Believe me, I'd LOVE LOVE to be able to invest in wooded property or unused farmland get those tree tax breaks. (Managed forest, Xmas tree) I know some very nice people who do that. I'm frankly jealous!!!!!
Money Matters - Part 8
I'm Victor. Nice to meet you!
A couple of years ago, I looked up the list of people in my county who got paid to not farm. (Tes, it's all available online, just requires tenacity to search.) It is an amazing amount of money. Some had been dairy farmers who couldn't afford the modern equipment required today had they even wanted to continue milking 25 or even 100 cows... and WE PAY THEM for "quitting"!
Reminds me of a great routing in Animal Crackers where Chico is telling Groucho how much it costs for his musicians to play. Costs more to pay them not to play. He reasons that if they can't play, they can't rehearse and that runs into money. Groucho then asks how much not to rehearse. Chico replies - 'You can't afford it!'
Ugh Darius. Can we at least call it a Rural Community Preservation Program? Better yet- stop giving the money to individuals and use THAT on schools, job training, for rural communities. Or to encourgae potentially future taxable rural start up businesses
Marx Bro- genius
(ICall me Frankly for short, just don't call me Shirley)
More expensive this year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-10/thanksgiving-meal-cost-jumps-13-.html
The price of retail food at the grocery store rose 6 percent from August 2010 to August 2011, the government reported.
By item:
* BEEF prices are up 10.4 percent;
* EGG prices are up 14.5 percent;
* DAIRY products are up 9.1 percent;
* FRESH FRUIT is up 9.1 percent
* BREAD is up 8.6 percent;
* FISH and seafood is up 8.3 percent;
* CEREAL is up 4.5 percent.
So how did they get 6%? Everything listed above except cereal saw more than a 6% increase?
BEEF is crazy. I looked at beef for stew- Not at 5$ a pound !
EGGS and chickens in Maryland eat take a lot of corn
Turkeys will be on sale here again for just over 50 cents a pound for Thanksgiving.
What they do to turkeys to raise them in cages is awful. They are so breast-heavy they cannot walk, nor can they breed. I won't buy one.
Beef prices may actually be a semi true reflection of supply and demand (with a good dose of futures commodity speculation ie " people do have to eat afterall", thrown in to the mix) The extended extreem drought out west and the plains saw many ranchers decreasing their herds for lack of pasture, water and poor hay/grain harvests for feeding over winter diminished by droughts or massive flooding along Mississippi drainage grain belt.
So, there will be fewer beef cattle next year =$ up and it will cost more to feed their parents and raise them = $ up
Watching publc tv in the background. Rick Steeves is in Turkey, a small village and discussing the importance of cows in this almost treeless area. Host says that two cows (and their "pies" can supply all of the fuel needs of a family of four..heating and cooking. Villagers are shown harvesting and bailing hay which they then stack in pyramidal shapes on top of their roofs for insulation and feed. Bales eaten, winter over, begin again.
Interesting to hear examples of societies who create a whole out of pieces, while living in one that seems better at making pieces with ever more tenuous and undiscernable relationship to the whole.
Glad we may see some cheap turkey but can't help but wonder what the next weather event
may be coming down the pike if I stock pile some. Could cough up big bucks for a generator and buy three weeks worth of gas and store it before it goes up further... Maybe if they came in designer colors and doubled as a BBQ for the off season!
This message was edited Nov 13, 2011 2:22 PM
I'm with you Darius, Mine is living on a free range farm not far from here.
Wonder what would happen if schools and day care centers all went on field trips to factory farms and feed lots instead of or in addition to "pumpkin patches"
Hmm - breast-heavy?? Light bulb! Women in cages!!! ^_^
Victor, you are SO BADDDDD!
our victor...LOL
Sometimes the cost for "savings" ( the freezer example) just doesn't work out. I was reading reviews of solar battery rechargers last night in Amazon. Someone has a very detailed review of one of them along with calculations showing that at current elec prices this solar charger likely does not pay off. It's only useful; if the function when no elec available is essential. Many of the reviewers use these for backpacking; one of them said buying it for relatives in the Phillipines, to charge cell phones, where they otherwise have to pay somebody who owns a generator.
Farm life is not for the faint of heart.
Solar in general is still years away from worth it without tax credits and subsidies. I have mine for 4 1/2 yrs now and would never have done it without the incentives.
Consumer price index comes out Wed. and will focus again on "core" inflation which is calculated excluding food and energy..Bet those of us who don't eat or drive can't wait!
Seems that long term storable food prices are up 60%. over last year.
Victor, are those moth balled battleships filled with surplus grain still up there on the Hudson River?
This message was edited Nov 14, 2011 10:54 AM
I know I can't wait. She said with tongue in cheek. ;)
No, the mothballed fleet is long gone.
When I was a youngster, my relatives had 2 huge grain bins just beyond their house. They must have been 50 feet tall or more, and maybe 20 feet in diameter. I suppose no grain farmer stores grain anymore, either?
Quoting:
long term storable food prices are up 60%. over last year
Do you suppose folks have been investing in another hedge against inflation?
Storable food hmmm.... what would folks be anticipating?
I noticed that the price of rice and beans is at least doubled! One ethinic market had 15 oz bags of beans instead of the usual 16 oz. Having a vegetable garden is going to be even more important in the future!
I have enough stored foods in my pantry to feed me for probably a year or more. Most are home-canned (including meats and meaty soups), or dehydrated, and a few are stores of beans and a few grains. It might not be as well-balanced as I'd prefer, and I have a spring for water even if I have to boil it to use. Life is good.
I have 6 months of canned cat food - but not people food. Guess who rules at my house!
Reminds me - need more beer and wine!
LOL ~ catfood reminded you of more beer and wine???!? 8 )
ah the good ol days
Sally, doesn't your cheek hurt from having your tongue in it? LOL
; ^)
Storing extra food then leads me to how to store and rotate the stock. That's a whole new level of home management i have not mastered.
Geez, I went to Staples today and bought a mini binder notepad refill and a box of pens....total $17
what the heck???
lol Sally, when you attain mastery don't you float off the face of the earth or ascend to higher plane? Then who would do the laundry or figure out what's for dinner when beef stew is $5?
Jen, don't know where paper and pens made...but do know that US major Port Tunnage arrival and unloaded is down. Supply chain disruptions, cost cutting, etc see orders for restocking items also down. Maybe it is like the grocery stores who price old stock which may have been cheaper when it was first acquired at the new replacement price when new orders or corporate directives dictate. Wonder if there is much of a deirivatives market in pens and paper.? An office supply bubble?
I had the choice, pens made in Mexico, Korea or China...I picked Korea
When you do master it, Sally, you can share your knowledge.
Remember when they promised we would actually make money on the deal?!
http://www.detnews.com/article/20111114/AUTO01/111140434/1361/U.S.-boosts-estimate-of-auto-bailout-losses-to-$23.6B
... and did you believe them?
Of course not. I was, and remain, against all the bailouts.
Been saying this for so long now.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-16/banks-in-u-s-facing-serious-risk-on-contagion-from-europe-fitch-says.html
LOL, Victor... I didn't think for a New York Minute that you might have believed them!