[John]

Will we see rationing again in Britain. A year ago I would have said no but now I fear we may well see rationing again.

Rationing May Come Again

[rowlandwells]

I think your possibly rite John because things have definitely gone up in price  we where told sunflower and rape seed oil  could be in short supply and this will drive up the price to the consumer

  I thought flour mite see another price increase we went to 3 supermarkets and out the 3 the co-op was the dearest and ASDA being the cheapest

it looks like  farmers round hear seem to be growing more rape crops and the crops look quite healthy despite the threat of dreaded flee beetle destroying the crop in the early stages of growth and me thinks these  crops could be a good cash crop come harvest 

so I think its going to be a suck it and see situation what actually does go up in price especially food prices in the coming months

[John]

What surprises me is how little the press are saying. Chairman of Tescos says it's going to be tough, chairman of Asda ditto and farming magazines are full of discussion about their problems.
Meanwhile our governments want to scrap growing food in favour of carbon capturing trees and supporting farmers who want to become a sort of theme park for the London elite. Next year when prices are up 40% and eggs are £2 a half dozen it's too late.
Perhaps they think we can just buy everything from the USA - well they've got their own problems and the USA will look after the USA first (fair enough)
I hoped to be easing back by now - instead I'm wondering if I've done enough and maybe I should increase the growing space further.

[coldandwindy]

I don't usually get involved in political threads but this really gets my goat. I regularly hear how near to self-sufficient UK is for various foods (we produce 75% of our own beef & 100% of our own lamb for example) BUT we produce those using imports & no one in government seems interested in that.
This week I went to the mainland to buy two things;
1] Fertilizer to put on the fields where I grow the silage that gets my beef cattle through next winter. There wasn't any & no one had any idea when any might be available because we are dependant on Russia for a lot of the ingredients.
2] I also needed sheep vaccines because this is the time of year when the "self-sufficient" UK sheep farmers decide which female lambs are good enough to keep & incorporate into the breeding flock to keep it going for future years. These lambs need to be vaccinated but the vaccines are unavailable because we don't make them in UK &  it is taking 13 weeks for them to clear customs at Dover.
 

[New shoot]

That is a massive worry for you Windy.  I hope you can get some help soon.  I think our farmers, large and small, are up against it this year.

From what I have seen at the shop I work at, the rationing of sunflower oil purchases by supermarkets is almost 100% driven by panic buying and hoarding.   We had people coming in with shopping trolleys wanting the clear the shelves of everything we had, so the signs went up and they are allowed 1 bottle each.

Lockdown taught the supermarkets a lot and the main lesson was to nip hoarding in the bud.  Once the supply chain is broken, it can take weeks for stock to come through and that means lots of other people going without.

There is a global problem looming over food security, fertilisers and farming and it not going to be easy anyone, especially poor nations.  We might not be able to do much as consumers about the root causes, but we do need to remember some of those war values.  Don’t be greedy, waste nothing, value everything that our farmers and our plots produce.   About 1/3 of what the world produces annually is wasted.  That needs to stop and we can all help with that.

[John]

I don't usually get involved in political threads but this really gets my goat.
 

I don't think this is a political thread - Westminster's Conservative, Wales Labour and they're pretty much singing from the same hymn book. It's really about a global problem and the effects it is likely to have on us in the UK. Generally we don't allow political discussion as such because people get so polarised and shouty on the topic. I don't think it's possible to have a rational, polite discussion on a public forum about BREXIT for example.
Perhaps some of the covid vaccine production facilities can be re-purposed to fulfil home markets for other vaccines.

[coldandwindy]

That is a massive worry for you Windy.  I hope you can get some help soon. 

Thank you.
A recently retired friend has found 3 bags of 20-10-10 in the back of his shed. That's less than I usually buy but a great help.
After much phoning round I found a vet on the island of Tiree who has some sheep vaccine, so there's a bottle in her fridge with my name on it & I just need to work out how to get it over here without it getting warm in transit.

From what I have seen at the shop I work at, the rationing of sunflower oil purchases by supermarkets is almost 100% driven by panic buying and hoarding.   We had people coming in with shopping trolleys wanting the clear the shelves of everything we had, so the signs went up and they are allowed 1 bottle each.

Yes, exactly. That sunflower oil you are selling now, is last year's crop. In the sectors I know something about there is no shortage at the moment because producers work 18 months to 2 years ahead.  There may even be more meat in the short term because a lot of farmers are planning to get rid of some breeding animals with a view to feed being expensive next winter.
Personally we will have the same numbers of lambs and calves for sale this autumn but next year is when there will be fewer.

[johnjsdb]

How many of us will be here next year.
I hope all of us.
God willing