Vegetable Seeds

The headline above and the paragraphs below are from the most recent edition of Fedco’s seed catalog.  As we have been suspecting (and Fedco confirms) seeds prices have risen dramatically.

Oct. 10, 2008: We are in the midst of the deluge now: a financial hurricane the likes of which I never would have imagined. Commodity price fluctuations I have not seen before in my lifetime. Oil, shooting up from $60 to $145 a barrel, then back down in just a few months to $80. Gasoline prices up and down like a yo-yo.

And now, seed prices. I’ve been 30 years in this business and these are the highest increases to us I’ve ever seen. The ethanol boom diverting land to corn production has had a tremendous impact on farm commodity prices including vegetable seeds. Wholesale prices for pea and bean seed are up 30-50%, for corn and squash 20% or more. Even so, wholesalers could not find growers for all crops so several varieties are missing from our catalog. Horrible growing weather this summer has exacerbated the shortage.

With the collateral damage only beginning to ripple out from the broken
financial centers to our communities, this is a hard time to have to raise our prices. We are a lean operation and are doing our best to absorb what we can.

This is exactly what we have been expecting.  Now, that being duly noted, purchasing vegetable seed and growing your own food is still by far a superior, healthier and more cost effective way of providing food for the family than relying on one of your local grocery stores.

Here are some general numbers:

• The average American household allocates approximately 13-14% of it’s income for Food. This is sure to continue to rise, as it has over the past few years.
• In 2006, American families spent 44% of their food budget eating out and the average household spends roughly $5,000 a year on groceries.

Food inflation has been going on all summer, as far as I have noticed, and it’s done not by necessarily raising prices alone, but also by reducing the overall size or portion of the food product itself.  So what happens is that you end up spending more money for even less product.

Put a stop to it now, and start growing your own food, it is imperative that you do so for the future, for the survival of your family.

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