Food Prices Could Go Up, Again.

[fskimospy]

Do you like to eat?

Yes, you like to eat - keep the subsidies going.

No, you do not like to eat and you want to either spend a fortune on food or starve to death - end subsidies.

Take your pick.

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As for the price of food, I think there are several driving forces.

1 - the price of fertilizer is directly linked to the price of fuel. Nature gas is used to make commercial grade fertilizer. As the price natural gas goes up, the price of fertilizer is forced up.

2 - the price of food is directly linked to the price of fertilizer and transportation cost.

3 - the price of food is directly linked to climate change. Droughts, fires and crop failures "will" drive the price up.

The by far the biggest recipients of US agricultural subsidies are corn and cotton. Excess American consumption of corn is already linked to a bunch of other problems we are having, so I'm really not sure why we should be encouraging more of it. If you want to subsidize food prices, why not do that directly instead of subsidizing very specific crops? (not to mention that we use protectionism to subsidize our ethanol industry)

These subsidies are economically inefficient, and they are used to prop up business in an electorally important state. In their current form they are pretty terrible.

 

[1prophet]

Food prices have been keeping up with inflation. In fact, it has been behind inflation up until very recently. http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=food-price-index&months=360

Have wages kept up with inflation?

 

[werepossum]

The by far the biggest recipients of US agricultural subsidies are corn and cotton. Excess American consumption of corn is already linked to a bunch of other problems we are having, so I'm really not sure why we should be encouraging more of it. If you want to subsidize food prices, why not do that directly instead of subsidizing very specific crops? (not to mention that we use protectionism to subsidize our ethanol industry)

These subsidies are economically inefficient, and they are used to prop up business in an electorally important state. In their current form they are pretty terrible.

I had an uncle (dead now) who made damned good money not raising corn. Evidently there's a pretty healthy profit margin in not raising corn.

Biggest problems I have with corn subsidies are that they are almost completely politically based and that they encourage the production of corn, a fairly thirsty crop, on semi-arid ground that is poorly suited for it. That leads to depletion of rivers and underground aquifers for irrigation water. Our crops should be distributed by suitable land, not by available subsidies.

 

[DrPizza]

werepossum points out something that's important above.

I just purchased grain Monday afternoon. When I looked at the prices, my first thought was "HOLY SHIT!" You can look for threads started by me about 4 years ago... 4 years ago, I could purchase a 50 pound bag of whole kernel corn or cracked corn for under $5. It's over 12. The price of corn (for me) has gone up tremendously in 4 or 5 years. Our area was also hit - not by drought, but by too wet of a spring which led to a late planting for most farmers; and that was followed by too much heat at the wrong time for their crops. Still, decent crop, but I'm going to bet the tonnage is a bit low per acre - the plants look a little spindly.

I'll repeat:
2007 50 pounds of corn: $4.85
2011 50 pounds of corn: $12.25

This cost transfers over to so many other things - my chicken feed is the most expensive feed I purchase now - $14-something for 50 pounds. That'll result in higher meat prices for chicken, higher prices for eggs.


Also, Dave, tip for you: you're wasting your money if you put higher octane fuel into a car that requires higher octane. The octane IS NOT a measure of how much energy it has. Roughly stated, it's more or less an indication of how easy it is to ignite. Higher octane is harder to ignite (easy ignition leads to less pre-ignition, i.e. engine knock.) Your mileage using high octane will be no better than lower octane. In fact, if you put in "octane boosters" - which often are just ethanol, you'll actually lower your mileage per gallon (when including the additives in your calculation of how many gallons you went through.)

 

[Texashiker]

I'll repeat:
2007 50 pounds of corn: $4.85
2011 50 pounds of corn: $12.25

I am seeing those same prices in deer corn that we put in wildlife feeders around here.

2 years ago #40 bag of corn was around $4 - $5
Right now, walmart #40 bag of deer corn is $9 - $10

I remember deer corn being in the $3.75 price a couple of years ago.

This is whole kernel corn.

 

[Howard]

Yes really, it doesn't have near the lubricating capability.

It has a lot less octane.

So a car that gets 25 mpg on reg gas will only get something like 18 on corn.

Show me some studies that state that the moving parts of an engine show shorter lifetimes when running higher ethanol content.

Also, does it matter what the mpg is, or what the cost to get somewhere is?