Shortages

[BaBaaHMonica]

I forgot to mention that I used our rainbarrel all winter last year. I kept draining it almost dry to water the goats and chickens. I had to take water from the house a few times and I knew I was going to have to do something different than bringing a 5 gallon bucket from the basement and still not have enough. It was a balancing act of checking snow forecasts and letting the water out when we were getting a lot of snow. The hardest part was keeping the hose clear so it didn't freeze. I don't want to pay for water when I have it dripping off the roof making ice puddles to walk through. I take these shortages as incentive to use my intuition. Stay positive and plan ahead & we will get through.

 

[Ridgetop]

We are heading for Texas on the 22nd in our car. Can't use the truck. It has been in the shop again for the past 3 weeks. DH went down to find out what was wrong. They don't really know what is wrong but have now replaced enough parts to build a new truck. DH was tld now that it needs a whole new turbo. Goody! They already replaced half the turbo parts in the past 6 months. DH said he would not pay for a whole new turbo because of that and got them to discount it by half. I have been complaining about that shop for 2 years and DH gets mad at me when I do. Now he is raging about them. They had an excellent reputation for service when we bought our truck but then the owner retired and turned the entire business over to his sons. Since then their service department had gone to . . . . Galpin is the largest Ford dealer in Southern California but they have ONE person in the entire service department to work on diesels! And he is terrible! Our truck has been in the shop longer than it took to order it new! I told DH we should have them pay us for the time we have not been able to use it. Anyway, when we go to Texas in September we are going to look at a new gas engine F-150 truck. We will keep our big diesel F-350 dually, but will keep it for pulling the 5th wheel. We should be able to find a good diesel mechanic in Texas.

My brother TR4ever on this site retired 2 weeks ago. He says that working on his 2.6 acres is exhausting. I had to laugh when he said that he works until dinnertime at 6:00 pm then takes a shower and is ready for bed. He says he can't get enough done. I told him that on a ranch you don't work till 6pm, you work till the light is gone, have supper, shower, and then go to bed. Hopefully, we will be hearing from him on BYH. He has some heritage breeds of chickens.

 

[Baymule]

I have an EXTREMELY HONEST and excellent diesel mechanic in Lindale. I took my diesel mule to him last week. BJ and I used him on our truck and mule. @Ridgetop i got you covered!

 

[farmerjan]

Thought I would bring this thread up to date a bit.
Stock market has had a few rallies, but it is slowly working downward... lost more today. Lost alot last week... It is a sign of things getting worse but many are not taking it seriously enough.

The weather has been so yo-yo in so many places. There are still some real bad drought stricken areas and a recent article says that corn and cotton is 50% off this year in places like Texas and other states. Arizona is hurting so bad for water... the conservation dept or whatever they are called is hauling water to "sinks" in the desert for the wildlife as there is nothing for the wildlife to eat and drink. Not counting what they are trying to do for the people... and let the farmers figure it out on their own since they have cut all the water allotments to. Most places that have cut all the water to the ag sector have farmers cutting the production of vegetable crops to try to save what water they can get for things like some of the trees and all where there is a much greater investment. There is an article on SS sister site under the shortages thread... mostly about AZ but list what so many farmers have done because they cannot afford to plant crops that there is no hope to harvest from the drought conditions. Wheat production is way down, grain sorghum has been cut so much. It is primarily an animal feed.
Everyone on here is pretty much on the "bandwagon" for being more self sufficient... have pantry's and freezers full of food... being prepared. Prices are up and will continue to creep up and there is going to be less food available, or it will be priced to the point that people will not be able to afford it.
There will be less beef available in the future with the drought causing so many to sell down or sell out in the mid and south west. It will drive the prices up too. There might be a bit of a drop in prices right now as there are more animals being butchered... If you find any "better prices" you need to stock up if you can.

Gas right here has dropped to $3.35 a gallon for regular but diesel is back up to about $5.00 a gallon. Most gas is in the 3.49 range...

How is everyone else doing with the economy as it is and are you going into this winter in as good a shape as you can be??

 

[Mike CHS]

We are in pretty good shape but having spent most of my adult life in hurricane country, I have stayed prepared for many years. We saw this coming last year and we had been planning on cutting our sheep numbers down from a high of 80 head to 20 or so. We kept 10 more lambs last season than we had been planning on and we are back up to 30 head and already have enough pasture stockpiled that we won't have to buy any hay until well into winter.

 

[Baymule]

My life has been in an uproar for almost a year. I’m moving and unpacking to see what I have . I’ll be ok. I do want a garden again, probably will be raised beds.

 

[murphysranch]

Out west Power outages are happing this week and next. One of my brother's in San Jose,CA had a planned outage last nite for three hours.

My friend in Vista, CA has one planned for this weekend. Electricity is strained to the max. I know that Bay and Ridgetop talked about this conundrum and the governor's new proclamation last week.

Potato crop is waay short this fall. I've been reading that the storage potatoes are not lasting as long in their bags - spoiling.

In my area, more and more hay fields are being surveyed, then huge land movers come in and dig them up. Only about 2 miles away, a very large parcel was sold to a developer for office space. WTHECK does anyone need office space now a days? Sheesh.

 

[Mini Horses]

A lot of crops are short this year...a fact that will be VERY apparent in a few more months when replacement stock for things already processed isn't there. I suspect temps will have a lot of effect on storage of some products....like those potatoes.

Because we know things don't grow overnight -- unlike city people who just go to a grocery store and think it "happens" right there -- I believe we react sooner and plan. Food prices will continue to rise, supplies will shrink and alternatives will happen.

I LOVE my farm, animals and my ability to raise my own food!

 

[Mini Horses]

We all dread the trip to the feed store register . Many farms lost entire crop production. Here's what's out there in many fields...low production. Mostly these are both water issues. Look and weep, this is why prices will continue to rise.

 

[farmerjan]

See where OPEC has decided to cut production... sent the gas prices climbing like a squirrel up a tree trunk... over $.20 rise in 2 hours at several stations here. I paid 3.15 2 days ago... got it for 3.32 at the same station... filled all 3 vehicles... was up to 3.59 2 miles away....
NOT GOOD.....