July 07, 2009 5 Comments

Food prices will rise again. I warned you about the rise in food prices over a year ago and within a few months they sky rocketed. I don’t claim to have any magical power or great manifestations but I can read the warning signs.

There are severe drought conditions throughout California, the largest supplier of food in the United States. According to the National Weather Service, Los Angeles has received 9.08 inches of precipitation this year, well below the 15.15-inch average. In addition the federal government has refused to release water to the farmers in California because of a smelt, some of which get caught in filters in the San Jaoquin delta. They have determined it is more important to protect the smelt than release water for food production. This is not all. During the month of July temperatures have been over 100 degrees every day in the central valley, California’s growing region. No water and soaring temperature can mean only one thing, less food.

California is not the only state to be experiencing several years of drought conditions. In Nebraska more than 2,000 cattle died recently during an unexpected spike in temperatures and humidity levels.
The Farm Service Agency’s Tim Reimer said mature cattle nearing slaughter are worth roughly $1,000 each, however the government reimburses at only $250.00 and loss do to nature are not covered by insurance.

Nebraska may not be seen as a big cattle region but Texas is. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say Texas farmers and ranchers, plagued by three years of drought, will have to wait until the fall for their share of $3 billion in federal assistance. Crop and cattle losses are staggering.

The Supplemental Revenue Assistance program reimburses farmers 60 percent of their losses, but the USDA says money for 2008 losses will not be disbursed until October or November. Losses from 2009 will not be paid until 2010.

Texas ranchers lost $569 million from November 2008 to March 2009, according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. When livestock losses from earlier in 2008 are added, the total is $829 million.

With losses like these do we really expect farmers to keep planting and ranchers to keep feeding their cattle? All this means supply will be down and when supply is down prices go up.

An El Niño weather pattern is now developing in the Pacific. This warming of the ocean water normally causes increased rainfall over land which may relieve the drought in the south west. The amount of rainfall is determined by the size of El Niño and this is still unknown. Even if should this prove to be a great El Niño the resulting rain will not arrive until winter.

All of this leads to one conclusion. Food prices will go up. We have been so focused on Pandemic Preparations that some may have forgotten our goal is to become self reliant no matter what the disaster or crisis we are facing. Let’s not slow down our efforts to stock our General Store and work on our food storage today.

A list of the foods we have stored so far is in your July newsletter and an updated list will be published every month in the newsletter. Copy the list and add to it each week as we post new items to purchase. Then, if you want to wait for a sale you will know what you are looking to buy. The last post with a summary is: http://blog.totallyready.com/?p=821 We have added few things since the post: veggies, powdered milk, fruit, sugar and condiments. A complete list is also in your Mother Hubbard ebook.

It may seem I refer to my books and newsletter too often buy honestly if you have them you will have so many of your questions answered. I just don’t have enough room to post all the information here.

Food storage, Our General Store

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