This week I have been working crazily doing lots of research. I want to tackle something very wrong with our whole grocery marketing system. Prices continue to go up and never come back down. I am calling it the big grocery lie!

All producers understand that there are many different times when there are shortages of a farm commodity. We as small producers are extremely susceptible to these problems in our operations. We know that a hail can come through, or grasshoppers, or even limited amount of rain at critical times can all affect our crops. For some reason our tomatoes don’t set on until way late, reducing our overall yield and profit.

Well now let’s look at it on a broad scale. A few years( 2 to be exact) ago there was a cattle shortage this raised the price of beef by almost triple.  Last year the cattle market went down at the market, but….did meat go down in the grocery stores? Not much if any.  Some stores are making 800 to 1,000 percent profit on beef.  This is reprehensible! Not only does it affect the consumer and hurt their family budget and what they feed their family, but it also deeply affects the cattle market. Less people eating beef…..the price goes down because the supply goes up.

I have seen this happen with coffee, corn, and often different types of fresh vegetables and fruits. The price jumps up and never really goes back down when the supply is again plentiful.

I am so excited about the farm fresh program I am working on with some really awesome people.  This program will not only pay a fair and above market price for your small farm grown food, but it will address and help so many people be able to afford wholesome, and fresh food like beef.

If you are looking for a better way to market your produce, livestock or any other value added product then you need to go to Raise Grow Liv and  fill out the survey. We want to know every concern, problem, and need you have and make sure that we have every opportunity to address that during the planning and implementation stage.  We are working 12 to 16 hours a day to make sure we have a better marketing platform for you as a producer.

If you are reading this as a consumer please go to the link and also fill out the survey. It is important to have every side of this project covered.