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Spuds price rise

samina

What happened to the price of potatoes???? The bag I usually buy just jumped by over 3 euros. Apparently it's because of crop problems but how long will they stay like this?

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pconn062

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

I'd like to get a look at their books.
We can all live in big houses & drive new cars if we want. It's paying for it is the problem. Don't always believe what you see.
From my experience it's the farmer driving a bet down pajero that is financially better off than the big man driving a new car every year.

And I know plenty of guys like that too, one imfamous guy in my area who actually is exceedingly rich, owns lots of land and has sold many, many sites in the Celtic Tiger days and is known for favouring a length of baling twine in place of a belt!

blacklilly

pconn062 wrote: »

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

A lot of farmers are asset rich but cash poor.
I know loads that cleaned up selling at the marts earlier this year. Given the weather we have had between crap silage, poor corn & sick animals any profit they had is long gone.
All it takes is one bad year to set a farmer back. And this year has been bad for quite a few.

And that is true is some cases but I know a lot of farmers in my own area and they never really have a bad year. I am talking about large industrial farms that rarely deal with animals, not small one man and his son farms. These large farms deal mostly in crops but also have investments in other areas such as willow, renting sheds for storage and even property. They all live in large houses with new cars and would not suffer hugely financially if the weather was bad for one year because they have so many sources of income. I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

Our own farm is considered very large, mostly livestock and some tillage, I suppose I'm making reference to farmers with no other sources of income as such.

Also a poster made reference to CAP, I'm not sure what you want me to say about this but without it farming in Ireland and Europe for that matter would be nearly non existant. It wouldn't still be in use if it wasn't required, farming is totally dependant unpon weather and CAP ensures that farmers are to some extent compensated if prices/yields are down. Again if CAP was worth an absolute fortune would it not be logic to suggest that more people would choose farming as a career

redzerologhlen

pconn062 wrote: »

It's because many potato farmers (particularly in the south of the country) are unable to dig their crop due to bad weather and flooded fields, thus creating a shortage and demand leading to higher prices. The middle men who are able to access their crop are making an absolute killing!!

Fixed that for ya

Emmett1

This has been the worst season for potatoes in a long long time. There was very little sun light this season so very little growth. The stalks every where were small. So if you have small plants you get a very poor yield. Even the bigger stalks had nothing under them. Plants get their nutrients not only from the soil but also from the sun.

On top off this you had all the rain. So you have rotten potatoes. A lot of nutrients also get washed out of the soil stunting the growth.

I have sowed potatoes for years and this has been the worst I have ever seen it. I sow a half an acre every year on a friends land (rotating the cop accordingly).This is a nation wide problem.

If suppliers have no product in Ireland they have to import it. Driving up the Prices. You can expect this to last for most of the season. This will have a big impact on the food industry.
(expect a price hike in Fast food, restaurants, Crisp's and the rest). We'll see. Our little country could do without this. There are a lot of people out there finding it hard to make ends meat as it is.

That's the story of the spuds this year.

up for anything

blacklilly wrote: »

Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers.

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

washman3

pconn062 wrote: »

And I know plenty of guys like that too, one imfamous guy in my area who actually is exceedingly rich, owns lots of land and has sold many, many sites in the Celtic Tiger days and is known for favouring a length of baling twine in place of a belt!

And some family member will piss it all against a wall for him some time in the future, make no mistake about it.
As the old saying goes, "after a gatherer comes a scatterer" .....;)

blacklilly

up for anything wrote: »

blacklilly wrote: »

Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers.

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

I'll take a wild guess here and I apologise in advance if I'm wrong. You're not from a farming family...
Many farmers have huge pride in their farms want to see it passed down to the next generation, their fathers and forefathers may have farmed on the land they now have. I already said my dad loves his farm, would not sell it. I just think some people do not fully appreciate the work and sacrifices many farmers make in order to run an efficient farm. Take for example two years ago with the snow, all our water pipes were completely frozen, 300 cattle to water, it was horrendous, extra food needed (of which there was s huge shortage and issues with transportation) and bedding to ensure the animals were comfortable, sick animals, vet bills, checking the cattle during the night , breaking ice out of water tanks. This is just one example. When the weather is good its a joy .to be a farmer but bad summer's, harsh winters can be extremely damaging financially, emotionally and physically

Lima Golf

randylonghorn

pconn062 wrote: »

I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

pconn062 wrote: »

But I appreciate this could be confined to my own area which gets more favourable weather conditions and is not applicable to the entire country.

Louth?

Louth and North Dublin: A fair proportion of large farms, with the soil and weather fairly conducive to tillage, and the size and economies of scale and proximity to a large market (Dublin) to make relatively high profits. This proximity also allowed many of them to profit from selling sites for the housing boom during the Celtic Tiger.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that the area is an aberration in Irish farming, but it certainly doesn't reflect the norm.

And indeed there are other pockets of large farmers with good land in other parts of the country with different specialisms who also make good money.

And there's the middle group, reasonable land, reasonably sized farms, reasonable income, but they'll never be rich in the cash sense.

And the third group, the small farmers, or those with decent enough sized farms but poor enough soil, or a portion of the farm is hill or marsh or bog or whatever. If they're reliant entirely on the farm income they're scraping by at best, and often not even that. In most cases, they're not entirely reliant on the farm income any more, because they can't afford to be: they're part-time farmers, with a full-time or part-time job during the day and they farm part-time, i.e. in the early mornings, the evenings and the weekends. Or they farm full-time and their partner has a job. Or given the current economic mess, they *had* a job, they don't any more, and they're in trouble.

I don't have stats for each group, and tbh I cba going mining for them among Teagasc and DAF reports, but I would estimate that that first group is <10% of Irish farmers (though they certainly represent / own a fair bit more than 10% of Irish farm *land*).

And there are also a small group of outliers, many of them now ex-farmers, who were lucky enough to have land on the edge of cities / large towns during the housing boom and in a position to realise their assets / sell up completely for very large sums indeed. But it's a very small group who made the huge profits. Hopefully, they invested it wisely. Despite all the media attention they got from time to time, they no more represent the average farmer than Fitzpatrick or Quinn or Drumm represent the average private sector worker.

I would agree though that farmers are doing better overall than they were 5 / 10 years ago, relatively speaking. This is partly due to an upsurge in agriculture and agricultural prices (which is probably cyclical and transient, it usually is) but mostly ... and here's the kick in the tail ... because 5 / 10 years ago most people in the PAYE sector were doing much better than they are now (because that's who that "relatively" is usually measured against). It doesn't really represent that big a jump in the average income of the small to medium farmer; it represents a serious fall in the average income of the rest of us!

Going back to the OP and the spuds: my father sows potatoes every year for family consumption (and the odd half bag will get thrown in the boot of the car if he's going to visit friends / family who don't live in the country). He normally has great potatoes, but he's been complaining all summer that every plant he digs up has one or two half-reasonable potatoes and a scattering of marbles. Very bad crop. Same for carrots and parsnips etc. Miserable summer, miserable crop.

up for anything wrote: »

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

And what would you advise a 50-60 year old farmer who has farmed all his life to turn his hand to, given our current economic climate? Which of the many jobs which are in such abundant supply at the moment would you suggest he apply for?

Chuck Stone

I love spuds.

ruthloss

Chuck Stone wrote: »

I love spuds.

With tonnes of 'rale' butter!!:D

Quorum

1ZRed wrote: »

Couldn't care less. Potatoes are overrated anyway. Although I do like roasties ..

Potatoes are class. And versatile. Though not as versatile as eggs, which are also class.

samina

Quorum wrote: »

1ZRed wrote: »

Couldn't care less. Potatoes are overrated anyway. Although I do like roasties ..

Potatoes are class. And versatile. Though not as versatile as eggs, which are also class.

Cholesterol my friend

Quorum

samina wrote: »

Cholesterol my friend

The cholesterol in eggs in nowt to worry about. I would happily eat eggs every day. And real butter. Nom.

charlemont

Eden3 wrote: »

I noticed BIG price hike - in LIDL ...!

I noticed the same with the Roosters in Aldi, Potatoes are the business, Every meal I cook has to have them.

snubbleste

Famine II ?

fishy fishy

its a golden wonder there are any spuds left with the amount we eat of them

tin79

Quorum wrote: »

The cholesterol in eggs in nowt to worry about.

So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh? Lenny?

blacklilly

randylonghorn wrote: »

Louth?

Louth and North Dublin: A fair proportion of large farms, with the soil and weather fairly conducive to tillage, and the size and economies of scale and proximity to a large market (Dublin) to make relatively high profits.

The farms I have been talking about are locted in these areas, some of the best land around, no matter how good your land is, if you have an extremly wet summer, potatoes will not grow, they will rot, yet the farmers still have to harvest them, salvage what they can and pepare the soil for the next planting season. So the work load is still huge for basically no return.

Quorum

tin79 wrote: »

So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh? Lenny?

No, toddle on over to the nutrition and diet forum and be educated.

ScumLord

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Grow your own. They taste way better.
Or if you can't do that find a farmer that sells them & buy direct off him.

How does the potato go bad if the farmer gives it to a distributor who sells onto shops?

ruthloss

I heard King Edward's are tiny.:rolleyes:

ruthloss

ScumLord wrote: »

How does the potato go bad if the farmer gives it to a distributor who sells onto shops?

The ground is waterlogged, the machines can't get in to harvest them and so they are rotting in the ground.

ScumLord

ruthloss wrote: »

The ground is waterlogged, the machines can't get in to harvest them and so they are rotting in the ground.

Not what I was getting at. How do potatoes taste better if I buy them off the farmer direct rather than getting them in a shop, who buys them off a distributor who buys them direct from the same farmer?

JohnMarston

My name is URL wrote: »

Quick.. to the famine ships!

Too soon Url...

ruthloss

ScumLord wrote: »

Not what I was getting at. How do potatoes taste better if I buy them off the farmer direct rather than getting them in a shop, who buys them off a distributor who buys them direct from the same farmer?

Oh right!., sorry, no idea.

Alter-Ego

Quorum wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vh5y82GXIs

ScumLord wrote: »

Not what I was getting at. How do potatoes taste better if I buy them off the farmer direct rather than getting them in a shop, who buys them off a distributor who buys them direct from the same farmer?

If you can get them off a farmer that has just whipped them out of the ground you'll get much better quality potatoes.

From the supermarket, you're getting a crop that has been put into tonne boxes in the field, then possibly put into a bulk trailer, then dumped onto a packing line, put through weighing and bagging machines, onto palletisers, crammed onto a lorry trailer, sent to a distribution centre, then to the shop to sit on the shop floor or in storage for a few days before you get your hands on it.

working fool

Smash + egg cups
Or peel frozen chips and boil them
Sorted

ejmaztec

It's all down to peak potatoes, just like peak oil.:(

ScumLord

Alter-Ego wrote: »

If you can get them off a farmer that has just whipped them out of the ground you'll get much better quality potatoes.

Yeah but that's a once a year type potato, if the farmer is storing them and you buy them after a certain amount of time they're not going to be all that different.