Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner

COST OF THANKSGIVING
   Each year the Farm Bureau does a survey of food cost for our traditional Thanksgiving meal.  http://www.fb.org/index.php?action=newsroom.news&year=2011&file=nr1110.html  . This year their estimate is less than $5.00 per person.  When I read this I couldn't help but think of our brothers and sisters we are helping with the many FRB overseas projects.  We spend $5.00 for that meal that according to the list would be 3.5 pounds of food per person.  Even at minimum  wages that would be 40 minutes of work for 3.5 lbs of food.  This summer we had an update from some of our Kenya projects and those like many others worldwide showed us that many people are spending nearly all their hours in pursuit of food and water and that whole days work would be a fraction of that 3.5 lbs.  Let us give thanks for our bounty and use what we have been given to help others.  I know we cannot eat the whole amount on that dinner list and will be using it much the next week as leftovers many ways and enjoy them filling our stomach.  You can also use our blessings in many ways and enoy them filling our soul by sharing deeper than our leftovers.  Happy Thanksgiving.

FARM UPDATE
   Harvest is done on my farm and in the final stages in the community.  Almost every farmer I talk to had some poor fields of corn and some that did better than expected.  We also had a long period of warm and dry weather to allow for a timely harvest. Tillage is progressing fast also and I have just finished mine this week.  The tillage getting done this fall will aid in better ground conditions for planting next spring.  As mentioned earlier I had some concerns about plant health in the corn and by mixing the remaining stalks with soil will allow for healthier corn conditions next year.
   Grain prices have been reacting to world economic conditions, the value of the dollar, and supply and demand forecasts. They are lower now and some are looking at this as a buying signal.  Even at today's lower prices agriculture is still one of the better sectors of the economy.  Livestock production has recovered from the losses of 2009 and 2010 and looks promising for 2012.  With high oil prices the ethanol plants are profitable also.  This should keep support for the grain producers.  December corn is trading at $6.06 today and was as low as $3.24 on June 28th 2010 and as high as $7.99 June 6th 2011.  I get questions frequently about how much farmers make per acre, those are hard to answer when pricing is that unstable.
                                                                     Serving together, Dean Lundeen