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Topic: Corn & Oil Price Coupling (Read 1025 times) |
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Walter Watts
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Just when I thought I was out-they pull me back in
  
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Corn & Oil Price Coupling
« on: 2008-08-08 17:09:27 » |
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Here's something I've been noticing since the ethanol mandates were legislated:
Walter
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Walter Watts
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No one gets to see the Wizard! Not nobody! Not no how!
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Hermit
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Re:Corn & Oil Price Coupling
« Reply #1 on: 2008-08-16 07:54:00 » |
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It has done more than that perhaps. An oldish but still relevant story.
The U.S. Has No Remaining Grain Reserves
Source: Tri State Observer, Milford, PA
Authors: Not Credited
Dated: 2008-06-06
Refer Also:
Larry Matlack, President of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM), has raised concerns over the issue of U.S. grain reserves after it was announced that the sale of 18.37 million bushels of wheat from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.
“According to the May 1, 2008 CCC inventory report there are only 24.1 million bushels of wheat in inventory, so after this sale there will be only 2.7 million bushels of wheat left the entire CCC inventory,” warned Matlack. “Our concern is not that we are using the remainder of our strategic grain reserves for humanitarian relief. AAM fully supports the action and all humanitarian food relief. Our concern is that the U.S. has nothing else in our emergency food pantry. There is no cheese, no butter, no dry milk powder, no grains or anything else left in reserve. The o°©nly thing left in the entire CCC inventory will be 2.7 million bushels of wheat which is about enough wheat to make 1⁄2 of a loaf of bread for each of the 300 million people in America.”
The CCC is a federal government-owned and operated entity that was created to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices. CCC is also supposed to maintain balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities and aids in their orderly distribution.
“This lack of emergency preparedness is the fault of the 1996 farm bill which eliminated the government’s grain reserves as well as the Farmer Owned Reserve (FOR),” explained Matlack. “We had hoped to reinstate the FOR and a Strategic Energy Grain Reserve in the new farm bill, but the politics of food defeated our efforts. As farmers it is our calling and purpose in life to feed our families, our communities, our nation and a good part of the world, but we need better planning and coordination if we are to meet that purpose. AAM pledges to continue our work for better farm policy which includes an FOR and a Strategic Energy Grain Reserve.”
AAM’s support for the FOR program, which allows the grain to be stored o°©n farms, is a key component to a safe grain reserve in that the supplies will be decentralized in the event of some unforeseen calamity which might befall the large grain storage terminals.
A Strategic Energy Grain Reserve is as crucial for the nation’s domestic energy needs as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. AAM also supports full funding for the replenishment and expansion of Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.
The May 1, 2008 CCC Inventory report may be reviewed here
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Hermit
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Re:Corn & Oil Price Coupling
« Reply #2 on: 2008-08-16 08:09:18 » |
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Are feds stockpiling survival food?
'These circumstances certainly raise red flags'
Source: WorldNetDaily
Authors: Not Credited
Dated: 2008-07-25
A Wall Street Journal columnist has advised people to "start stockpiling food" and an ABC News Report says "there are worrying signs appearing in the United States where some … locals are beginning to hoard supplies." Now there's concern that the U.S. government may be competing with consumers for stocks of storable food. [ Hermit : As does NY Times, Reuters and many other sources. Although I suspect that this purchasing spree may have as much to do as the high probability of biowarfare as a consequence of forcing an unwilling Iran to war as it does about the parlous state of agriculture in the USA. ]
"We're told that the feds bought the entire container of canned butter when it hit the California docks. (Something's up!)," said officials at Best Prices Storable Foods in an advisory to customers.
Spokesman Bruce Hopkins told WND he also has had trouble obtaining No. 10 cans of various products from one of the world's larger suppliers of food stores, Oregon Freeze Dry.
He said a company official told him on the telephone when he discussed the status of his order that it was because the government had purchased massive quantities of products, leaving none for other customers.
That, however, was denied by Oregon Freeze Dry. In a website statement, the company confirmed it cannot assure supplying some items to customers.
"We regret to inform you Oregon Freeze Dry cannot satisfy all Mountain House #10 can orders and we have removed #10 cans from our website temporarily," the company tells frustrated customers. "The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well."
The company statement continues, "We want to clarify inaccurate information we’ve seen on the Internet. This situation is not due to sales to the government domestically or in Iraq. We do sell products to this market, but we also sell other market segments … The reason for this decision is solely due to an unprecedented sales spike in #10 cans sales.
"We expect this situation to be necessary for several months although this isn’t a guarantee. We will update this information as soon as we know more. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We sincerely hope you will continue to be Mountain House customers in the future," the company statement said.
But Hopkins wasn't backing away from his concerns.
"The government just came in and said they're buying it. They did pay for it," he told WND about the summertime shipment of long-term storage butter. "They took it and no one else could have it.
"We don't know why. The feds then went to freeze dried companies, and bought most of their canned stock," he said.
A spokeswoman for Oregon Freeze Dry, sales manager Melanie Cornutt, told WND that the increasing demand for food that can be stored has been on the rise since Hurricane Katrina devastated large sections of the Gulf Coast, cutting off ordinary supply routes.
"We are currently out of stock on our cans. We are not selling any of our cans," she confirmed.
She then raised the issue of government purchases herself.
"We do sell to the government [but] it is not the reason [for company sales limits]," she said.
Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency told WND whatever government agency is buying in a surge it isn't them. They reported a stockpile of about six million meals which has not changed significantly in an extended period.
But Hopkins said it was his opinion the government is purchasing huge quantities of food for stockpiles, and Americans will have to surmise why.
"We don't have shelters that [are being] stocked with food. We're not doing this for the public. My only conclusion is that they're stocking up for themselves," he said of government officials.
Blogger Holly Deyo issued an alert this week announcing, "Unprecedented demand cleans out major storable food supplier through 2009."
"It came to our attention today, that the world's largest producer of storable foods, Mountain House, is currently out of stock of ALL #10 cans of freeze dried foods, not just the Turkey Tetrazzini. They will NOT have product now through 2009," she said.
"This information was learned by a Mountain House dealer who shared it with me this morning. In personally talking with the company immediately after, Mountain House verified the information is true. Customer service stated, 'I'm surprised they don't have this posted on the website yet.' She said they have such a backlog of orders, Mountain House will not be taking any #10 can food requests through the remainder of this year and all of the next.
"Mountain House claims this situation is due to a backlog of orders, which may very well be true, but who is purchasing all of their food? This is a massive global corporation.
"One idea: the military. Tensions are ramping up with Iran and news segments debate whether or not we will implement a preemptive strike in conjunction with Israel," she wrote.
Hopkins raised some of the same concerns, suggesting a military conflict could cause oil supplies to plummet, triggering a huge increase in the cost of food – when it would be available – because of the transportation issues.
The ABC report from just a few weeks ago quoted Jim Rawles, a former U.S. intelligence officer who runs a survival blog, saying food shortages soon could become a matter of survival in the U.S.
"I think that families should be prepared for times of crisis, whether it's a man-made disaster or a natural disaster, and I think it's wise and prudent to stock up on food," he told ABC.
"If you get into a situation where fuel supplies are disrupted or even if the power grid were to go down for short periods of time, people can work around that," he said. "But you can't work around a lack of food – people starve, people panic and you end up with chaos in the streets."
At his California ranch, the location of which is kept secret, he said, "We have more than a three-year supply of food here."
In the Wall Street Journal, columnist Brett Arends warned, "Maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
"No, this is not a drill," he wrote.
His concern was about various food shortages around the globe, and the fact that in a global market, prices in the U.S. reflect difficulties in other parts of the world quickly.
Professor Lawrence F. Roberge, a biologist who has worked with a number of universities and has taught online courses, told WND he's been following the growing concern over food supplies.
He also confirmed to WND reports of the government purchasing vast quantities of long-term storable foods.
He said that naturally would be kept secret to avoid panicking the public, such as when word leaks out to customers that a [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70281#]bank may be insolvent[/url], and depositors frantically try to retrieve their cash.
"[These] circumstances certainly raise red flags," he said.
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Fritz
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Re:Corn & Oil Price Coupling: Stockpiling Food
« Reply #3 on: 2008-08-16 14:04:00 » |
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Quote:| [Hermit]<snip>that naturally would be kept secret to avoid panicking the public<snip> |
So "mums the word"; with public service hat on I provide list below, while working on touching toes to be able to kiss behind good-bye, at some point in the future.
Sigh
Fritz
Source=eHow
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging [Fritz]Clearly a reminder that we are no going to make it
Step1
Keep track of what your family eats on a regular basis, and determine which of those items you could double-up on each time you go shopping.
Step2
Look for items to add to your stockpile that require little or no preparation. Canned soups, chili, fruits and vegetables are good items to have in a stockpile. Crackers, peanut butter and other foods that don't require cooking are also excellent items to stockpile.
Step3
Include items for members of your household who may have special needs, including infants, pets and other household members who may have food allergies or chronic conditions such as diabetes.
Step4
Remember to include water in your stockpile. You should include at least 1 gallon per person per day in your stockpile. You can manage this by buying bottled water or by ensuring that you have the means to collect and purify that amount of water. That means making sure you have water containers, bleach or a means to boil water available even during power outages.( [Fritz] Lets see thats 365 days X 2 people X 1 Gallon = 730 Gallons hmmm Note: new justification to get a swimming pool )
Step5
Rotate the items in your stockpile so that they don't expire. Use the oldest items first. An easy way to do this is to organize your stockpile by item on your shelves. Each time you store newly purchased items, move the oldest items forward, and place the new items in the back.
Step6
Contact your doctor and insurance company to make arrangements to have at least a 1-month supply of prescription medications available in your stockpile for each household member who requires them. You should also purchase over-the-counter medications that members of your household regularly rely on.
Step7
Pay attention to food recalls. With the increasing number of recalls being issued by the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, it's possible some of the items you have stockpiled may eventually be recalled. Recent recalls include various types of peanut butter, canned hash and seafood.
[Fritz]living on a continent, always just 4 meals away from anarchy
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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DJ dAndroid
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Re:Corn & Oil Price Coupling
« Reply #4 on: 2008-08-17 01:12:49 » |
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Neat, thank-you Fritz. I've given tons of thought to survivalist, food-hoarding plans and strategies. One of my hobbies is even collecting the Cold War memorabilia relating to fallout shelter preparation, I have tons.
All I can say to that is without a house you're screwed. And probably even with a house but that's an aside... I have a pretty small 2-bedroom apt, and have a freezer pretending electricity wasn't an issue, etc. And even given notice couldn't hoard nearly enough food to last long without supplies coming in. It's always interesting for me to think about though!
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Shouldn't robots have the same right as humans to have gender and express their sexuality?
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Fritz
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Re:Corn & Oil Price Coupling
« Reply #5 on: 2008-08-17 17:11:24 » |
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Quote:| [DJ_dAndroid]And even given notice couldn't hoard nearly enough food to last long without supplies coming in. It's always interesting for me to think about though! |
[Fritz]The only example I have is 19 days without power in January of 1998 and temps going from -1 C to -25 C. Even then once I got the trees cut out of the way and snow blown I was able to get to Ottawa for provisions. (TG for my little Jeep Wangler it earned its keep for those 3 weeks.). What made it easier for me compared to others was, I had gone low tech, with wood stoves and had Aladin kerosene lamps. The barbeque had a full tank of propane and cooked lots of meals and the great outdoors subbed for the freezer. My well is free flowing so I had water I was able to haul from the basement facet. I had extra fuel on hand for chainsaws and reserve for vehicle (which has always been my practice).
Note worthy to me was after 1 weeks there was no fuel and supplies left in the area. If you had and empty gas tank in your car you were snookered since 100km away was the only gas.
The most sobering was that in a truly national disaster a month is about it for most in a Northern climate and that is if you have wood heat to keep warm; we don't keep enough stuff and home to last longer. In an Apartment in the city I can't image the problems and the issues; though the movies had given us some grim versions of what could happen.
And then those heroic researchers had to kick us ice storm survivors in the nuts with this ..... 
Ice storm babies prone to developmental delays: study
source: CBC News
date: Friday, August 15, 2008
Babies born to women who were pregnant during the 1998 ice storm in Eastern Canada and faced unusual stresses show some developmental delays such as lower IQ scores, researchers have found.
The study, to be published in September's issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, used data from 178 women who were pregnant during the ice storm. The researchers also examined 89 children who were born then.
In January 1998, 30 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured when the storm dumped as much as 108 millimetres of freezing rain on parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. More than three million Canadians lost power for as long as 40 days, according to the study.
The study is the first of its kind to examine the long-term health effects from the stress of natural disasters on mothers, the researchers said.
The children studied were about five years old when they were evaluated for their physical and cognitive behaviour.
Mothers who were highly stressed were more likely to see developmental delays in their children, the team found. The differences included IQ scores that were 10 points lower on average than for those born to less-stressed moms — a gap that could mean the difference between achieving an A or a B+ in school, the researchers said.
How mothers dealt with the emotional stress was not judged significant. "We expected that the greater the hardship, the greater the woman's distress, and that it would be that distress that would really be transmitted to the developing fetus," said the study's senior author, Suzanne King of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal.
"But in fact it's not, it's just what happens to the woman. It's her objective exposure to the stressor."
The researchers looked at stressors such as the number of days a mother went without power or the amount of financial loss families faced.
Nathalie Frechette was about one week away from giving birth when the ice storm hit, and was one of the participants in the study.
Frechette had a wood-burning stove, so when the power went out, she and her extended family stayed at their home in Brossard, in southwestern Quebec.
"I had to think about how I would get to the hospital, if there would be electricity at the hospital or not, if my house would be full of persons when I come back," Frechette recalled.
Frechette said she's realized she can't feel guilty about an event that she had no control over.
Premature babies often experience developmental delays, but usually catch up midway through their school years. It's possible the developmental delays seen so far will also go away over time, King said. She continues to monitor the children in the study.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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