Some farmers will already have seen the statement below which is currently doing the rounds. It was I believe initiated by a farmer responding to a member of the public who clearly believes farmers sit on our backsides all day counting their money whilst crops grow by magic for which we get paid a fortune, and livestock miraculously take care of themselves, including feeding, mucking out, calving, lambing and farrowing, stock tasks and milking, just for starters.
“Harvest 2024 has begun. If those of you who are not farmers want to know what the price of wheat is right now......it's about the same as it was in 1972. $4.86 a bushel. A loaf of bread in 1972 cost $0.25
A bushel of wheat yields 42 one-and-a-half pound commercial loaves of white bread OR about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread. A bushel of wheat makes about 42 pounds of pasta or 210 servings of spaghetti. There is approximately 16 ounces of flour in a one-and-a-half-pound loaf of bread.
I bought a loaf of bread for $7 today. $294 for 42 loaves of bread if they cost $7. The farmer gets $4.86 minus the storage fee. He is also the one who grows the wheat. The one who is a steward of the ground the wheat grows in. The one who hires people to help him cut his crop. The one who spends hours on the combine and tractors to feed the world. The one who makes payments on his equipment his whole life, and he makes $4.86 cents per bushel. We are feeding the world, and we can't afford to buy the bread back to make our own sandwich. Things are not right in this world.
I would like to add that the suicide rate for farmers is quite high when things are this bad. Please pray for the farmers who are trying to feed the world.”
A chum recently responded in a similar vein – see below- to his insurance broker when he received notice of yet another increase in his premium for farm vehicles. He certainly makes a fair point which is brilliant, but no doubt will be totally ignored.
“Thank you for reminding me and quoting. The increase, I must mention to my buyers of grain … you are part of that when you buy bread or cereal for your breakfast …however grain prices were £122 per ton in 1972 and are now, wait for it - £151 a ton in 2024, some 52 years later. So, on that basis you might like to look back at insurance quotes as they were in 1972 and apply the same maths …. I humbly suggest that your quote may be a little high. I will be in touch”.
The short window of dry is well past but did allow John to get one more field planted with winter barley. As the rain lashes down once again, we are having to consider bringing the bullocks in before they make too much mess poaching the fields. Our annual TB test is booked in for next week, and so too is our Red Tractor inspection, which of course we are looking forward to!
I am regularly hearing friends and family say, “I wish we could put the clocks back to the good old days.” When I probe deeper and ask when exactly they are talking about, the regular reply is, “Before social media messed up our children’s lives, their heads and mental health. Before we were told what we can and can’t say by the thought police, and when we were allowed to voice our views and disagree with others, in particular the minority of people who consider they have ‘rights’, to silence us and condemn those of us who disagree with having 25+ genders or taking the knee to Black Lives Matter.
To unsex loos, men who choose to wear skirts and makeup invading women’s safe hostels, prisons, and changing rooms. Children, some as young as 6 or 7 being told they can identify as cats and dogs or being allowed to change their gender and names without permission or consultation with their parents, whilst being shielded by teaching staff.
These are just a few of the concerns expressed and who can blame anyone for raising them. Mind you, most only express such views privately behind closed doors as they are deeply concerned about what could happen to them in the workplace, amongst their peers, clubs or at the school gate, if others were to become aware of such un-PC views.
Not so long ago I questioned a friend who has for many years been chairman of a London based national institution, having recently visited to watch a remarkable performance. I asked him why he allowed all the loos to be unisex and expressed disgust that the women had to pass the men relieving themselves in the urinals on their way to the loos and wash basins. He looked sheepish and said, “If I were seen to disagree with this change, the staff, my fellow board members and performers would ensure that I was out on my ear and removed as chairman of this wonderful institution.” He was clearly terrified. How shocking is that?
“Harvest 2024 has begun. If those of you who are not farmers want to know what the price of wheat is right now......it's about the same as it was in 1972. $4.86 a bushel. A loaf of bread in 1972 cost $0.25
A bushel of wheat yields 42 one-and-a-half pound commercial loaves of white bread OR about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread. A bushel of wheat makes about 42 pounds of pasta or 210 servings of spaghetti. There is approximately 16 ounces of flour in a one-and-a-half-pound loaf of bread.
I bought a loaf of bread for $7 today. $294 for 42 loaves of bread if they cost $7. The farmer gets $4.86 minus the storage fee. He is also the one who grows the wheat. The one who is a steward of the ground the wheat grows in. The one who hires people to help him cut his crop. The one who spends hours on the combine and tractors to feed the world. The one who makes payments on his equipment his whole life, and he makes $4.86 cents per bushel. We are feeding the world, and we can't afford to buy the bread back to make our own sandwich. Things are not right in this world.
I would like to add that the suicide rate for farmers is quite high when things are this bad. Please pray for the farmers who are trying to feed the world.”
A chum recently responded in a similar vein – see below- to his insurance broker when he received notice of yet another increase in his premium for farm vehicles. He certainly makes a fair point which is brilliant, but no doubt will be totally ignored.
“Thank you for reminding me and quoting. The increase, I must mention to my buyers of grain … you are part of that when you buy bread or cereal for your breakfast …however grain prices were £122 per ton in 1972 and are now, wait for it - £151 a ton in 2024, some 52 years later. So, on that basis you might like to look back at insurance quotes as they were in 1972 and apply the same maths …. I humbly suggest that your quote may be a little high. I will be in touch”.
The short window of dry is well past but did allow John to get one more field planted with winter barley. As the rain lashes down once again, we are having to consider bringing the bullocks in before they make too much mess poaching the fields. Our annual TB test is booked in for next week, and so too is our Red Tractor inspection, which of course we are looking forward to!
I am regularly hearing friends and family say, “I wish we could put the clocks back to the good old days.” When I probe deeper and ask when exactly they are talking about, the regular reply is, “Before social media messed up our children’s lives, their heads and mental health. Before we were told what we can and can’t say by the thought police, and when we were allowed to voice our views and disagree with others, in particular the minority of people who consider they have ‘rights’, to silence us and condemn those of us who disagree with having 25+ genders or taking the knee to Black Lives Matter.
To unsex loos, men who choose to wear skirts and makeup invading women’s safe hostels, prisons, and changing rooms. Children, some as young as 6 or 7 being told they can identify as cats and dogs or being allowed to change their gender and names without permission or consultation with their parents, whilst being shielded by teaching staff.
These are just a few of the concerns expressed and who can blame anyone for raising them. Mind you, most only express such views privately behind closed doors as they are deeply concerned about what could happen to them in the workplace, amongst their peers, clubs or at the school gate, if others were to become aware of such un-PC views.
Not so long ago I questioned a friend who has for many years been chairman of a London based national institution, having recently visited to watch a remarkable performance. I asked him why he allowed all the loos to be unisex and expressed disgust that the women had to pass the men relieving themselves in the urinals on their way to the loos and wash basins. He looked sheepish and said, “If I were seen to disagree with this change, the staff, my fellow board members and performers would ensure that I was out on my ear and removed as chairman of this wonderful institution.” He was clearly terrified. How shocking is that?
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