I know some near Wasaga where we buy our eggs and some meats.
One in particular…7th generation farmer. Says he’s too small for X subsidies, but too big for Y subsidies for their cattle farm.
Has about 130-150 head of cattle that he raises for meat to be purchased by the next level in the process.
The farm will die after him and his brother. Both around 40 (look like 60+), unmarried, no kids, and using a string for a belt. I think my parents have them clothes 20+ years ago and they’re still wearing tattered rags.
I know some near Wasaga where we buy our eggs and some meats.
One in particular…7th generation farmer. Says he’s too small for X subsidies, but too big for Y subsidies for their cattle farm.
Has about 130-150 head of cattle that he raises for meat to be purchased by the next level in the process.
The farm will die after him and his brother. Both around 40 (look like 60+), unmarried, no kids, and using a string for a belt. I think my parents have them clothes 20+ years ago and they’re still wearing tattered rags.
I asked him about that (as everyone else around sells for $5/dozen) and his response was 'I feel bad. We have so many clients that used to buy from my dad so we'll keep the price as it's a very small part of our farm. The cattle is the bread winner.'
I respect that. He doesn't sell anything during the winter, and only has 2-3 dozen at a time so we go in the morning as it's close to the cottage.
Guy further away sells for $5/dozen and we buy regularly from him.
Funny thing here , my Grandfather on Dads side always drove a Cadillac from about nineteen forty something to the early ninety’s when he stopped driving , always bought used , never raised chickens on his farm . Gramps on Mom’s side had Chrysler Imperials ( poor man’s caddy) but he raised beef . Nothing was ever rusty . Except the Fargo farm trucks . They were delivered pre rusty from the dealer.
And after two hundred yrs on the same farm , the new generation has switched production from short horn beef cattle to rabbits . Profits are over the moon , round ups take an hour not a day , vet bills are non existent, acres allotted to feed production is a third allowing the other hundred a twenty acres to be rented to corn growers . Only bad farmers have rusted cars .
There are words of wisdom about never buying a used truck from a farmer as they tend to use them very hard.
They also say that buying cars from farmers is usually ok as they tend to have low miles due to not much use.
The car one only applies to full time farmers not the ones with 9 to 5 jobs and farming on the side.
Funny thing here , my Grandfather on Dads side always drove a Cadillac from about nineteen forty something to the early ninety’s when he stopped driving , always bought used , never raised chickens on his farm . Gramps on Mom’s side had Chrysler Imperials ( poor man’s caddy) but he raised beef . Nothing was ever rusty . Except the Fargo farm trucks . They were delivered pre rusty from the dealer.
And after two hundred yrs on the same farm , the new generation has switched production from short horn beef cattle to rabbits . Profits are over the moon , round ups take an hour not a day , vet bills are non existent, acres allotted to feed production is a third allowing the other hundred a twenty acres to be rented to corn growers . Only bad farmers have rusted cars .
Rain on the Scarecrow, blood on the plow is not the way farming is done in Canada today. Not because of farm boards (they just make rich farmers richer) , but because farmers today are university educated in agriculture and well-schooled in finance and business.
I think of my BIL as a simple farmer - he wears coveralls, works hard when he has too, and wouldn't do anything else for a living. It's shocking to see him switch gears -- drop the ever-present toothpick from his lips to place a contract on bean futures, or negotiate a supply deal with a refinery or distillery.
I have never been to Mary Browns. I dont eat fast food chicken. You gave me nothing to compare your paid prices to so I had no idea if it was good or bad. Perhaps if you had added that link to your initial post I wouldnt have had to ask the 'dumb' question.
Much of the corporate overlord stupidity was allowed to infect farms by action like Monsanto suing farmers into submission because the roundup ready crops blew across the road to a farmer that didn't pay. Courts should have killed all of those actions and instead they supported them fully. I think many of the avian farms in the US don't own the birds. They are paid babysitters. I have no idea how that affects their ability to profit from their skills and space. It's probably not good for the farmers. Oligopolies are are not good for consumers. Right now we have a functional monopoly in some sectors which is even worse than oligopolies. I'd be fine with some limits to keep diversity (maybe no company can control more than 1% of the birds or cows?). Corporate overlord has a piece but most of the supply comes from much smaller (but could still be huge) suppliers.
How much of our food comes from a half dozen mega corporations, 80 to 90%? How do you change that?
Capitalism runs the free world. If corporations don't make bigger profits the stock market collapses. Pension funds sink in the same waters as the mega yachts.
Capitalism is a form of parasite that has to be careful to not kill the host before the host can reproduce and provide future sustenance.
The answer is to support small, local, privately owned businesses. Name any ones you know that can manufacture long range passenger aircraft, CT scanners, cancer drugs, cars more complex than a Model T Ford, laparoscopic surgery equipment etc.
I have never been to Mary Browns. I dont eat fast food chicken. You gave me nothing to compare your paid prices to so I had no idea if it was good or bad. Perhaps if you had added that link to your initial post I wouldnt have had to ask the 'dumb' question.
A combo at McDs is about $14.00 tax in. A whole roasted chicken at Basics is ~ $10. Mandarin buffet is ~ $41 tax in plus tip and beverage, + $5 on weekends and stats. Chicken and chips with a pop will be about $9 at Costco. A good sized slice of Costco pizza is ~$3. How much for a slice at the bike show?
What's the minimum wage today over a year ago? California is getting interesting with the rate going up massively.
Fast food isn't cheap food. Ethnic places are often better bets in both price and flavor.
They do farming different out this way I guess. No I'm not saying I want all farmers to be dirt poor but getting a quota shouldn't be a gurantee of instant wealth.
Why would you not ? It’s free market , don’t want to pay restaurant prices ? Don’t go . I’m on the road three / four days a week . I’ll stop at a grocery store and get enough to make a sandwich , it’s ten bucks or less .
They do farming different out this way I guess. No I'm not saying I want all farmers to be dirt poor but getting a quota shouldn't be a gurantee of instant wealth.
Years ago a friend was at a well connected party and he asked some developers what they were going to do with the green belt shutting stuff down. They just snickered.
I live in farm country. The local grocer has a deal with a local egg farm and sells their "non standard" eggs. Commercial eggs are VERY controlled as to size and weight and most egg farms sell non standards as "egg product".
The eggs are 25-30% larger and heavier, and $3.50/doz for large, $3/doz for small (about the size of commercial medium). Price went up half way through covid.
Lots of Amish farms leave a cooler out at the road with eggs (and other stuff)... usually $7 for 2 1/2 doz... if you work out the collecting times you can get still warm eggs. Take the eggs, leave the money in the cooler
I live in farm country. The local grocer has a deal with a local egg farm and sells their "non standard" eggs. Commercial eggs are VERY controlled as to size and weight and most egg farms sell non standards as "egg product".
The eggs are 25-30% larger and heavier, and $3.50/doz for large, $3/doz for small (about the size of commercial medium). Price went up half way through covid.
Lots of Amish farms leave a cooler out at the road with eggs (and other stuff)... usually $7 for 2 1/2 doz... if you work out the collecting times you can get still warm eggs. Take the eggs, leave the money in the cooler
Around our area eggs are from 5 to 10 a dozen at the farm gate. And sell out every day I let the kids sell some of ours in the summer and 8 dollars a dozen they are gone in 1/2 hour. We have 4 chickens so we get 2 dozen a week.
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