The droughts of this past summer...the pain is just about to start

I think it is kinda odd that no one really talks about the droughts we had this summer...the damage didn't suddenly heal itself...

We had the "election" and now we have the "Gaza" thing and people are easily distracted. Let's see how distracted they are in February and March when certain things will either just not be available or will cost twice as much as it did.

The problem with beef...and they warned us months ago...farmers were bringing their herds to slaughter because they couldn't afford to feed them or water them. This caused a surge of available meat at the stores and markets so prices have stayed pretty much flat. It is not going to be that way in deep winter and into the spring. Expect chicken and pork to rise as well.







Better stock up dried soup beans! Least you'll get some protein to go with your rice and potatoes. BTW...peanut butter is also expected to have a jump n prices. Friend of mine works at a big super market grocer and his boss told him to buy in lots of peanut butter now cause the prices were going to go up. I am not a prophet here, but I would recommend getting some meat in the freezer and alternative protein sources in your cabinets. I think the Holidays are going to be the start of it.

The drought didn't go away...it's just that most of us have ADD and can't pay attention on a subject more than a couple of minutes if it is not thrust in our face constantly. Prepare yourself for more expensive food.

The effects haven't even really started yet...but I bet people are going to see prices going up from now through Christmas and then get really bad when the warehouses start thinning down.

It looks like no winter again this year...

...modern industrial civilization might just be screwed.

It's puzzling and concerning to me. The water table took a big hit this past year in the plains. The grasslands that feed the herds might not recover by spring and summer.

I have been saying since last spring that we need to really be considering reservoirs and water retention ponds as well as aqueducts to get water from places that get too much in the spring to the food producers in the summer.

If this coming summer is a repeat of last summer, we might get ourselves another dust bowl. Something that "could" be lessened if we use our heads and prepare for it.

Here in the east, we had it pretty good. Plenty of rain and the farmers roadside stands were always in good shape through early fall. Haven't seen any sharp spikes in prices yet here, but again, we were pretty lucky...so far.

Far as winter, I hear that we are expecting a fierce one. Big snow, very cold...hard to say with "shade tree prognosticators" ...i.e....the local farmers...but I do trust them more than the weatherman.

Living in the panhandle of Texas, I can say from a firsthand experience that it has NEVER been this dry in my lifetime, and the only people I have spoken to who have seen it this dry were unfortunate enough to have lived during the dust bowl era.

If it weren't for irrigation wells, much of the farmland in my area would have blown away long ago.

To add my "conspiracy" twist to this....

I think the prices of food and meats are artificially being held down for the Holidays. They want you in the store buying presents and crappy stuff from Wally World...not stressing over keeping food on the table, heat, electric and clothes. Can't have people worrying about the necessities when you are trying to dupe them into buying things they don't need.


I have a sneaky suspicion that the prices will take a little jump after Thanksgiving...but not painful....but after Christmas...I think we are all going to be in for a surprise.

And consider this....how would the conversation went in the elections? I did notice that farmer aid was basically not even discussed. Neither candidate wanted to come out and say "By the way, right after the Holidays you are going to need a loan to buy beef, pork and chicken...."

I know there were issues with drought this past year that will impact us all.... We are having the exact opposite issue. We have a record year for rainfall here in Florida. Everything is constantly wet and flooded, we often have to drain our reservoir lakes which then flows through the brackish rivers and out to the ocean killing countless fish and upsetting ecosystems. It's now the "dry season" and there is still rain almost daily. If it gets much worse, sparkly vampires might move in.

So in short, buy citrus, good source of vitamin C and the prices shouldn't skyrocket.

reply to post by jssaylor2007


I've only lived out here in west Texas for about two years now, and it's been ridiculously dry, according to my husband, who is in his 50s and was born and raised out here.

I have noticed that my favorite local market, which has always had excellent prices on meat, especially beef, is now selling meat at much higher prices. I was getting spoiled for a while, getting lucious T-bone and ribeye steaks cheaply. It makes sense, as the ranchers were dumping their beef on the market, as they couldn't afford to feed them. Everything is going up in price now.

I have been buying food for over a year now, storing up canned meats, beans, etc., because I could see it coming. Now the prices are starting to reflect my fears.

I am not in Texas but reside in Ontario.....Lake Huron is at a near record low as far as the records go......
Link below
www.theobserver.ca...


This is a huge deal as it is not only in Cattle country but also in the worlds largest reserve of fresh water.

Serious times it is.

Regards iwinder

I live in Canada and although the drought in our province was no where near the severity of the drought in many areas of the states it was enough to ruin a lot of the farmers crops (particularly corn) and our aquifer was severely "strained". Apparently we weren't the only one with strained aquifers this summer.

The study underlines a problem that scientists have already pinpointed: that the demand for groundwater in several major agricultural regions of the world is unsustainable.

NYTimes - Stressed Aquifers

This is my first post with links etc so I hope I did that right... lol. Forgive me if I haven't

reply to post by Dalrie


The Ogallala Aquifer is definitely getting hit hard in the plains and has been for years. I wonder if they actually know how much water is left down there. We were always told in schools that it was an underground ocean of freshwater but I have seen reports that scientist say the rate of use and consumption is completely unsustainable as well.

You mentioned corn and that is the crop that is going to hit everything. It feeds the cattle, pigs and chickens, it's in baked goods, it's a sweetner in all kinds of things...That is going to be the invisible shooter. Most people don't realize how bad the corn crops actually were and just how much we use it in all sorts of things that we take for granted.

reply to post by Jeremiah65


It's funny that you made this post right now, because I just came back form shoprite and realized the that prices of steak have really went up, around 50% higher than they were last year at this time. The thing is, the portions have gotten a lot smaller, so it looks like the prices have stayed the same, but the per pound price really went up. I was trying to get a piece of steak for dinner tonight and had a hard time finding one that was over a pound, they are just making them smaller now. Anyway, I ended up paying $9.99 per pound and I paid $5.99 last year for the same cut.

reply to post by taws6


Yeah I have noticed the smaller packaging and portions as well. On one hand....we prob should eat smaller portions...but you are correct...the prices are the same or slightly higher for a package of "less" product.

I guess this is how they cleverly sneak in raising costs without causing a public flare up. I also noticed certain breakfast cereals seemed to have the same size box but a lower content weight. The bacon I used to buy was always 1 pound packages, now the same company is 12 oz packages. 4 ounces isn't going to starve anyone but it's just something I noticed.

More to come!

It's going to be a balmy 65 degrees here in Kentucky for turkey day.
It seems that only the last couple of years it has been like that.

south texas will be in the 80s this thanksgiving.i can probably put out a pool for the kids. this is just the beginning of the weather changes. im noticing all the prices go up on everything, even tampons! i guess well just eat less, not like i shouldnt do do that already. stop buying junk i dont need either.

Most of my neighbors that had cattle have already sold off, many of the hay meadows that normally provide 2 cuttings of hay, yielded only half of one cutting...talked to a farmer yesterday that normally plants several hundred a res of winter wheat...he said why bother, it would be a waste of time and money...my own pond has been dried up since july, something I have never seen before....
So yup the worst is yet to come I am afraid..

Its funny but just today I saw a report that said that at least 61% of the US is still in some measure of drought.

Last spring or early summer, my wife and I were coming back from Friona, Texas through the Clovis, New Mexico area. Along the highway at one spot I could see a fenceline, and it was covered almost to the top with SAND. It was just like something you might have seen in a photo from the Dust Bowl, but it was live and in color. Yeah, people are selling livestock around here, even giving horses away. Hay has become so expensive that it has become a target for thieves. A look at a US drought map is a real shocker...

Thanks for posting this. I think a lot of sheeple expected to feel the effects of the drought immediately, and when they didn't... "oh well, it wasn't that bad after all". I think very few actually considered the longer term implications.

I am glad I have, but I always wonder if I'm doing enough. Most of us can only store so much food, due to space restrictions, and meat is something that I am lacking. We just don't eat a lot of it, but when we do, we are used to it always being there at a reasonable price.

I have seen increased prices in many things I normally buy, such as canned, fresh, and frozen vegetables. Interestingly, as mentioned above, prices have gone down somewhat for some items along with the arrival of Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the input so far.

I think alot of folks (as said above) didn't see immediate impacts and now the MSM doesn't even talk about it so they say "no big deal...nothing to worry about".

Yes big swaths of the midwest are still in drought conditions. You also have to look at long term rainfall amounts as it is over the long term that ground water is replenished. If you are having consistent rainfall deficits month after month and year after year...your groundwater is not recovering very quickly...if at all.

I know there are some people that do not believe in "man made global warming" and others do. I never participate in these arguments because they are pointless. I do insist we are experiencing climate change though...regardless of the cause. Natural or man made doesn't really matter. We can prepare for it with reservoirs and aqueducts and other precautions...or we can say "there is nothing to worry about"...and when the food prices soar and the midwest becomes a near desert those same people will be whining "why is the food prices so high and why is there so little of it?"

IF we make new lakes, reservoirs, water retention ponds and the means to deliver the water...what is the worst that can happen if this is a short term problem? We end up with new lakes and reservoirs...not a disaster...if we don't do anything and it is going to be a long term cycle...we will have serious problems and then it will be too late.

Eventually, fresh water is going to be a new commodity that will probably be traded like oil and gold. I saw a show not long ago where this group of guys were predicting the next world crisis...nuclear terrorists, financial collapse, super, thinking computers and robots, peak oil...etc...but the one they all agreed upon was clean, fresh water. We have poisoned alot of our water beyond use...and they agreed that not that far off, we will prob see wars fought over water.

perhaps the drought is necessary


the Gaia . primordial Earth Deity...
is wisely trying to remove all the GMO corn/ wheat and other basic grains from availability


of course this sounds woo-woo.....but, on the other hand... think about it