Going up !

Going up !
 
 
Well,well, that didn’t take long , where did Jan and Feb go?It really must be the fact that the older we get the quicker time goes.I wonder if that’s because as we get older we try and cram more in to the day ? Or is it because the older you get the slower we become and therefore doing the same amount just takes longer? Or maybe we're all so busy, busy, busy,we don't notice the time flying by?
 
I also have a sneaky feeling that the older you get the less you have to look forward too so time has a sneaky habit of moving faster. I say that because as a kid, I was always looking forward to the end of school term or a trip somewhere or Christmas or summer time and harvest and swimming etc . Of course despite my encouragement and wishing as hard as I could for the good times to hurry up and arrive, it seemed as if time deliberately slowed up so that they took an age to do so.Then to make matters worse, time would immediately speed up so that the long awaited good stuff seemed to be gone in a flash. I'm sure Professor Hawking would have his own views, but I say time is tricky stuff.
 
Anyway enough of that, as I really want to ponder on EVERYTHING GOING UP !
 
Diesel , petrol , food ,wheat ,barley , fertilizer and you can go on and on, the cost of everything just seems to keep rising.
A lot of these price increases are to do with global markets and the influences on them both political and climatic, so sadly somewhat beyond the control of a simple farmer. For example , the price of oil is going up due to the political upheaval that has been and is going on in the middle east , and North Africa, which I suppose you already know but there are other factors at work when it comes to rising commmodity prices.
 
The weather in Australia , central Russia and other countries has led to speculation over wheat and Barley supplies plus we , in this country ,have bi- ethanol plants coming on line. What you may ask has this to do with wheat prices? Well , these plants will make bi-ethanol from wheat and use up to 1.5 million tonnes per year between them. Demand for wheat
will therefore rise inevitably driving the market price for it upwards.Good news for us arable farmers but not so good for the Dairy and pig sectors as prices for their feed sore sky high and out of sync with the price of milk and pig meat.It also follows that the price to the consumer commonly known as the `housewife’, also has to go up to pay for it. Expect the price of bread to rise.
 
As far as I can see though, the really big issue that is driving up the price of your food and other commodities, and one that can be easily manipulated, is the cost of fuel .The government could cut the tax on fuel to allow some sort of price stabilisation, which in turn would allow hauliers to stabilise their prices to their customers, for don't forget, transport is the major cost in the production and supply of food and in fact any type of manufactured product. A second consequence of cutting the tax on fuel, would be that the general public would be spending less on food and of course their own fuel, so giving us consumers more free income at the end of the week which could be used to help us cope with the pressures of the economic recession. Of course, by spending it on other things, we also help to give a boost to our rather sorry looking economy. The result is a win, win situation and the problem of inflation is sorted out with a single blow.Simple!
 
Believe it or not , when I talked to Mr Hague before the election at Frome ,he said ;when I asked the question about fuel and the rural economy , that if they got into Government they would put into place a price stabilization mechanism ! WELL COME ON THEN ! Maybe I should pop  to London and remind him?
 
Well that’s sorted the economy out , now for an update on things that have been happening around here. We have managed to get the two dressings of ours into the four Waitrose stores that we have had oil in for the last year and we have got our oil into four new stores , Yippeee . We will let you know which ones as soon as we know.
We are also looking to get all our products into Dobbies garden centres and we will be doing some promotional work with Tesco as well.
 
Lastly ,I have a new farming radio show on FROME FM ( www.fromefm.co.uk ), my slot being from 4.30 to 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon starting on Sun March 6th .I will have chat, music and we will be talking live on the telephone to farmers around the area finding out what they are up to and how things are going and get their spin on the current economic situation. I hope loads of you will also tune in, and you can be part of the show by e-mailing, or texting me with any questions and I will try and answer as best I can .   Looking forward to it and to hearing from you.
 
PS As the home page says , come and see us at the Farm Shop and Deli show at the NEC Birmingham Feb27th to March 1st. See you there.
 
Andy