Sticker shock at the grocery store!

The dairies around here mostly have holsteins. I'm going to try to find out how much the heifer calves go for. Hopefully not too expensive.

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What part of Texas are you in?

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We're SouthEastCentral (I made that up) - about 50 miles NW of Houston. Lots of dairy goat folk around here. Not so many dairy cows... but Oh, do I want a dairy cow.

BillHoo-- Good point. We're thinking about getting a Dexter - I think for those that have a smaller space, and aren't into goats, that is an excellent solution to milk woes. The Dexter we met was arguably the world's coolest cow.

You're hundreds of miles south of me, so even if you did have milk, that's too far.

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Typically a dairy keeps all the good heifers to replace their cows. It is the bull calves that would be pretty inexpensive. I would not expect to find any cheap holstein heifers in a typical situation.

Be warry of any heifers they would sell for cheap. Likely it would be the twin of a male calf. The heifer would be called a free-martin, and only has a 10% or less chance of being breedable. The male hormones mess up the female as they develop.

--->Paul

I know what a freemartin is, and I would certainly ask.

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I have some plastic caps that fit on to opened cans of pet food that I want to put in the spare 'fridge. Last month, I found that the caps wouldn't fit the can, and upon checking, found that the can size had been changed from 440 gms to 400 gms. However, the price that was paid for the new size was the same as the price paid for the old. I then found that a packet of barley had been reduced in contents from 1 kg to 800 gms, without the price coming down, so DW and I began checking other items that we bought from the supermarket. Surprise, surprise.......the were quite a few items that had been changed in the same way; weight or contents being brought down but prices remaining the same.
This is actually a price rise by stealth - it certainly isn't advertised - and is a pretty underhanded way of ripping off the consumer.

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BIDADISNDAT: Aiming to Live a Good Life of Near Self Sufficiency on a Permaculture Based Organic Home Farm

Our tiny dairy "industry" is on the brink of collapse, and it's running just around $4 a gallon right now. I think a few of the larger stores carry milk as a loss leader, but I can't verify that. The dairy farmers just now got a twenty cent/hundredweight raise, first one in seven years.

The whole thing is going to fold up here and then we will all be drinking imported milk. I am thinking real hard about a goat, but I just can't get my mind around dealing with the babies....

IMHO, as long as the general public refuses to accept the reality that the price of everything must go up, manufacturers will do whatever is necessary to feed that ignorance... such as shrinking sizes, or worse, exporting the sourcing/manufacturing to our Communist friends in China, who will do whatever They can, to cut prices....even if it means adding poisonous fillers.

I remember when candy bars started shrinking.... oh, but thank heavens, the price stayed the same... I stopped eating em, and now, maybe one a year, and the price is 5x the price I remember, and the bars are snack sized, instead of mongo bars.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

lol, it's good the candy bar size shrunk because now the milk to wash them down with is too high. See, things all work out

the mfgs are doing the american public a favor. since the average american is overweight, they're slowing decreasing portion side. all as a public service, dontcha know. and they don't lower the price, or else bargain shopping consumers would buy more, defeating the lower portion sizes.

so, once again, american corporations are valiantly and patriotically standing by the american public in our time of need!

--sgl

skim milk should be cheaper as milk fat is a premium product and highly desired in the ice cream industry as well as others.

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

I always thought that 'skim milk' was a fiction... you know, like a joke. Who in the world would buy such a watered down product and still call it milk... Uggghhh.

It's so dang hard finding whole dried milk. In Alaska, they have a brand that I use to buy religiously, for bush use. Nido, a Mexican dried milk, is whole. I buy the stuff, for SHTF purposes only.

They should pay people to take skim milk off their hands.

I've tasted skim milk. It's like drinking milk flavored water.

Give me whole raw milk, tapped off the top of the milk vat, to increase the cream level.

We're getting goat milk each morning... my only complaint is the lack of cream, or at least easily obtained cream.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Yes, the Dexter cow seems to be the one I will go with. On another forum, a guy is
educating us the merits of the smaller cow. When factoring in the 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 gallons, remember the calf sucks so it leaves less for the family. He says one separates the calf from the cow at night, milks in the morning, and leaves the calf with the cow the rest of the day. Want milk year round, need two cows. I'm going to not have a bull for awhile to save money. Just buy semen and get a vet vech to
insert the semen for $25. He says he uses the Dexter like an ox to clear land. The Dexter is reasonable in price. Other miniature cows are considered exotic therefore more pricey.

That the dairy farmer should be paid a fair and reasonable price for his milk, the broad-acre farmer his grain, the grower his vegetables, or the fisherman his catch, etc., there can be no argument.

But how much of what we pay at the supermarket reaches the farm gate?

Even after subtracting the transport, packaging, advertising and other 'merchandising', plus taxes, (of course), there is still an extraordinary ammount that goes to profit.

A large part of the profit is then paid out to shareholders - people who have invested money in expectation of receiving the greatest possible return.
And unfortunately, with no consideration as to who might be disadvantaged be extreme cost saving measures: Pay the producer, and worker, as little as possible.
If the profit is not high enough, the answer is simple: Import the goods from overseas, where the workers are paid even less, and high safety or production standards don't have to be met.

Sounds like a bit of a rant, I know, but I can't help but think that a lot of the problems stem from greed.

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BIDADISNDAT: Aiming to Live a Good Life of Near Self Sufficiency on a Permaculture Based Organic Home Farm

Lynnheater,

Did you say "Dexter'?
Caught my attention straight away!
Way to go!

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BIDADISNDAT: Aiming to Live a Good Life of Near Self Sufficiency on a Permaculture Based Organic Home Farm

I just read in a farm and dairy publication that milk prices are going up because of increased foreign demand for US dairy products. Where are we sending it too? Also, it said prices will go up when school starts because demand will be even higher. So, I guess the cost of school lunch will shoot up too.

I went to grocery store earlier this week. They were advertising cherries at $5.19 per pound! Obviously I didn't get any. I know in Wyoming much has to be trucked in, but this is obscene! Milk has been over $3.00 per gallon here for years now it is getting closer to $4.00. Thankfully we don't drink much milk, and I freeze it. We also have a few goats (dry now) and a while back I laid in a supply of powdered milk.

Boy I can't wait until we get to the farm!

Anne
CGR

It doesn't surprise me in the least that prices are going up. So much packaging is wholly or partially derived from petroleum, the cost of operating the machinery to raise, harvest, package and transport has gone up and even the ingredients to make the food have gone up.

It also did not help matters that quite a few crops were killed off or greatly delayed by a strong frost earlier this year.

However, to put things in perspective, in some less developed countries people spend between 70 and 90 percent of their wages on food alone. We should be so lucky to grouse about the price of a gallon of milk.

Shinsan, you like/have Dexter?

I'm impressed with Dexter cattle. I'll like handling the smaller cow.