US-Canada Trade War

Events occurring and how they relate/affect Anabaptist faith and culture.
PeterG
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by PeterG »

A couple years ago I decided that I wanted to understand milk prices, so I started researching.

I soon gave up.
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appleman2006
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by appleman2006 »

PeterG wrote:A couple years ago I decided that I wanted to understand milk prices, so I started researching.

I soon gave up.
I will be the first to admit that our system here in Canada is pretty complicated. I have been an out spoken critic of it for years. My beef with it has been that they should have limited the value of the quota so that you would not be allowed to ever sell it for more than what you bought it for thus keeping it from becoming a commodity in and of itself. I realize this would of also created problems as well. The real fact is that a farmer starting out today in the dairy industry has almost no chance of actually making money unless he inherits a substantial amount of his farm. It simply does not pencil out. An established farmer on the other hand can make a pretty good living at least if he figures in the fact that the price of farms will go up.

I know of many dairy farmers in this area that have lived fairly meagre lives the whole time they were on the farm but the minute they sold out they became multi millionaires and I mean multi. Even a small 50 cow heard farmer that started farming in the mid to late eighties will almost certainly have it made not because they made so much selling milk but because the value of their quota and their farms increased so much. But hey, anyone that has to milk twice a day seven days a week deserves it IMO. :)
The other thing is that while milk and cheese prices are high here they are stable. And supply managed products are the one food item that has kept pace with inflation as it relates to other things such as wages and such. That cannot be said for most other food prices.
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lesterb
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by lesterb »

mike wrote:The last few weeks I'm able to literally buy good quality cheeses like cheddar, colby, mozzarella, provolone, etc at wholesale for in the $1.79 per pound range. Price levels not often seen.
And of course, most of the retailers in the US are pocketing the extra profit. So cheese is probably costing the same for the consumer, while people like ???? are filling their pockets. 8-)
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by mike »

lesterb wrote:
mike wrote:The last few weeks I'm able to literally buy good quality cheeses like cheddar, colby, mozzarella, provolone, etc at wholesale for in the $1.79 per pound range. Price levels not often seen.
And of course, most of the retailers in the US are pocketing the extra profit. So cheese is probably costing the same for the consumer, while people like ???? are filling their pockets. 8-)
Overall, low prices do make more money for retailers, but a lot of that is actually due to lowering retail prices which increases volume. When I can snag a 1.79/lb deal on a ton of cheese I typically run a super special on whole blocks at 1.99/lb and use it as a way to draw customers into the store.

But there is a limit to that. Down here the egg market has been in a terrible state because of oversupply. I kid you not I bought several pallets of large eggs today for 50 cents/ dozen. NOBODY including the retailers makes money at that price. I'll be grossing 9 cents per dozen on them which barely pays for the space they take up in the store. At least I'm not actually losing anything, and it benefits customers and thus benefits my business indirectly through increased traffic etc. In contrast to the producer who is almost certainly losing money. There is a point where you can only just move so much product. Something is seriously messed up with the egg market.
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ken_sylvania
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by ken_sylvania »

mike wrote: But there is a limit to that. Down here the egg market has been in a terrible state because of oversupply. I kid you not I bought several pallets of large eggs today for 50 cents/ dozen. NOBODY including the retailers makes money at that price. I'll be grossing 9 cents per dozen on them which barely pays for the space they take up in the store. At least I'm not actually losing anything, and it benefits customers and thus benefits my business indirectly through increased traffic etc. In contrast to the producer who is almost certainly losing money. There is a point where you can only just move so much product. Something is seriously messed up with the egg market.
Good old supply and demand. Commercial eggs made a killing for a couple years in a row, and too many people added capacity. Now the market is flooded.
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by mike »

ken_sylvania wrote:
mike wrote: But there is a limit to that. Down here the egg market has been in a terrible state because of oversupply. I kid you not I bought several pallets of large eggs today for 50 cents/ dozen. NOBODY including the retailers makes money at that price. I'll be grossing 9 cents per dozen on them which barely pays for the space they take up in the store. At least I'm not actually losing anything, and it benefits customers and thus benefits my business indirectly through increased traffic etc. In contrast to the producer who is almost certainly losing money. There is a point where you can only just move so much product. Something is seriously messed up with the egg market.
Good old supply and demand. Commercial eggs made a killing for a couple years in a row, and too many people added capacity. Now the market is flooded.
Likely so. And my guess is nobody bails out egg producers - they just don't have the clout of the dairy and grain farmers. They just die...

Image
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ken_sylvania
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by ken_sylvania »

Now if they could get some chickens to lay golden eggs....
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39b6e300-2140-11e7-ad07-bb42f8cd6cc4_Screen-Shot-2017-04-14-at-2-25-41-PM.png (325.39 KiB) Viewed 351 times
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appleman2006
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by appleman2006 »

It is not just your egg market that is messed up. Your cheese market is as well. There is no way that producers or processors are making money at that price. I do not care how big or how efficient they are.

I remember a number of years ago when your milk prices were almost at the level of ours and dairy farmers were making a killing down there. Most people do not complain when supply and demand works in their favour. But it is why as a small retailer I have no qualms about making extra money on a product when I am able too. No one comes to my aid when I lose on a product. And if you do not at times take advantage of the down prices you will not make it in retailing. Of course on staple commodities like milk and eggs it is almost impossible to do as they are commonly used, as Mike described above, as loss leaders.

It is true. Supply management, even with all it's downsides has provided a stable market for years in the industries that have it. Our herd sizes do not fluctuate up and down nearly as much as yours do.
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lesterb
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by lesterb »

ken_sylvania wrote:
mike wrote: But there is a limit to that. Down here the egg market has been in a terrible state because of oversupply. I kid you not I bought several pallets of large eggs today for 50 cents/ dozen. NOBODY including the retailers makes money at that price. I'll be grossing 9 cents per dozen on them which barely pays for the space they take up in the store. At least I'm not actually losing anything, and it benefits customers and thus benefits my business indirectly through increased traffic etc. In contrast to the producer who is almost certainly losing money. There is a point where you can only just move so much product. Something is seriously messed up with the egg market.
Good old supply and demand. Commercial eggs made a killing for a couple years in a row, and too many people added capacity. Now the market is flooded.
And we pay $2.59 a dozen and think we're getting a good price. :-|
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lesterb
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by lesterb »

appleman2006 wrote: It is true. Supply management, even with all it's downsides has provided a stable market for years in the industries that have it. Our herd sizes do not fluctuate up and down nearly as much as yours do.
And now the Americans want to come along and destroy it all. :? :shock:
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