Have the feed companies lost their minds? *Prices*

[Marty]

Two weeks ago at Tractor Supply I paid $14.99 for a bag of Purina Equine Sr. Last week I paid $16.99 for it. This should have given me a clue that something was going on with feed prices yet again.

So guess what I just paid for Equine Sr. this week? A whopping big $19.99!

That's correct folks. I have just paid $19.99 for a bag of Equine Sr.

Also, Strategy is now $17.99, up from the usual $13.49. And we are not supposed to notice? While still browsing prices I noticed that good ole sweet feed is included and Omolene 100 is also skyrocketed to $15.99 a bag and Safe Choice and the rest of them across the board have also been increased HUGE. They also carry some off-brand sweet feeds from local mills and they have gone up also by approx. $4.00 a bag. :arg!

The prices of Nutrena and TSC's other brand of Senior feed and it is exactly the same as Purina. $19.99 a bag.

I am here to testify that I do not want to participate!

But what other choice do we have?

The manager told me this has nothing to do with the feed companies. Her explanation of who to blame for this as was told to them in a TSC meeting is guess who? THE GOVERNMENT.

I was given a big explanation that I can't even begin to repeat it all correctly but it had to do with whatever the government has done to our farmers this time, so our farmers have no other choice then to increase the costs of their grains to the feed companies.

I also got Beet Pulp and Alfalfa Pellets for $8.99 but the bag has been shrunk down to a $20 lbs. bag

Seems whole oats are holding steady at $9.99 a bag which I also feed.

The manager told me to get prepared, that by January 2011 these prices are going to hit the roof like we have never seen before.

This has been a public service announcement.

 

[sedeh]

Yikes...that's a huge increase!!! I haven't had to buy more Enrich 32 yet....wonder what it's up to?? I don't feed too many other supplements though...until I need the Omelene 300 for the mares and foals.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

That is crazy. I don't feed Purina, one of the reasons was the prices. But my feed has also gone up just recently, I want to say it went up .75 cents. I don't yet pay over $14 but earlier this year it was $12. Still doesn't touch what you are paying, thats redicolous.

 

[chandab]

I was given a big explanation that I can't even begin to repeat it all correctly but it had to do with whatever the government has done to our farmers this time, so our farmers have no other choice then to increase the costs of their grains to the feed companies.

I also got Beet Pulp and Alfalfa Pellets for $8.99 but the bag has been shrunk down to a $20 lbs. bag

Seems whole oats are holding steady at $9.99 a bag which I also feed.

Sorry, but that's BS, farmers have little say in what they get for price on their products. Grain elevators (not sure if its the local elevators, or whomever dictates to them) and the government have more to say about what farmers get for their products than the farmers themselves. Same with cattle. If you hold out for higher prices, you likely won't be able to sell at all, or the floor might fall out from under you and you get a really low price.

So far, my feed is the same price, but we'll see in a couple weeks when its time to order again. I picked up a bag of crimped oats at Big R the other day and it was $10.99/bag. The last time I got beet pulp shreds at TSC they were $7.49/25#, pellets were $9.99/40# (might have been $10.99/40#). I have beet pulp pellets on order from my usual supplier, and he quoted me $9.50/50#; just waiting for them to get them in so I can go get them.

 

[ohmt]

Oh wonderful, more price increases!

The usda site may shed some light as to why the manager may have been fed a bit of bull. My grandfather farms 2000 acres of corn, oats, and wheat and he said this year was a really good one-even with corn down a bit. There have been a couple of farm bills passed, but my grandfather seemed either pleased or uneffected. Maybe it's just him though...

 

[vvf]

I just got back from TSC. I just paid $17.39 for Purina Senior. Which is less that you just paid Marty, but last week was right about $15 a bag.

And last week I had a rain check for some Strategy from 2 weeks ago, as they had ran a sale at $13/ bag, but ran out of the feed. I picked that feed up last week for that price and The manager told me that the price of feed would be going way up. (that was an understatement)

He said the price of corn that farmers were getting was $4.85/ bushel.... So, real good for the farmers, but not for consumers, as it was going to drive the feed prices up.

I seem to recall a couple years ago, when the Ethanol was being pushed and promoted, and that pushed up the corn prices, and the price of feed went real high, just like now.

 

[ohmt]

Vvf-corn prices are way down this year

 

[Jetiki]

Marty, You must have gotten the Manager they just fired from here because of the prices. Priced everything way more than they should have been and caused there sales to go elsewhere. There was a big sign here in TSC that said they'd match any competitors so find the nearest purina dealer thats not a TSC and call them and see their prices and then take them in if they are less than TSC.

Karen

 

[~Lisa~]

Our prices are holding but we pay alot

I pay 13 bucks for whole oats

25 bucks for Ultium

35 bucks for calf manna

35 bucks for rice bran

10 bucks for a now 40 lbs bag of beet pulp pellets

and the new strategy is about 16 bucks a bag

Thankfully the calf manna and the rice bran both last me 2 months-

 

[vvf]

Vvf-corn prices are way down this year

I thought that $2 -$3 per bushel was a normal price

 

[hunterridgefarm]

We also raise hogs for the meat. TSC price of their corn has jump up and the brand of their hog feed has jump too. but they allowed us to have Purina Hog and sow feed at their price.

We have to say that our local TSC has keep their prices down.

 

[ClickMini]

I feed Allegra Cadence, and noticed the same thing this week. The prices are skyrocketing! I mentioned it to the clerk, and she said it was diesel prices. I just mentally rolled my eyes because, while the fuel prices aren't super low, it ain't what it was like last year (or the year before?) when they went so high. I call bull. INFLATION!!!! Combined with the fact that the feed supplier is setting us up to know that hay might be short this year (higher prices) and it is easy to see why people should be very judicious about breeding their horses. As indicated by the MANY online auctions going on at this time, and the LACK of competitive bidding, not to mention all of the dispersal sales, it's obvious that people are having a hard time even supporting their minis!

 

[CZP1]

I saw the prices at one particular feed store in town that carries Purina and his prices seemed kind of high to me, compared to what they were the last time I was in there.

 

[ohmt]

vvf-my grandfather said prices on corn have dropped a lot. I believe in 2008 they skyrocketed though so this years dropping prices are probably getting them back down to where they are normally. I know prices on a lot of other things have gone up this year (like cotton-so next year will not be fun clothes shopping)

 

[Margo_C-T]

I have been using TC Senior( for my 28 YO, who can no longer chew hay; she has teeth, they just aren't very good, despite regular tooth maintenance for all the 25 1/2 years I've had her)and TC Lite(for everyone else), for some time; both are currently at $19.95/50 lb. bag, which is the LOWEST they've been in a couple of years, because when the big push to add ethanol began, both went to right at $22-23/bag, and it was nearly a year before they came back down even this relatively small amount!

That said...I am not at all surprised. Let me say that, even though I am conservative in many ways, I do not and have never watched Fox News, or Glenn Beck, or Rush Limbaugh, etc. I consider myself an independent thinker. The national network newscasts and shows such as "The Wall Street Journal Report" make clear, in various reports, that our national GOVERNMENT seems to believe that we 'need' some inflation, and are scared by the prospect of ANY deflation...i.e., the LOWERING of prices! Does that sound crazy, in a time when many don't have jobs or have had to severely 'cut back', and would really be HELPED by lower prices?? Of course, our GOVERNMENT likes to pretend that there is NO inflation; that's the 'reason' why COLA's have been denied to SS and other gov't. retirement plan recipients this year and already for next year...yet I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing that the costs of NUMEROUS items has been going up.I have NO DOUBT that it is some form of machination by our GOVERNMENT that is behind these price increases, and the worst is yet to come...if you wonder why, read up on the provisions of the new 'healthcare' bill; in particular: for anyone whose employer/former employer contributes to the cost of your healthcare plan, how that amount will be added into YOUR taxable income, so that you will be paying income tax on a possibly significantly HIGHER amount of 'income'that you will never lay your hands on...at the same time that the Bush-adminiatration tax breaks are being allowed to expire, meaning MANY citizens will already have received a larger--maybe MUCH larger--income tax 'hit'--when there could hardly BE a worse time for this to happen to taxpaying citizens!

Sorry to go somewhat OT--BUT, IMO, this is all 'tied together' in current national GOVERNMENTAL policies...and I suspect that an AWFUL LOT of U.S. citizens have NO IDEA what is about to happen to them! HUGE price increases in commodities and products are only part of it.(I do agree with those who think that it is not likely to be the farmers who are 'driving' these sizable feed price increases. I'd guess they would LIKE to have that kind of power, but don't...)

Margo

 

[vvf]

vvf-my grandfather said prices on corn have dropped a lot. I believe in 2008 they skyrocketed though so this years dropping prices are probably getting them back down to where they are normally. I know prices on a lot of other things have gone up this year (like cotton-so next year will not be fun clothes shopping)

I am not a farmer, but all the farmer neighbors around us seem to be very pleased with the price of corn this year.

I also work with a man that his brother is a full time farmer.... this man also works with his brother during the planting/ harvesting.

This man is always talking farm "stuff" with me. He came into work a couple weeks ago and tells me " Have you seen the price of corn?" Wow" I took that to mean that the price must be up and must be a good price.

 

[Sandee]

TSC is definitely not alone in the pricing. At our co-op the "generic" sweet feed (which don't get me started but I was told to feed my Shetland) went from $8.55 for 50# to $9.55 in two weeks time. Between the food he eats and the amount of bedding he goes though, that boy is gonna be expensive this winter!

 

[garyo]

Ruth and I meet with the manager of our local feed store this past week because we felt our feed prices were going up so quickly that we might need to change to a different brand. We do feed Purina products. The store manager said that he had a meeting with his Purina rep last week and was told that because of high grain prices that we would continue to see price increases. We looked into changing to a different brand but could not find comparable feed that would save us any money. According to him the price increases will continue across the board with all brands.

If the prices get too high we will have to cut back on the quality of feed that the horses get. At least the local feed stores prices are still cheaper then TSC.

 

[TMR]

Being a farmer and trading commodities, I can give a small insight on feed prices. One of the reasons feed prices are up are because Corn prices are up. Anyone can go to the Chicago Board of Trade website and see what corn prices are doing and have done in the past. For those that don't know the Chicago Board of Trade is where commodities are traded, which is what corn is a commodity (that is in very laymans terms). Corn prices are varied by many different factors such as current yield, export sales, weather, fight for acres, futures, etc. (again very basic explanation) So your feed prices are going to trend with corn prices, along with fuel prices, goverment, etc. If you ever listen to grain reports it can be frustrating and entertaining all at the same time. However, trading corn on the board the past few months I can say corn is up and we have done well.

Donna

 

[ohmt]

Vvf-you are right. I just talked to my grandpa and he said price for corn has gone up a lot since the beginning of october. He said while it's not yet up to 2008 prices, it's still pretty darn high. I guess the last time I talked to him was a while ago!