11 global wheat production estimate by 1.6 MMT, to 641 MMT. The reduction was primarily due to a decreased U.S. production estimate, which USDA pegged at 60.5 MMT. USDA also reduced their 2010/11 global ending stocks projection, by 3.1 MMT, to 175 MMT. USDA pegged U.S. corn production at 322 MMT, down 12.6 MMT from last month, and projected U.S. ending stocks at 22.9 MMT, the lowest since 1996/97. The U.S. soybean production estimate was also cut, by 2.0 MMT, to 92.8 MMT.
Statistics Canada released their updated crop production estimates on Monday, pegging the total 2010/11 Canadian wheat crop at 22.2 MMT. This is down 2 percent from their July estimate and down 17 percent from last year’s crop. Spring wheat production accounted for 16.5 MMT, durum 3.0 MMT, and winter wheat 2.7 MMT.
The Ukrainian government announced this week that it will impose grain export quotas. The government initially announced a quota of 500,000 tons for milling wheat through the remainder of the calendar year. However, details of the quota could change when the Agriculture Ministry meets next week.
The Dollar Ice Index fell to 77.25 on Friday, reaching its lowest point since mid-January. The dollar has been falling steadily since the end of August, losing 7 percent since August 31. The dollar has lost ground against both the Yen and Euro, reaching a 15-year low against the Yen on Friday and its lowest point against the Euro since February.
The Baltic Panamax Index was down slightly this week, falling from 2,412 last week to 2,403 this week. Gulf/Japan was down $1, to $60/mt, while PNW/Japan was steady at $32/mt.

 

[woodmort]

I've been keeping chickens for 25 years straight, in the first 20 or so the price of feed stayed pretty steady it has only been the past couple of years that it has gone up a lot. I guess it's like the price of gas--what can you do put pay it?

 

[egg proof]

The only thing that hasn't gone up sharply is the social security payments. Our seniors haven't had a raise in 2 years.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
While that's kinda off topic I might point out that the price of HDTV's, cell phones, laptops and ipods have all dropped.

 

[The Chicken People]

My Dad was just saying that the other day! I have made a new garden spot for next year so the old garden spot will be the feed lot for the chickens...anyone wanna send seeds or ideas on what to grow? I just tried corn for us this year and it grew a fungus on it so I may not try that again!