90% of consumers think farmers are getting a raw deal

Mad4simmental

Boss man feeds a few turkys every year for Christmas. As a treat I suppose he hangs up a head of cabbage for them to pick. Anyway one of the home grown or local market heads usually lasts about 3 days for about 10 turkys. He got a few heads out of Lidil or aldi and they refused to eat it. Left it for a week or two and didn't touch it! If a stuped bird knows the difference often wondered what crap must be sprayed on the lidel crap?

micraX

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Boss man feeds a few turkys every year for Christmas. As a treat I suppose he hangs up a head of cabbage for them to pick. Anyway one of the home grown or local market heads usually lasts about 3 days for about 10 turkys. He got a few heads out of Lidil or aldi and they refused to eat it. Left it for a week or two and didn't touch it! If a stuped bird knows the difference often wondered what crap must be sprayed on the lidel crap?

I wouldn't be worried about sprays, I'd say the fact that it wasn't the freshest and was prepackaged put them off it.

micraX

freedominacup wrote: »

I read it. I was just wondering how much more they are screwing ye compared to the others? The post on another thread about the dumping of UK surpluses here was very interesting.

Donnelly was a facilitator for Musgraves, they are after getting aldi contract too, because aldi pays less so Donnelly cut all prices given to growers by30%.

Round Bale

micraX wrote: »

I wouldn't be worried about sprays, I'd say the fact that it wasn't the freshest and was prepackaged put them off it.

If I pull a few fresh parsnips, for example in August, from my home veg plot, and they don't get cooked within a few days, they go off. Soft and soggy.

Now the parsnips from the supermarket, any and all supermarkets, that time of year, will stay sound for a few weeks.

Whats the story, with the supermarket versions? What is it that prevents them going off?

RB

micraX

Round Bale wrote: »

If I pull a few fresh parsnips, for example in August, from my home veg plot, and they don't get cooked within a few days, they go off. Soft and soggy.

Now the parsnips from the supermarket, any and all supermarkets, that time of year, will stay sound for a few weeks.

Whats the story, with the supermarket versions? What is it that prevents them going off?

RB

Different variants.

bbam

Round Bale wrote: »

If I pull a few fresh parsnips, for example in August, from my home veg plot, and they don't get cooked within a few days, they go off. Soft and soggy.

Now the parsnips from the supermarket, any and all supermarkets, that time of year, will stay sound for a few weeks.

Whats the story, with the supermarket versions? What is it that prevents them going off?

RB

Your friendly supermarket chain will buy varieties if fruit and veg that look good and have long shelf life. The taste isn't really important.
It just has to look good and last on the shelves.

Farmer Pudsey

Read this thread with a little anger. Sorry to see Biidy gone. However it is all very well complaining about consumers. In reality we all buy the cheapest we can wheather it is fertlizer, cars, machinery, milk or eggs.

I refered to this on the Stratroy thread about the way milk processors shot themselves in the food with in the 90's with milk. There allowing the supermarkets to grab market share compared to local shop. I was that biddy once. Young family two childern in nappy's we used to used 4-6L of milk a day. Choice was go to local shop a litre was about 75 pence in the supermarket was 99 pence. Milk and bread fron local shop was 31 pounds, from supermarket it was about 19 pounds. So 12 pounds was a substancial savings at the time.

This idea that hard pressed consumers living at the coalface will not expect the cheapest price is stupid. It is like the steak sale in Supervalue at present it is only there because of two reasons, Larry is buying beef cheaper than last year and the factory's are more than likly not making any money ob beef supplied to Europe.

Lip service is only being paid of control of the market by supermarkets by both government and farmer bodies. As long as we protest along the ailes now and again it looks good. fad story's about a turkey not eating a cabbage from Aldi is just that a coincidence.

Yes the veg war/sale that took place pre Christmas was a disgrace, to highlight the issue rather than prading the IFA shouild have got a tractor and trailers and bought the cheap veg and made a point of feeding it at a few finishers farms. What would it have cost 5-10K. It would have dusrupted Aldi/Lidl if evertime they put out cheap veg a farmer or his wife put the whoe lot in a trolly and joined the Q. No it is better to have a laugh and run up and down the ailes.

The reality is farmers do not help them selves(myself included) we need to become more ruthless when prices drop to drop production and let it be transfered somewhere else. In Ireland we are in the unfortunate poition in that we produce a way more food than is consumed in the country. It is very hard to explian that to people. People who compare the way the French or English market forget that these country's are net food importers. Actuall Irish have a great appreciation of food, meat especially. As one French Chef who was here once remarked with meat like this you do not need a sauce.

Biddy if you read this i think you over reacted, I say you are gone for good this time and I am sorry. I hope I am proved wrong. I am sorry you do not have a thick skin lie me.

MicraX I get the opinion( i may be wrong) that you are a young man that thinks you will conquer the world. As life goes by you will learn that you will not, you will have to learn to be happy with your lot. there is no point in blaming ALDI or LIDL as being the great beasts, Tesco Dunnes and supervalue are all the same. It is not possible often to buy off the local lad in the farmers market or at his local shop.

Rancher Supermarkets are here to stay we can do little about them. MicraX made the point that invidual growers are afraid to take on the faculitator of the Supermarkets. It is excatly the same for ordinary farmers that might go to the CA there is a fear of factory access. He also made the point about the way it started it seemed an ideal arrangement to specialise in one or two products. Well it the same with the high prices that larry is paying at present for HE/AA stores it will only last so long. When he has market control he will pluu the plug.

I seriously thing it is time to change my production system sheep look ver profitable.

freedominacup

biddy2013 wrote: »

what to stop you selling at farm gate or going round on a veg round like local man does???????????????

Ah biddy ffs. Account closed again. Come back soon.

bbam

To be honest the content of this thread just shows how nothing will change.. With most aspects of farming represented and perhaps a major "representing" body.

And when the debate gets going insults and innuendo are thrown out. If we can't agree on a thread like this how could it ever be expected to make a united front and confront those who would work to undermine the industry. Just as in the real world weak governance lets the bullies rule the day !

whelan2

freedominacup wrote: »

Ah biddy ffs. Account closed again. Come back soon.

Apologies I am not proud of myself I closed the account to stop myself saying what I really thought

farmersfriend

whelan2 wrote: »

Apologies I am not proud of myself I closed the account to stop myself saying what I really thought

Welcome back,

Round Bale

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

.

I seriously thing it is time to change my production system sheep look ver profitable.

Sheep men wern't saying that, not too long ago:eek:

893bet

whelan2 wrote: »

Apologies I am not proud of myself I closed the account to stop myself saying what I really thought

What is point of closing account then re rereging an hour later?

whelan2

893bet wrote: »

What is point of closing account then re rereging an hour later?

None

whelan2

893bet wrote: »

For clarity. As I recall it, and I am open to correction, but was it not dunnes who started the veg price war at Xmas. Think they started it at 12 cent per item.

Iirc aldi and lidl had money off vouchers in the run up to Christmas. The other supermarkets had to react someway. Aldi and lidl did very well at Christmas

bbam

Bringing things back on track...

Is the dairy industry doing anything to stop them being decimated in a similar way to the other stories in farming...

Is it the leap of faith it seems from the outside??
Lads spending half a million getting into what seems to be the last farming segment left unmolested..

Farmer Pudsey

Round Bale wrote: »

Sheep men wern't saying that, not too long ago:eek:

The point i am trying to make is that disturbance in one sector can transfer farmers to one they percieve taht is more profitable

bbam wrote: »

Bringing things back on track...

Is the dairy industry doing anything to stop them being decimated in a similar way to the other stories in farming...

Is it the leap of faith it seems from the outside??
Lads spending half a million getting into what seems to be the last farming segment left unmolested..

The one thing about milk is first it is a product that has a limited shelf life, If dairy farmers started dumping(spreading on land) for a week processors and supermarkets would react fast. Same cannot be said for meat or vegetables. This would only be necessary where local milk price was at variance with world price levels.

Yes milk will have it ups and downs however it is an internationally traded product and other country's have not the advantage we have with grass. So factory farms production based on grains in the US and europe will come under pressure first. There system where they would slaughter dairy cows very fasy like the last crisis leaves a little fear in the system.

Milking is also labour intensive and for big production units this add to there cost/L. Across most of the world cost of production is in the mid to high 20's (cent/litre) this leaves other sectors under sevear pressure when prices drop below 30c/L, while Irish farmers might suffer they can survive these downturns

893bet

whelan2 wrote: »

None

Fair enough.

whelan2 wrote: »

Iirc aldi and lidl had money off vouchers in the run up to Christmas. The other supermarkets had to react someway. Aldi and lidl did very well at Christmas

The way it is being presented is that aldi and lidl etc are the route of all evil when the "irish" supermarkets are every bit as bad.

Has anyone a timeline of the offers? The bargain alerts forum could prob be used to track the dates each super market offered. I seem to remember Dunnes kicking it off with a 15 cent off for 5 or 6 different veg. Aldi and lldl responded then at 6 cents or what ever it was. Could be wrong though.

bbam

893bet wrote: »

Fair enough.




The way it is being presented is that aldi and lidl etc are the route of all evil when the "irish" supermarkets are every bit as bad.

Has anyone a timeline of the offers? The bargain alerts forum could prob be used to track the dates each super market offered. I seem to remember Dunnes kicking it off with a 15 cent off for 5 or 6 different veg. Aldi and lldl responded then at 6 cents or what ever it was. Could be wrong though.

TBH I think focusing on those details are missing the point of the thread (no offence intended)..

Its more important to understand how so much power was handed over to these multiples and even more importantly can anything be done to get it back !

Regarding beef supply.. do people see a competitions complaint being the only way to stop Larry & Co from continually manipulating the market and keeping beef prices down...
If this is the only solution - what is being done to progress it !

Round Bale

whelan2 wrote: »

Apologies I am not proud of myself I closed the account to stop myself saying what I really thought

Here, have a laugh

http://youtu.be/cL7jyXCQ2Zc

freedominacup

whelan2 wrote: »

Apologies I am not proud of myself I closed the account to stop myself saying what I really thought

Yer a mad oul thing there's no doubt about it.

rancher

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

The point i am trying to make is that disturbance in one sector can transfer farmers to one they percieve taht is more profitable




The one thing about milk is first it is a product that has a limited shelf life, If dairy farmers started dumping(spreading on land) for a week processors and supermarkets would react fast. Same cannot be said for meat or vegetables. This would only be necessary where local milk price was at variance with world price levels.

Yes milk will have it ups and downs however it is an internationally traded product and other country's have not the advantage we have with grass. So factory farms production based on grains in the US and europe will come under pressure first. There system where they would slaughter dairy cows very fasy like the last crisis leaves a little fear in the system.

Milking is also labour intensive and for big production units this add to there cost/L. Across most of the world cost of production is in the mid to high 20's (cent/litre) this leaves other sectors under sevear pressure when prices drop below 30c/L, while Irish farmers might suffer they can survive these downturns

Have we a competitive advantage with grass though, I was on farms in America where thy had lovely crops of maize and Soya, surely this has to be better than grass for these new efficient cows, That coupled with the hormones really seems to pump out the milk

Miname

Whelan i'm going to copyright the whelan 3 whelan 4 whelan 5 and so on and all the biddys as well, get back to me when your changing your name again, i'll sell em on for a small fee.:D

Farmer Pudsey

rancher wrote: »

Have we a competitive advantage with grass though, I was on farms in America where thy had lovely crops of maize and Soya, surely this has to be better than grass for these new efficient cows, That coupled with the hormones really seems to pump out the milk

Excluding hormones as not allowed in EU and other developed countries heading that way including the us. How come did production drop like a stone across the US and fail to recover like in Ireland and NZ.

IMO grass and cow longevity was the answer. A HO cow in a factory farm type operation produces one heifer/ lifetime of cow, (sexed semen may change that) however even with cheaper oil costs the US and mainland europe struggled with low prices. I wonder if we had not had two bad winters where would we be other than super levy.

These systems are super secentive to price

Milked out

Its more if that price drops and coincides with a high grain price is when it really hits the us, the larger farms will cull cows and sell the grain. Gas fracking could change things stateside if less maize goes for ethanol it could go to milk and keep grain price down

rancher

Milked out wrote: »

Its more if that price drops and coincides with a high grain price is when it really hits the us, the larger farms will cull cows and sell the grain. Gas fracking could change things stateside if less maize goes for ethanol it could go to milk and keep grain price down

Was talking to a merchant lately who told that there's a good few dairy farmers couldn't clear last years meal/fertiliser account last year, future looks bleak for them if they can't work at 40c+/ltr .
They wouldn't get far sheep farming

whelan2

rancher wrote: »

Was talking to a merchant lately who told that there's a good few dairy farmers couldn't clear last years meal/fertiliser account last year, future looks bleak for them if they can't work at 40c+/ltr .
They wouldn't get far sheep farming

what business is it of yours or anyone else who owes what:eek: i dont care who owes what , i only worry about myself, edited to say no one knows anyone elses circimstances

Farmer Pudsey

rancher wrote: »

Was talking to a merchant lately who told that there's a good few dairy farmers couldn't clear last years meal/fertiliser account last year, future looks bleak for them if they can't work at 40c+/ltr .
They wouldn't get far sheep farming

But a huge majority did. In any industry you will have one or two who cannot run good operations. We also forget that some of those of poorish land that were over expanded may have suffered most. These may also have expanded without quota so may have been caught in a double whammy.

At present sheep farming on goodish land is quite profitable. The biggest reason is that the factory price of lamb is quite strong near enough 6/kg for hoggets and above 4.5/kg all year I think. If it continues you may well see a few more farmers diverge into it. Just like beef this will drop the price like a stone if production exceeds factory demand

Farrell

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

The point i am trying to make is that disturbance in one sector can transfer farmers to one they percieve taht is more profitable




The one thing about milk is first it is a product that has a limited shelf life, If dairy farmers started dumping(spreading on land) for a week processors and supermarkets would react fast. Same cannot be said for meat or vegetables. This would only be necessary where local milk price was at variance with world price levels.

Yes milk will have it ups and downs however it is an internationally traded product and other country's have not the advantage we have with grass. So factory farms production based on grains in the US and europe will come under pressure first. There system where they would slaughter dairy cows very fasy like the last crisis leaves a little fear in the system.

Milking is also labour intensive and for big production units this add to there cost/L. Across most of the world cost of production is in the mid to high 20's (cent/litre) this leaves other sectors under sevear pressure when prices drop below 30c/L, while Irish farmers might suffer they can survive these downturns

Apologies, it's a older thread.
I agree with most of your posts, just on the spreading of milk point, should this ever arise (hopefully not), would it not be better to give to consumers for free, even though it won't be pasteurized, be a shame to put a quality product to loss.
I thought what the ifa (not a member) did before Christmas was a good idea, handing out the free veg was a good idea, & shows it's not farmer v consumer.

micraX

Farrell wrote: »

Apologies, it's a older thread.
I agree with most of your posts, just on the spreading of milk point, should this ever arise (hopefully not), would it not be better to give to consumers for free, even though it won't be pasteurized, be a shame to put a quality product to loss.
I thought what the ifa (not a member) did before Christmas was a good idea, handing out the free veg was a good idea, & shows it's not farmer v consumer.

What about all the cabbage I'v to rotavate up? Should I cut it and give it away for nothing? Because thats not going to happen.