On Jun 3, 9:56*am, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-06-02 23:41:36 +0100, "Ian B" said:





Sacha wrote:
On 2011-06-02 22:11:03 +0100, "Ian B" said:

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

'Leaving a market" means the farmer has to sell his cows or have them
put down. *For many/most, this is a heart breaking decision so they
soldier on, hoping things will improve. *If they do get out and turn
to e.g. beef farming, all that does is widen the door for the big
buyers who dictate the prices to bring in milk from abroad. When it's
our only source of supply as all domestic sources have gone, do you
think it will still be cheap? This applies, of course, to all our food
producers. *If you want to be in the hands of giant chains and foreign
producers, this is the right way to go about it.

Sacha, any business failure is heartbreaking. Back in the 70s, my dad was
stupid enough to try to run a (taxi) business under a Labour government.. It
failed. So did my parents' marriage. Our home was taken by the bank. I ended
up in a borassically skint one parent family.

You can't keep propping up businesses on emotive arguments about doe-eyed
cows and sad farmers. snip

I don't know why you use that analogy because I don't. *I'm talking
hard business. If we see all our farmers go out of business because
supermarkets are forcing down the price to the farmer, then we'll be
the long-term users. *It has nothing to do with doe-eyed cows. But as
for the farmers, it is a heart-breaking decision. *All the farmers I
know would tell you it's a way of life, not just a job, 9-5. Frankly, I
don'tk now why anyone would want to do it for so little reward in the
end.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

They are trying to force a monopoly. Simple as that.