OT prices was Re: [gardeners] butter

Penny Nielsen (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 27 Oct 1998 13:13:17 -0400 

Sorta like up here with our gasoline prices.  Seems every year just before summer vacations the gas prices go up.  Companies always blame it on the increase in crude oil barrel prices - yeah - for a day or 2 - but they never reduce the prices when the barrel prices go down.  This is especially true in the maritimes where I think we pay the highest in Canada.

Years ago when the lobster and other seafood catches were good in certain years, the price never went down.  Fisherman were just paid less for their catches by the big fish processors.  Consumers didn't benefit tho.

Wonder whether the sugar cane farmers receive any more for their harvests.  I know price of sugar has doubled here within the last couple of years.  All the more reason to cut down on that Christmas baking, besides the cost of having to buy new clothes.:-)





Penny Nielsen
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Zone 5/6a
nielsenp@gov.ns.ca


>>> Allen and Judy Merten <jbmerten@swbell.net> 10/27 11:46 AM >>>
Hi Margaret,
    Once again I think that you are right. I know that beef prices at the
markets never reflected that farmers and ranchers were disposing of herds of
cattle at prices lower than ever this summer.
Allen

Margaret Lauterbach wrote:

> At 06:47 AM 10/27/98 -0600, you wrote:
> >Hi Gardeners,
> >    Might this be a reflection of dairy farmers having to reduce herds
> >from the drought and/or higher feed/hay cost that they are trying to
> >recover?
> >Allen
> >
> >Liz Albrook wrote:
> >
> I don't think so, Allen.  Just charging what the market will bear.
> Remember a few years ago when dairy farmers were paid to destroy their
> herds?  More dairies and dairy cattle now than ever before.  Idaho produces
> millions of gallons of milk daily that are trucked (!) to southern
> California.  Biggest problem facing dairymen is how to dispose of the
> abundant poop and liquid wastes that threaten to wash into waterways.
> Christmas approaches, people want to bake things using butter, so it's a
> good time to raise the price of butter.  It will rise again just before
> Easter, I betcha.  Margaret