Recently I have heard that the Australian government has in place emergency laws to take control of your food if the occasion arises. Is this true? Do other governments around the world have similar policies in place?
I don’t know but with the way food prices are going it is highly likely that if food is needed to feed the nation, the governments will take over distribution. We have heard from many sources that China and India alone have more millionaires than we have people living in Australia. These millionaires will be able to afford to pay for food as the prices soar. It is estimated alone that food prices will quadruple in the next 5 years.
So the big question is: Will farmers gain from these massive increases in food prices?
I doubt it. I don’t know about you, but I get really upset when I talk with farmers about the poor deals they often get when selling to markets or are victim to fluctuating market p
Well how do you command the prices you want?
What if you developed your own chain of distribution and had preorders for your produce? Is it possible to do that? If you did, you certainly would both control your market and be able to demand the prices that you deserve.
Well we can tell you with certainty of 2 farmers who have done just that.
Prime lamb producer Jennifer Echwamber devised a plan not only to pre sell her lambs into the market, she also demanded top price for doing so. At first her specialty was to choose a gourmet butcher to cut up the meat just the way her customers wanted it down to type of cuts and size of cuts. Then she would offer to divide the lamb into packs as required by the customer. All went well until Jennifer was left with unsold lamb as someone had gone away or else failed to reorder. So Jennifer designed a service whereby she called customers to place their orders up to 6 months ahead. This way she could plan to presell all her lamb and also keep the customer happy. She was paid very well for this service.
Another story that I can tell is about fresh vegetable grower John Peterson who one year was stuck with a massive crop of pumpkins when his deal with a national chain was cancelled when it was too late! The pumpkins were ready to deliver. At about the same time a local buyers group in nearby Chicago called to ask John to supply them direct. He hesitated at first as it seemed so risky to presell all his produce to 1 big group. However not only have members of this group preordered most of his produce up to 5 years in advance, they have also prepaid so even if there is a crop failure they wear the cost! Then when John ran out of land to meet demands, the group bought it for him so that he could keep supplying them. When we met John he had been away from his farm for 3 years sharing his story around the world.
How would you like to be in Jennifer or John’s position?
From the outside looking in, you the farmer are in the box seat. You’ve got what the world’s peoples both want and need and it’s time to start looking very seriously of how you can command the prices you need to get your proper rewards. Is there a group who would support you or can your present group develop new markets which put you back in the box seat?
