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| (Photo: melonacres.com) |
My broker called today. It seems when I was disgusted with paying much higher rates for animal feed which is corn based, I bought a a "corn certificate". I have apparently made the maximum I am allowed and he was calling to urge me to sell it and buy some other type of certificate where the gain is ahead of us rather than complete. It sounded like a reasonable thing to do, so I told him to go ahead.
This raises some concerning questions though. Our animal feed costs have jumped by 40% in just a few months, and this is making it harder to keep 100 chickens. This will also translate into an increase in the price of eggs, which won't bother us too much, but it will bother everyone else we know who doesn't have chickens. Corn is a major ingredient for many types of animal feeds ranging from chicken to some types of dog foods. Corn syrup is used as a sweetener in many types of foods. Cornmeal is used in food for human beings, chips and many other things. We also use corn to make additives to stretch gasoline etc. Fuel ethanol depends upon corn for its production, and this is part of why corn chip and corn prices have jumped in the US, even BEFORE we had this years drought wiped out almost all the corn. This is the simple beginning of our noticing that the corn crop and other grains have been decimated by this years drought in the US. This loss of corn could last quite a time, and become a significant disruption in both the animal and human food supply. I am just so glad the government says we don't have any inflation !
The writing is not just on the wall. It is spray painted on it in fluorescent colors ! Food will become more expensive in the coming months and years, and it makes sense to gather reasonably priced recipes, reasonably priced foods which will store safely, and perhaps even freeze dried foods for emergencies. Rice, pastas, wheat, if you are not gluten intolerant,oatmeal, nuts, barley, dried peas and beans, spices you like, are all wise things to store. It may also be time to explore other types of foods you don't normally use, and explore what types of meals you could make with them. If you haven't started stocking food for your family, now is the time to start storing or to expand what you stock.
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| (Photo: healthytimesblog.com ) |
This is one of the places I buy emergency food:
www.augasonfarms.com
