Feed Prices

vickeym

Is anyone else seeing major price jumps in the feed costs? We were paying $680 a ton for our chicken feed just a short time ago. It has been going up steadily. This week it went to $1000 for the ton. And the person we get our feed from has had poor growth and crop failure issues. No field peas which are the main protein source in our feed mix. There will be no more feed this year from him.

Moving to commercial feed will put the feed at $1400 a ton for our next load. With 200 birds, we are likely going to end our egg selling business. With the cost continuing to rise it will not be possible to sustain that many birds. Most likely will end up keeping just enough for ourselves.

Will be rethinking where our homestead is going from here at this point.

LaurieLovesLearning

Yes, we have seen it rise substantially. My husband says the price has gone up by 75%. This is why we more recently bought a supplement to add to grain. It costs less, but is still pricey. We have more options (at least for now) than you do, being in the middle of a grain growing area.

It has baffled me for a long time (and this has been a thorn in my side again lately) how people with other food products can ask/demand an increasing price point for their products, yet people insist on only paying 1970s prices for eggs...and poultry (live/processed) as well. For years already, the chicken owners oblige by charging those low prices, essentially giving their product away, while thinking they are making money because they see cash in hand. The grain prices & associated costs increase, the store price increases, but theirs don't, or they sell for less or equal that in the stores...which does not match the cost of keeping birds. No small farmer's overhead is going to be less than a conventional chicken barn's once you take the time to figure in all costs, and I can easily back that statement up.

(For those unaware, brown eggs cost more because the hens eat more for the amount of eggs they produce & marans eggs are even more so. Some brown layers are also often larger than the skinny leghorn.)

It is a very strange phenomenon. I refuse to sell at cheap prices and don't support underselling if I buy. At some point, however, you can no longer expect to raise prices & be able to sell...like what we are now begonning to see. It may be counter-intuitive in a way, but I will give the eggs away to people in need before I will support that practice of under selling.

There is an older lady here who stated that she wants "normal" eggs...so white, from the tiny layer type that I don’t keep, and doesn't understand both the cost of keeping chickens today nor the feed intake costs of raising larger birds than the skinny leghorns. She, like others, sees the high prices in the store, but knows that most farm people under sell. Thus, I haven't sold eating eggs for a few years, and we didn't do much of eating egg sales before anyway. Thats not my focus. You really can't make money at it if you consider costs & time involved. We have been able to keep up with our season of overabundance of eggs now anyway with kids who are growing like weeds.

I make my asking price for eating/hatching eggs & birds match the cost as closely as I can, but selling any of it may become such that it no longer pays for itself, even with heritage birds. I keep these birds because I like & appreciate them, & I believe that keeping heritage breeds going & also improving on them is important to the future of keeping & they do help feed us. We know our food. I don't keep them to make money. I'm not under that illusion.

We mainly keep birds for ourselves. Any sales (as much as they might look like I'm making lots) essentially just supplement keeping the birds.

Anyway, sorry for the kind of off topic rant.

Michelle D

My calculations put our chicken feed price at almost 60% more then we were paying at the beginning of the year. We are also having a lot of trouble constantly getting the same feed.

I have had plenty of people ask me if I would sell eggs. And just like previously stated by others, people don't understand the cost and can't believe how much I would have to charge to make it worth doing that.

I have my birds mainly because I want to know what is going into my food and I like the self sufficiency options it gives me. Although, I do very much get joy from them. They are fun and I find that my stress levels decrease when I go out and sit with them for a few minutes.

Marjory Wildcraft

Ugh, while this is bad news, I am glad you wrote in. I trust this community and it helps me tremendously as there is so much crazy news out there.

But yes, there is this big crunch happening in the global food supply.

A short story: about a decade ago I was hosting barter and trade gatherings up at my barn. About 30 nieghbors and friends? It was fun as we were all trying to figure out the relative value of items. I for one knew just how much work went into my producing, er, my chickens producing, a dozen eggs. And at that time I considered their 'price' to be about $20/dozen.

I was super happy to have supply for my family and to give some as gifts. But to sell them? Now you are getting into real work and I value my time and energy highly. LOL

VermontCathy

This is important information for anyone thinking of raising chickens for eggs, even just for your own use. It's difficult to be self-sufficient if you have to spend large amounts of cash to keep your birds fed.

I think we'll see significant increases in eggs from all suppliers, large and small, as input prices rise. It's hard for a small supplier to be the first to raise prices when others are underselling, but I think you'll find in 2023 that no one will be offering eggs at the low prices consumer expect. People will have to pay more for eggs or do without them.

I'm less concerned about paying more and more worried that foods like eggs won't be available at any price.

SuperC

Wow, chicken feed sure has risen a lot in price. Thank you all for sharing this pricing info.

LaurieLovesLearning

@VermontCathy A logical person might think keepers will all raise their prices, but as much as some people will actually sell for more (most still won't reflect inputs and so, pay to sell), some will certainly still be underselling for the same 1970s prices here. There are way too many customers who remember those prices, don't care about inputs & costs and many sellers who don't figure their costs. Some farmers who have chickens don't consider that even if the chickens are eating their homegrown grain that that grain would have sold for high prices...its not free eating.

Some customers, as they've always done, will boldly proclaim that they can find eggs cheaper elsewhere or say that's way too much, to guilt some sellers into dropping their prices. Then there are the Hutterites here, with chicken barns or hobby flocks, who will still sell cheaper. That doesn't help either.

Customers will figure that they should get eggs cheap because they need to save on their food budget more than ever now & target eggs...to get eggs for less (all the sellers I mentioned above perpetuate this behavior).

If you sell, you should know what your costs are & your quality is (think of choice of feed & marketing terms that demand higher prices) and should state the price accordingly. If someone doesn't like your price, stick to your guns with solid reasons. They can hassle someone else. You would not run any other business that way. If you did, you wouldn't be in business very long. But...

I do think at some in the near future, the egg (& all livestock) market will cease to be because it won't pay to sell & customers won't be able to buy. Its the way things are going unless something intervenes worldwide. The powers have stated that they want us to eat bugs after all. That's when bartering may become more of a thing.

vickeym

Yes, we have had to raise the price of our eggs and would need to continue doing so. So much so, that I can no longer justify the possibility of continuing to sell. Most of our customers know the difference between the store bought and ours and realize we put a lot of work and effort into our birds. Many of them have had chickens in the past themselves and either don't have the time, space or inclination to do the work and would rather pay us.

Those that can't see it usually don't stay customers long, they move on to the folks who under sell or try to compete with the stores.

No matter what happens we will keep enough for ourselves and a few friends, but not sure we can continue as a local supplier. It's a shame because we also donate a lot of them to our local food bank. While they do get eggs from the stores, The director of the food bank tends to save our homegrown for the seniors they serve that can better appreciate and benefit from the extra nutrition of good quality eggs. Many eat very little at a time so getting better food into them, especially those who don't qualify for most other programs, can be a big benefit.

SuperC

@vickeym you and the production you have are certainly allowing the donated eggs to fill the tummies of many worthy people, thank you for your hard work :)

water2world

@vickeym This was something that I had not even thought about. So sorry that this is happening to you! Our cattle have plenty to graze on and we have hay fields that supply their hay. But I can see when this might start to trickle drown to us! Lots to think about!

vickeym

@water2world We have had hay and straw shortages here for most of the summer. And once winter snow hits (somewhere between September and December) there is no access to grazing and such for most of our state until sometime between late April and the end of May.

One reason why there are not many cattle farms here. Extremely expensive to over winter them even on a good growing year.

water2world

@vickeym Makes me feel guilty! We have our cows on 200 acres---plus rotating hay fields. The barn is full of hay. We are going to be making changes this next year!

Marjory Wildcraft

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/916045#Comment_916045

Hi @LaurieLovesLearning yes, I believe you are correct about the end of various markets. I know I've heard since I was knee high to a grasshopper that the US has been printing too much money and the house of cards... But it really is happening now. When the US dollar collapses no one is going to know what the3 value of anything is. It is why we all must have backup food and other reserves - so we don't have to be in tyhat chaotic scramble.

But alos recall that there will be incredable opportunities opening up in this time of change. Having reserves, being a producer, and having clear vision and courage gives you a tremendous advantage.

LaurieLovesLearning

@Marjory Wildcraft That is good as long as you can manage to keep your land & animals somehow. Right now, the powers that be are trying their best in their underhanded ways to take the land and ability to produce from farmers. This is happening through various avenues.

Right now, as you probably know, the Netherlands is in turmoil with what their govt is demanding (many saying the govt wants to take their land), and Canada is very quickly following their lead. This is under the political pretense of climate change. A lot of quiet (and some not so) but very disturbing actions are being taken by the power hungry.

Many farmers are so far into debt & farming in such a spider's web, that changing their methods is not possible. They are stuck. Many will lose their land, animals & livelihood. Guess who that will go to? And, once taken, they won't give it back.

I understand that land has & is being bought up in the US by non-farmers as well (I'm not going into the naming of names, that just makes discussions go into crazy mode), and the same has been/is happening up here, mainly by rich foreign buyers who may never set foot in our country or know anything about farming. The farmers run on increasing huge debt & loans. This makes it impossible for family to take it over. Who buys it? It's not hard to figure that out.

Then, with the digital ID (incl. digital currency, social scoring, etc.) like China has, quickly coming to fruition in some countries (ours being one), there is yet another means to control and grab, and they will.

It is certainly far from an ideal situation, but we are best off at this time to make sure we put our nose to the grindstone, so to speak, and learn all we can in the time we are given. Not just read (which is still very important), but DO and do it efficiently. Make wise choices moving forward. "Clean out the chaff." Be willing to change things up & discard the fluff that is truly not worth our time & effort. Get our hands dirty. Learn what we can with what is available to us, and learn each skill very well.

It is not the time to whittle away our time, but put it to productive use and be focused, yet open to switching gears or branching off, if required.

It's like planting a seed & nurturing it. All the while encouraging & teaching others to do the same. And, that's what has brought each one of us here. I am very grateful for the open desire to learn within this community, and the willingness to share what we know. It puts all of us in a better place to face the future.

vickeym

@LaurieLovesLearning

It's like planting a seed & nurturing it. All the while encouraging & teaching others to do the same. And, that's what has brought each one of us here. I am very grateful for the open desire to learn within this community, and the willingness to share what we know. It puts all of us in a better place to face the future.

Very well said. Unfortunately, we are in for very rough times ahead. And I am not sure there is any chance we can stop what is coming. All we can hope for is to be as prepared to take care of ourselves as possible and help where we can in our communities.

Monek Marie

A few years ago I have 200 chickens. Last year with moms health I moved most of them on to new homes but no one wanted the banties ( I love banties)

After mom passed and eggs were outrageous I picked up a few more chickens just in case it got to the place where you could not get chickens any more. My food cost is way down but the prices have sky rocketed and go up every time I shop. I changed where I buy feed plus I supplement my chickens with garden produce now, but in the winter? I will probably have to cut back on my chickens.

We also have more regulations and places making it difficult if not impossible to have animals and even gardens.

kbmbillups1

Wow!! Everything has gone up! I don't know anyone around me that sells eggs. I've only had grocery store eggs and for years I've been trying to buy the best organic ones found in my area according to Cornucopia Institute score card. Those eggs have really gone up in price - by 2 and 3 dollars a dozen or more. They were always way more than the store brand organic eggs. So, some are $8 and $9 a dozen now. Most are not selling so I think people are buying the store brand ones now.

VermontCathy

Every egg producer needs to decide what is best for them -- sell to the public, trade only with a few neighbors, produce only for one's own consumption, etc.

Hobby chicken owners, in particular, will probably just cut down on the number of chickens and focus only on what they can use themselves instead of paying more for feed.

I am concerned that too many will choose to cut back to home-only production instead of raising prices. Those of us who aren't in a position to raise our own hens may find it difficult to get eggs at all.

vickeym

@VermontCathy We have been considering all those options. The hard part is figuring out how much people will actually be willing or able to afford to spend on eggs before it becomes a luxury item they pass on in favor of store bought for those same reasons.

We would really like to continue but as feed prices continue to get higher and feed becomes harder to get it may not be possible, We are in a small rural community so most folks have the possibility to raise if not the inclination.

Marjory Wildcraft

@vickeym What is something worth and what people are willing/able to pay will be THE question going forward. The price craziness has only just begun. Sigh.