You have to follow the market......supply the demand...

Urgh has the right idea......I saw how demand is up for his product.
Sheep prices hit all time high for Navajos

 

I spent some time on the Navajo Reservation last October to see the Anasazi ruins at Canyon de Chelly. Those ruins aren't as large as those in other places, but the setting along the red cliffs of the canyon are simply spectacular! The sheep the Navajo raise must be pretty tough animals, because the grazing land is along the narrow floors of those canyons. The Navajo are pretty tough too, but warm and helpful to outsiders.

 

I have lived at various corners of the Rez most of my life.........I agree that the Canyon de Chelly is a very beautiful area as are many places in and around the Rez lands. I am sure the root cause of pricey meats is the drought that has made it more difficult for those who have animals....in most cases they have to buy from various sources to feed hay and that has become rare and gone up in price as well. Thanks for posting some remarkable pictures from the Arizona side.

 

In the larger US market, the price of forage has gone up in direct relation to the gasohol subsidies. Everyone is moving to corn which reduces the amount of land in wheat/hay or other crops, which then indirectly impacts the price of beef/pork/mutton across the northern half of the country where feed has to be supplemented in winter months. A domino effect.

 

Still don't understand the fact that crop by products are being turned into gas- (rather than turned back into the soil)...Had a post several years ago where a contributor here expounded on how brilliant using plant matter for gas additive was the best thing since sliced bread...Still say it's a slap in the face to the poor/hungry...Would gladly pay more for gas if land dedicated to growing ethanol were to grow food stuffs and supplied to those who need it.

 

Why pay for gas at all...? Why are we still using gas??

 

What do you say Luke?...Electricity?...Hydrogen maybe. I'm getting too old to ride my bike everywhere... Florida- I'd last another 20 yrs... Can't ride here in the snow...If it's not the snow, it's the wind. Sure getting there -might not be a problem (may not even have to pedal), but getting home is hell...
You guys have seen the movies. With the tumble weeds tumblin'...Well, here it's a fact. You do not want to get hit with a tumbleweed. On a bike or in a car. They look like living creatures, roaming across the prairie in herds and they posses excellent timing. Our natural instincts are to swerve when a large object comes into our path- saved a tumble weed, killed a KIA...sniff

 

Massive Volts! : )
Drags in twenty years are gonna be awesome!

 

When food competes with gasoline....when they began using alcohol to blend with gas....a new discovery was made.....the octane of poor gas blends went up, and the alcohol also caused better oxygenation of the total gas burn reducing pollution output. Upon this realization it no longer was a competition needing subsidies for using food for gas. So the subsidies don't really matter except it may bring down the price of gas a bit......but we are dependent on alcohol from corn/bio-matter for making our refining of gasoline cheaper. It is today our magic additive. We probably won't burn that much more alcohol because the one negative it has is it does bring down gas mileage. However, a certain amount of our food is now going to be sacrificed to provide the additive whether it is subsidized or not.....if it is left out gas will have to undergo more expensive refining to meet specs, so it is most likely that a certain amount of alcohol will always be wanted by refiners to make their gas costs competitive. Until we drop our demand for gasoline or heavily up our prices for corn we are going to be burning it in our gas to be able to afford our growing use of gasoline/alcohol......those of you who drink a lot are probably the worst culprits doing away with the food supply, or the gas supply? Perhaps drinkers would be more fair to pedal bikes more so alcohol is abundant for transportation or food...Yes? (put things in question form so I won't be hit.) (now I am worried about my friend Poppy, who may pedal all the way to the bar, compete with the corn eaters by consuming corn products, then eating corn nuts to get enough energy to pedal back to the house).....the things we have to do to live nowadays.

 

Any marginal reduction in gas price is offset by the spike in food prices and taxes. And ethanol is not good for the environment.

Ethanol is simply another pork barrel project to fleece taxpayers so a few politicians can get reelected in their home states with farm votes. The person really paying the price is that old Navajo woman on a fixed income who has to pay more for her cut of mutton.

 

Lamb in UK has dived again...50 quid is about right here now...A half or even a third on recent year prices of late.

Crops going back into ground....Over here supermarkets want the straight carrot, the correctly measured sprout, the right colour broccoli, or they won't buy...So the choice is to put back into the ground as composting or give or sell to us sheep folk for a few quid of its worth as feed in lambing and winter supplement...Hence we had tons of beat, and a barn of sprouts last year. I was throwing hundreds of broccoli's to sheep at night over gates, and then going to supermarket and laughing at the nearly one pound price tag in the veg section...and I'd probably just thrown a few hundred in to sheep in one night.

 

Silly bloody world we live in now...Im gladdened your flock eats like kings...

 

Oh....besides high mutton prices the Navajos have a large gas bill.....to reach anywhere for groceries on rez lands is always a long trip so they pay both ways.....for food and for travel. Now those Broccoli, beat, and sprout fed sheep.....I am getting hungry myself just thinking what they get to eat....those items are expensive around here. I might like to eat with Urgh's sheep. We are now talking food waste....that could be used to increase a distillers mash. Not that I want to make anyone thirsty but Urgh are you sure you don't have any diversion for distillation purposes?......of course for use in the chittys (Navajo nickname for automobile).

 

On the subject of food...today's egg bounty...

 

This sheep should go with the topic quite well

 

Wondered what the sheep would look like that layed those multi-colored eggs? Poor Tex......diversity raised its ugly head again.

 

Awww you lot didn't know sheep ewes lay eggs then?

 

Urgh....the older I get the many more things I realize I don't know.....now.....does one have to pay an animal tax or a fowl tax in your country.....as some states require here?......or with your magic animals do you have to pay both?

 

Errr....we actually get a flock numbers subsidy...All the rest of admin rules though are designed to stop anyone having sheep...

 

On the bright side not much of a drought here Down Under ^^ Just need to get that damn AUD down so we can export more of our food (produce enough for 90+ million to eat 3 good meals a day)