Re: US-Canada Trade War
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:41 pm
A couple years ago I decided that I wanted to understand milk prices, so I started researching.
I soon gave up.
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.PeterG wrote:A couple years ago I decided that I wanted to understand milk prices, so I started researching.
I soon gave up.
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.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.
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.lesterb wrote: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.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.
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.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.
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...ken_sylvania wrote: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.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.
And we pay $2.59 a dozen and think we're getting a good price.ken_sylvania wrote: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.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.
And now the Americans want to come along and destroy it all.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.