Feeling sorry for farmers? ... screwed over by supermarkets?

[deltaevo16]

In answer to the original post , I do feel sorry for farmers, the major supermarkets have driven down the price paid for product, but put the prices up to the consumer. Many posters seem to have a rose tinted view of farming, a large majority of farmers have a huge struggle to maintain a decent quality of life given the amount of hours they put in.

Recent story
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/te...

I do agree that there are some very rich farmer/landowners but these are really few and far between. A good friend of mine is a sheep/cattle farmer near Elgin in Scotland, I would not consider them to be well off, his wife has had a decent job outside farming for twenty odd years without that I doubt they would have survived.
They don't own a flash car, or take holidays maybe the odd weekend here and there. The farm has been in the family for several generations I guess that's why they do it.

Don't forget they have had bse, foot and mouth, to contend with as well, leaving many businesses with high amounts of debt.

[henrycrun]

Was hoping that the Supermarket Watchdog was going to make things better, but maybe not -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233710/Su...

[M001]

stichill99 said:

I would just like to ask people when they are in the supermarket to look at the price of potatoes. I saw a 1kg pack at £2.50,when you multiply up that is £2500 a ton. The farmer is currently getting about £280 after getting crap yields and probably having sold his tatties on a forward contract. We sold our malting barley this year for £130 pounds a ton(contract price)..

Christ! That,s some mark up, even allowing for packaging and transport.

[Willy Nilly]

alangla said:

Looks fairly agricultural to me.

Most modern farm machine bare a closer resemblance to a 7 Series than that.

[Art0ir]

I have relatives that farm. One has vegetables and sheep, the other cattle for meat. The former has a new RR and plenty of pickups, etc around but he's smart enough to be able to run most of that through the business and as far as I can work out pays a fraction of RRP on most of it.. but his family also live extremely frugally - shopping for bargains, not leaving the heat on 24/7 etc. and they all work bloody hard, both the father and the three sons. I stayed with them when I was a kid over the summer and 12-14 hour days were the norm.

The latter works with his brother and is right on the breadline, driving a Carina E he bought at auction for £250.

[heebeegeetee]

Ed Grundy's having it tough at the moment.

[dandarez]

M001 said:

stichill99 said:

I would just like to ask people when they are in the supermarket to look at the price of potatoes. I saw a 1kg pack at £2.50,when you multiply up that is £2500 a ton. The farmer is currently getting about £280 after getting crap yields and probably having sold his tatties on a forward contract. We sold our malting barley this year for £130 pounds a ton(contract price)..

Christ! That,s some mark up, even allowing for packaging and transport.

Price of potatoes?
Really depends on which variety and where you shop. We shop around, best way (if you have the time of course).
Waitrose (as an example) is not cheap, but then again can be 'dirt' (pun intentional!) cheap for spuds.

Take these currently working out at £4.95 a kilo!!
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-100...

On New Year's Eve Waitrose were reducing £2.50 2.5k bags of Maris Piper for 10p (yes, 10p!) - needless to say I grabbed a few bags.

[Slobberchops]

The Crack Fox said:

An old friend of mine comes from a farming family, got a good degree in farm management (or whatever it's called), worked his way up to managing a collosal farm in Lincs owned by the co-op. A very clever and hard working chap. His take home, after rent and other deductions, was £7k. A year. He has since emigrated...

Roger?

[anonymous-user]

blearyeyedboy said:

I know quite a few farmers. They are as broad a species as "businessmen". Some are wealthy landowners and some are barely scratching out an existence on sub-minimum wage. Most are somewhere in between, as with most stereotypes.

The wealthy ones are the more visible but a small proportion. Most of the rest still don't need pity; they're doing OK. A significant minority are really struggling.

This accords with my experience. I know five farmers, and they range from the wealthy to the barely scratching a living.

[alfabadass]

Poor farmers in their massive country houses and stloads of land and army of low paid workers.

[Jasandjules]

alfabadass said:

Poor farmers in their massive country houses and stloads of land and army of low paid workers.

I bet you don't know any personally then. When you do, come back to the thread and post from the position of knowledge.

[Fun Bus]

alfabadass said:

Poor farmers in their massive country houses and stloads of land and army of low paid workers.

I get the impression that many are asset rich and cash poor. The land and houses having been passed through the generations.

[anonymous-user]

The houses and other buildings may be in poor condition, and the land has not always been improved. As noted above, as with any form of business, some farmers are efficient and successful, others less so, and luck, of course, plays a part. The (now ex) farmer that I know best has despaired of his family's refusal to modernise their dairy farm, which is barely profitable, and has converted his Territorial Army career into a full time military career instead. Another bloke that I know works very hard on his small arable farm, supplemented by his wife's B and B and small equestrian business, but he is at the mercy of weather and supermarket buyers, who drive very hard bargains. He has boom years and bust years. Another bloke I know has a large farm, has diverse business interests, plans well ahead, and is indeed able to buy a new Landy whenever he feels like it.

[Willy Nilly]

The Crack Fox said:

An old friend of mine comes from a farming family, got a good degree in farm management (or whatever it's called), worked his way up to managing a collosal farm in Lincs owned by the co-op. A very clever and hard working chap. His take home, after rent and other deductions, was £7k. A year. He has since emigrated...

If he was a manager and not an executive tractor driver he would have been on a salary of circa £45k, possible with house as well and maybe a vehicle. Big farm = big responsibility.

There are however some really lousy jobs with the title of Farm Manager which are little more than dogs body to large land agent running the place.

[Willy Nilly]

The Crack Fox said:

I don't recall all the numbers precisely and his gross salary was OK, but they (the Co-op) took a hefty wedge from his gross salary for his accommodation (a farmhouse, I suppose) despite him hardly ever being there due to the stupid hours, and the vehicle, which he needed to do the job anyway. Once they'd took this, and he'd been taxed, his take home was a pittance. I was gobsmacked, he's a mate from childhood and a modest chap and I have no reason to doubt his story, his brothers still dairy farm locally and they really struggle. Their land is rented from a distant relative and supermarket's milk prices have been very low (from what I understand).

He's doing well in NZ though, married and kids down there etc, and because their economy is a bit more rural than ours he is earning an acceptable whack too. I understand qualified Brits are in demand.

The rent on a house for someone like him should be a peppercorn rent. If they are charging him to use the firms vehicle which he needs to do the job as well he is better off away. I have no reason to disbelieve you, and frankly, having experienced some dreadful farmer employers I DO believe you, this is why the industry struggles to find decent employees and decent employees from out side the industry. I have to work bloody hard during the growing season, 2 months without a single day off is nothing unusual and working up to 90 hours a week too. But I get paid a half decent wage and with the house have enough disposable income. The job isn't high status like some of my friends have, but it is quite satisfying. However I want compensating for the effort I put in and if I don't get it I'm off.