posted on July 1, 2008 03:23:56 PM new
I'll start. My feed costs are through the roof. Last year I was buying alfalfa hay for roughly 6 dollars a bale, or 120 dollars a ton. This year my costs have gone to 12.50/bale. I feed about a ton and a half per month April through September and at least double that in the winter depending on how much fall grass grows with the late summer rain. I can't get large truck delivery here due to the road and so have to haul my own hay in a 2 1/2 ton truck that gets 8 miles to the diesel gallon. Round trip to the feed store is 75 miles. Fuel cost for one trip is currently about 45 bucks. My concentrates, that is, grain and supplements have all doubled in price, due to the price of corn and fuel.
I'm in the process of reducing my sheep herd down to my prize breeding ewes and rams. I'm having to butcher and freeze as much meat as possible as the sale prices for livestock are way down. Nobody in their right mind wants to ADD to their feed costs. My business is prime handweaving wool, not meat. My herd is an endangered breed of hair sheep and it breaks my heart to see them go for meat, but there is no choice. The goats and cattle pay their own way with milk and meat so it's not so bad with them. I can still get good money locally for grass fed beef and goat's milk. We've been through this before and survived. Fortunately we operate in a niche market rather than the mainstream factory farm system. Our food bills are holding their own because we produce lots of our own food. We are riding horses more for general chores and using our ATV's for trips as far as the 30 miles to the post office to save fuel.
How are all you city folks holding up? Changed yer evil ways any?
posted on July 1, 2008 09:56:29 PM new
Well Profe, I live on Long Island, about 25 miles from New York City. Ah, suburbia. Have cut down on driving quite a bit. No trips into the city lately. No drives out to the eastern end of Long Island to the farm stands or to a favorite restaurant. No trips to Atlantic City to feed my vices. I'm not a prepared food-type person, so I save money not buying it. Have been able to cut down trips to the market as I have a vegetable garden to keep me in greens, cukes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and some herbs. Fish and seafood are so expensive, but I live not far from a town which has commercial fishing boats come in every day. Years ago, we used to buy pounds of fish directly from the boat for a few dollars. They don't do that anymore, but the retail fish markets, which are right along the docks, are much less expensive than my local ones. They buy most of their fish from the boats (no fuel costs for transporting ) and you can't get fresher fish anywhere. I think it is great that you are so self-sufficient. Wish I could do more along those lines.
My husband and I became less dependent on gas a few years ago when we sold our boat and bought smaller, more fuel efficient cars. The fellow who owns the boat now tells us that the price of gas is almost five dollars a gallon at marinas on the Maryland shore and that it would take $1,000 to fill it up. A cruise anywhere farther than a few miles is out of the question now for him, just as it would be for us today. Boats, like houses are becoming more difficult to sell and are either being abandoned or because of the escalating price of fuel remain tied to the pier.
I don't know how the seafood industry will survive in such a depressed market with the cost of gas so high both on land and sea.
posted on July 2, 2008 07:07:33 AM new
We bought a Honda Civic Hybrid, 2 years ago. Although we don't always use it, we try to combine errands and "be smart" with our city driving. We have started eating at home most of the time (used to grab something out - alot). Even so, the money coming in is certainly not spreading as far as it used to. I worry about my adult children and how they will make it in this economy.
posted on July 2, 2008 08:02:33 AM new
" and that it would take $1,000 to fill it up."
Helen, that is mind-boggling! You are so right that the seafood industry will be hard-pressed to survive, especially the relatively small fishermen. This dependence on gasoline has such a far-reaching effect, from farming to fishing, to ranching, to commuting to work,to food prices, to recreation. There is a contest between gas and milk, to see which can cost more per gallon. This has to be the #1 issue this election cycle---and the #1 reason we need change.
posted on July 3, 2008 12:16:34 AM new
We drive two hybrid cars; one's a Lexus SUV, so we save that just for hauling trips and use the Prius for everything that we can.
I honestly think many couples out there could save a LOT if they just quit buying take-out food.
In our mountain resort town, it's a very interesting phenomenon: People in Southern California, San Diego to LA, who used to drive to Vegas or take long car trips are now coming here because we're much closer, they can get cool in our mountain air, AND it happens to be fun to be here. So our merchants seem to be doing well, oddly.
_____________________
posted on July 3, 2008 07:40:14 AM new
We're definitely driving less and now do more planning before shopping so we have enough food and supplies for our projects without having to go back into town again within a day or so. Gas is about $1.50 a liter which is approximately $5.55 a gallon. Food is going up, not by as much as expected, but the higher prices are predicted for winter as most of our produce has to be trucked in from the US or Mexico. I used to toss the weekly flyers and now I comparison shop before heading out and even clip a few coupons. We've been downsizing and cutting back for several years now and live a fairly simple lifestyle and seldom go to restaurants. Heating costs are a big concern because natural gas keeps going up and our province is adding carbon taxes also.
That's sad about your sheep, Profe. What breed are they? I started knitting again because when I was unpacking a couple of weeks ago I found some of my yarns and also a small loom that I used to have fun with and was viewing a video about an old carding machine at Birkeland Bros Wool in Vancouver.
posted on July 3, 2008 01:01:06 PM new
They're registered as Navajo Churro Sheep in this country kiara. They are descended from Spanish Churra sheep that my family and other Spanish settlers brought to the new world beginning with Juan de Oņate in the 1590's. We still call them Churras, and we do some of our key breeding through artificial insemination with Spanish Churra semen that we are able to import in order to keep our flock high in Churra genetics. Churras have a wool coat and a hair topcoat, unlike most "improved" English breeds, making them a favorite of handweavers and spinners. I have many sheep whose wool is special ordered by handweavers who come to the ranch at shearing time to make sure they are getting exactly the wool and hair they want from a particular animal. My herd book has intact breeding records over more than 150 continuous years. The Churras were nearly wiped out in this country by Kit Carson and the U.S. government in an effort to subjugate the Navajos. Only a few isolated Spanish and Mexican herds survived. When the Navajos were freed from imprisonment, they had no sheep so the gov't. replaced their flocks with English breeds. Those breeds are not nearly as desert hardy and require much more in the way of feed, so the Navajos' new reservation began experiencing overgrazing in no time. Here's a couple of links and some pics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churra http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#sheep
posted on July 3, 2008 03:42:07 PM new
We are working more at home, we gave up most of our cleaning jobs because the gas is to high to drive to them. Our driving has been cut way back. We don't eat out at all. Real money savers for us is the fact that we do not smoke and we do not drink soft drinks. I can't believe the amount some people spend on those two items. We don't buy alcohol products either.
posted on July 4, 2008 11:53:11 PM new
Thanks for the interesting info on the Churro or Churra sheep, Profe. Wow, they really are hairy! Now I understand why their wool is favored by the weavers and spinners as it doesn't have a high lanolin content. Churros are also smarter and quieter than other sheep according to this site which was fun to read.
posted on July 5, 2008 09:13:24 PM new
Livestock breeds and crop seeds are being walmartized just like everything else kiara. Factory farm corporations are not interested in the unique adaptations and characteristics of individual breeds. Beef is beef. Wool is wool. Milk is milk. Their only concern is maximized production. Diversity be damned. While we wring our hands over the wild species that are vanishing before our eyes, domesticated land race species that have supported local populations for thousands of years are being replaced by "improved" breeds brought to you by the friendly folks at Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto and their ilk at an even scarier pace.
posted on July 6, 2008 07:30:43 PM new
Prof - I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles. It must really be heartbreaking to have to lose your sheep that way.
We have a minivan and a full size van. We really have no choice. Ken's job as a contractor requires the full-sized van and his job as a musician requires the mini-van. He can only use the full size one for work because his boss pays the insurance. There is very little profit left when Ken plays out. By the time he pays the gasoline he's only making maybe $50 for a full night's work.
We try to consolidate our trips. I haven't been to any garage or estate sales because they require too much driving and when I have to pick up items for my eBay TA work, I try to make all my customers' home in one day. By this time we've usually gone camping a few times and bike riding each weekend. We've done none of that. It's almost cheaper now to eat out than it is to go to the grocery store.
However, I still consider myself quite lucky, Prof, compared to what you are enduring!
posted on July 6, 2008 09:10:16 PM new
Thanks cheryl. We've been through it before for various reasons. Once I remember was economic and the other times were due to lack of grass. We'll hang on to our best breed stock and best looking lambs and rebuild the herd when the time is right. None of my grand champions will be going to slaughter, even if I have to give up Guinness to afford their hay.
posted on July 7, 2008 11:14:22 AM new
I don't wait so well when it comes to Guinness helen, the time it takes to build a glassful after evening chores is about all I can stand.
posted on July 7, 2008 08:29:27 PM new
Never really drank Guinness. I'm more a Killian or Miller Chill kind of gal. Take a frosted glass, coat the rim in salt, add Miller Chill and a lime and you're all set. Mmmmm.
Cheryl
posted on July 7, 2008 09:05:18 PM new
I haven't tried Miller Chill, although I do think Miller High Life is the best tasting American mainstream type fizzy yellow beer there is, and it's cheap to boot. Smooth, kinda creamy and a taste that's not objectionable. Goes down great on a hot day. Somebody showed up here a while back with Budweiser's equivalent to Chill, Bud Lite with Lime. Tasted like a citrus aftershave I used to wear in high school. Pure swill, and quite popular I understand. Corona is the beer that popularized lime in beer by the way. The standing joke in Mexico, where nobody drinks it, is that lime is the only way to kill it's taste. Nothin' gripes me like going to a U.S. Mexican restaurant and ordering a Negra Modelo or other good dark Mexican beer and having it served with a lime wedge jammed in the top. Please.....
posted on July 22, 2008 10:43:25 AM new
Prof,
I have a catalog in front of me of English and Scottish sheep such as Scottish blackface sheep,Wensleydale longwool,stone stile,swaledale ewe,herdwick ewe,devon and cornwall sheep etc.
Do we find any of these sheep in North America and if so,what name do they go by?
*
Gulag-a Soviet era concentration camp is now reincarnated as EBAY with 13,000 rules.
posted on July 22, 2008 05:27:19 PM new
Scottish blackface are fairly common here, but are considered a minor breed like my Churras. They are often used to cross into American breeds to improve wool quality. The most common commercial fine wool breeds in this country are Debouillet and Rambouillet and various Merino type breeds, Border Leicester, Cotswold, Wensleydale, Romney and a few others. Most of the breeds you mentioned are Scottish and English breeds that are older breeds and are the precursors of the modern breeds listed here.
posted on July 23, 2008 05:45:57 AM newBeer and sheep? I don't like the way this discussion is heading.
Good grief! Even Darwin didn't try that. And how disgraceful to think that such fine breeds of sheep enjoy pleasures beyond browsing upon their pasture and chewing their cud.
posted on July 24, 2008 12:16:28 AM new
1 hour trips to stay with my mom post-surgery and 2-hour trips to the coast with visiting relatives have certainly taken their toll, but beyond that, I haven't really noticed the effects of fuel prices. I'm able to shop at Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's and Farmers Market, all in the neighborhood, and have cut my grocery bills by half. I really can't share the views that fast foods and frozen foods are more expensive than home-prepared foods. I can't hope to duplicate the Marie Callendar full meals with vegetables f$1.50or $1.50 I find at Grocery Outlet. I love the $1.00 value items at most fast foods- most include a side salad -a dinner for 2 of us rarely exceeds $5.00. The best deal is Tuesday + Thursdays, a McDonald's Hamburger Happy Meal for $1.00 - we usually toss the frys but still a great deal..
Now I understand why their wool is favored by the weavers and spinners as it doesn't have a high lanolin content. Churros are also smarter and quieter than other sheep according to this site which was fun to read.
KD!