"Ian B" wrote in message
...
Bill Grey wrote:
"Ian B" wrote in message
...
Roger Tonkin wrote:
In article ,
says...

Why why WHY do the farmers ALWAYS bleat hard times time and time
again?

Have you ever seen a poor farmer?




There are plenty of them around here, where hill farming of sheep is
the only possibility. Also we know that dairy farmers get less per
lire for their milk than it takes to produce (unless you run a super
farm!).

Then why are they producing it? Something economically wrong there,
isn't there?

at
Ian
Supermarkets provide a ready market for them but dictate the amount
they are going to pay for their produce. One very good reason why
farmers are sometimes desperate.

You can't sell goods for less than your production costs. If farmer A
can't produce milk for price X, and farmer B can, then all that can happen
is farmer A leaves the milk production market. That's how economic growth
occurs, with the better supplier knocking the inferior supplier out of the
market. Which is often unpleasant for the individuals concerned, but
ultimately good for everyone.

The thing is, nobody can "dictate" a price. I can say I'll only pay £100
for a Ferrari, but I can't make Ferrari sell me one for that price.
Likewise if the supermarkets demand milk at a cheaper price than it can be
produced, they will get no milk, because there won't be any producers at
that price.

Any farmer foolish enough to sell milk at below cost must be
cross-subsidising it from some profitable enterprise, e.g. crops or sheep
or something. He needs to get out of the cow juice business. He's
destroying value in the economy, and in his own bank account.


Ian

Supermarkets do dictate prices, if not specifically, but by buying at the
lowest price (which they want to pay ) and which may or may not be
atisfactory to the farmer. Nobody said anything about selling at a loss.
The market pressures may leave the farmer with litlte or no choice but to
sell to supermarkets. Supermarkets have the whip hand in so many cases.

Bill