Sticker shock at the grocery store!

after taxes , I payed $4.08 for a gal of milk yesterday. befor taxes it is priced at $3.89. this is whole milk.

I can see where a couple could go through a gallon a day. My oldest brother still drinks about two lg glasses of milk at each meal himself, the milk he and his wife put in their cereal/oatmeal, the baking they do daily, etc. they easily go through at least a gal daily.
My family of four comes awfull close, but I don't bake near as much just because I can't afford to buy milk daily. so the milk has been alotted to the kids. Hubby and I use powdered milk for ourselves.

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Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

Isn't it surprising how little we know about where our food comes from! Take some time and find out where the nearest milk processing plant that the milk you buy is located. Then find out where the milk they are processing is coming from. You might really be in for a surprise. Then also find out who owns that cute mom n pop family named milk brand you buy.
The county I live in had 3 milk processors in the past, we don't have many more dairy farms than that in the whole county anymore and the processors are long gone.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

Very few dairies pasture their cows as their food source. They might turn them out after milking but it's just for the short time before they are milked again. Most dairies are milking 2-3 times a day, that's every cow 2-3 times daily! They need more than grass to perform like that and the dairy needs that much production to stay in business. Be glad you're not a cow!
Feedlot dairies feed silage or cut alfalfa from what I've seen then supplement with grains.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

In regards to how much milk do we use each day, keep in mind your total milk consumption, not just what you drink out of a glass. There's all the cheeses (hard, soft, cream, cottage, etc.) and everything that is cooked with them, ice cream, whipped cream, what goes into your baked and cooked goods (sauces, etc.), yogurt, butter / spreads, and on and on.

Even for adults, milk is a staple item. I, for one, have been delaying getting a dairy goat until I get everything else around here all "organized" (ha ha!). No more procrastinating! As soon as we renew the lease next week, I'm getting one!

Tracey Mouse

I just talked to my brother by phone. He works for a general store. His boss told him the same thing.

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Production costs for a farm have gone up.

Anything made of iron, copper, metal; fuel; fertilizer; land rent; taxes.

These items have skyrocketed.

Corn & soybean prices have been on a rollercoaster. Prices are down 15-20 cents a bu this evening (yes - cbot does trade grains in the evening....)

Will that lower price show up when you go to the store?

Nope, just like oil & other bills, the price rises show up fast, but when things lower, there are 'many reasons' why the prices don't drop back down.

Back in the 80s when gas prices rose, every time prices went up. When crude oil prices finally dropped as OPEC fell apart at that time, pump prices didn't fall - hum. We were told it takes 3 months for the crude to get to the pump, so the price drops won't be seen right away. Well, tho, the increases were????

Gonig to be the same with grocery prices. We will see every real & imaginary grain increase, but the farmer won't be getting rich, and much of the increase is due to energy, metal, & the lower dollar value - not directly grain prices.

Also remember farmers do not get the CBOT prices for their crops - they get the local value, which is called 'basis'. CBOT sells grain on paper. People with money try to gess what grain will be worth in the future - they don't buy actual grain.

Here right now, corn is worth $.35 cents less than the CBOT, and often is worth 50-60 cents less. Soybeans are worth $1.12 less than the CBOT price.

That can be 10-20% less than many of you _think_ we farmers are recieving for our grain.....

--->Paul

Oh my gosh are prices skyrocketing!! I was in an actually real town this weekend(taking motorcycle safety course) with stores and everything. On my way to class Saturday morning I decided to feed my junk food tooth. We don't have fast food out where I live. I pulled through drivethrough and ordered a mcgriddle....the ones with syrup in the bun. $3.15!!!!! For just one tiny little breakfast sandwich. I nearly lost my bottom jaw! That is outrageous. Brace yourselves folks.....it's fixin to get rough.

To those trying to save money on milk by buying powdered milk, I came across this at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...175151-1618363

It works out to $2.58/gallon. It's non-instant, so has better nutrition and flavor than instant. A $25 order for groceries at Amazon has free shipping, so if you don't buy something else with your order, you can get 2 cases for a total of $41.28, which makes 16 gallons of milk.

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Nestle makes powdered whole milk though I did not search deep enough to find out the cost per gallon.

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Beware of radical christians: http://listverse.com/2015/03/22/10-p...e-for-america/

The Latin, Mexican, or Hispanic foods area of your local grocery may have dry whole milk powder. Nido and Klim are both Nestle's brands and are both quite useable. Makes good hot chocolate when mixed with some cocoa powder and sugar.

Whole milk powder has a high fat content so should be stored in a cool location until opening after which it should be kept in the refrigerator.

.....Alan.

I get Carnation Instant nonfat dry milk at Sam's club. You can also get it from amazon.com. A 4.4 pound box makes 5.5 gallons and costs $15.00 That's just under $3 a gallon.

When we bought ours, milk was less and the powdered was expensive, relatively speaking, but we were paying for storage capability and to us the slight additional cost was worth long term storage ability. Now we're saving money with powdered as compared to liquid.

We use liquid "regular" milk for drinking and on cereal but powdered in cooking. You can't tell the difference at all. The hot chocolate recipe on the box is really good, too.

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Our homestead-in-the-making: Palazzo Rospo
Eating the dream

Seems to work out about $3.20/gallon for the most economical size, but it's instant.

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You have to pay tax on milk???? That is insane. I guess it must vary by state, but we don't pay tax on food.

No tax on groceries in Texas, but when we buy groceries in Oklahoma we have to pay tax on them there.

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In alabama, the only thing I know of that isn't taxed is medications. Food, clothing, etc is all taxed. Shoot, we pay like $.48/gal taxes on gas.

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God bless,
Brandon

Visit my blog Watchin' the World Go By

He who cultivates his land will have plenty of food,
but from idle pursuits a man has his fill of poverty
Proverbs 28:19

Here in TN we have the pleasure of paying, in my county, 9.75% sales tax on everything including labor. Some food items are slightly less but it's all so confusing it's a joke but not a funny one at almost a 10% surcharge on everything.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

Plenty of room for you folk in Texas... no state tax, no tax on food, you can carry a concealed weapon, ... heck - once we've got the permit for our farm, I can even sell you raw milk. (But it will be more than $4 a gallon, so....)

I feel so darned proud to be a Texan today. I'm going to drink raw milk to celebrate. ...and maybe a Lone Star. Though I'm pretty sure we pay tax on crappy beer.

Guess we are luckily unaffected by this problem. Best friend has 2 jerseys and a holstein/jersey cross. They sell organic raw milk for $4 a gallon. We trade our overpriced chicken ($18 a bird, weigh between 4 and 5 lbs. organic fed and pastured/free ranged) I pay out about $9 a bird to raise them, so we get our milk cheap if you figure that 1 bird gets me 4 1/2 gallons of milk) for dairy.
With no transportation costs and little grain needed, the costs don't go up alot, and we get quality milk locally that is cheaper than the $4.18 at WalMart.

Buying locally virtually eliminates the cost jumps with fuel prices, and we use no corn, so ethanol production also does not affect us. We feed organic whole grains, and the only price change we have seen is in grain, with dairy cows not needing much grain. His figures, labor, hay, housing, and all is that a gallon of milk costs him about $2.50 gallon. I told him to raise the price, seeing how he has a superior quality product, but he wants to keep good milk affordable for those that come by the farm.

mark

Guess we'll just have the kids black coffee for breakfast!

Have you seen the new Diet Coke PLUS? It's vitamin enriched diet CocaCola. Start your day with an energizing Diet Coke PLUS!

You can get about 1 to 2 gallons of milk a day from a Dexter cow on a half acre of land.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Lives...er-Cattle.aspx