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

I've noticed in my local store that some of the produce is less than par in quality. I figured it was because of the droughts. The prices haven't changed on them that I've noticed.

Chicken is expensive period!! Id hate to see it go up One store here though always has buy one get one sales on meat so I'll have to stock up on meat that way. I love my chicken!!

As for peanut butter! It's expensive now! Ugh. I use a lot of peanut butter. Next time it's buy one get one I'll buy 2 and get four!

Overall I've seen many groceries go up in price over the years. Some items I use to get for 2.99 are now 1-2 dollars more. It drives me nuts. I can't believe how much a bag of chips are. I don't buy chips often but maybe literally twice a year but I wont spend 5 dollars on a back of chips! i remember when they were 2.99 a bag!

thanks for the heads up

Even here in France we had a drought, and hay was hard to come by. Many farmers were giving away cattle.
I don't know what is going to happen to prices- there is not big production like in the US.

I am personally more aware of the problem looming this winter in terms of horses. Sooo many people here keep horses just to keep weeds down in their land, and those are always the least responsible owners. They often know nothing about the horses and do not think ahead and when winter really sets in, I am afraid I am going to see a lot of very skinny horses out in the snow!

I'm making sure my fences are up and my stock is dry so that I can be prepared to take in some more if that happens.

reply to post by Lazarus Short


I actually close to the stateline South of Farwell/Texico.

There is a road on the NM side of the highway which originally had about 6FT tall ditches on either side of the road. The last time I drove down that dirt road, you could drive down the giant dune that had filled up the road, and be at field level.

6 feet of blow sand!!

Anyways, yes the drought is a horrible reality here, but "supposibly" we are approaching the end of it.

Great topic, OP! It is astounding to see similar conditions from others which are very similar and in many different locations around the world.

I can also relate and agree because it is dry here in the Philippines too! As I understand it here, people attribute it to La Nina conditions; similiar to El Nino, but different.

Whatever the reasons are, the same thing happened here about 3 or 4 years ago. There is much less rain, we were mildly affected by typhoons/hurricanes this year as well.

The crops still get some rare rain and are watered sometimes, but we will see for now here. There is not much reliable rain. The beans can maybe work and are planted because of their hardiness. Corn has been planted sparsely next to some beans, because corn probably won't make it.. just for experimenting this season.

The squash is doing not so great, again because of rain inconsistency. It's no fun to work the soil, to plant something, and then get some good rain(s) to sprout your seeds -- and then drought. It can be quite depressing =b

Herb garden is fine because it is easy to maintain and water... but as for food I would suggest Taro root planted next to gray water exits, squash next to water, growing old sprouting potatoes, and sweet potatoes planted around is easy passive farming.

reply to post by St Udio



The GMOs will be the only ones left. They are designed to be drought resistant.
It will be the heirloom crops that suffer.

Well as stated, the biggest puzzler is how easy people just blew it off because they weren't immediately impacted at the dinner table.

It's my turn to fear monger...it's going to get a whole lot different I think after the holidays are over. I'm not talking empty shelves, I'm thinking less and less quality food at affordable prices till the poor and those on assistance are not going to be able to make it through a month...

I personally think we as a people need to present a plan to our representatives. I stated earlier that I think there is no harm in preparing for the worst. If we build the lakes and reservoirs and the aqueducts...and don't need them...oh well. If we don't build them and find that this cycle is going to be long...we will have serious problems at this time next year.

There is a wastershed/flood control/farm pond behind where I used to live as a kid. I've been going out to it for the past 27 years. Last year it almost dried up completely. I have never seen it do that. Not even close. The scariest thing now is that coyotes have been completely fearless and are coming into the middle of town howling and scavenging for food. In the MIDDLE OF TOWN. I'm talking about running amok down main street. They used to be elusive and would avoid humans at all cost. Now they are running past my window at dawn and devouring my cats. Never has this happened in my life time. The ecosystem must be screwed where I live. Not a good sign.

Here in NE Oklahoma, it was also bad I have seen a few droughts in my time, but nothing like that. My parents own some land on Lost Creek, At the height of the drought, it was down to about 6 feet wide in the swimming hole, and only about 2 feet deep, usually it's about 40 feet wide, and 6 or 7 feet deep in the middle. We only got one cut of hay. When I first came home from the Navy in March, it was looking like normal. Lush, green grass. Got our first cut of hay in Early May, it was that tall, by the end of June, it was completely dried out. The corn, which looked like it was going to be a great crop in May, dried up to nothing by July. We had record heat, saw no precipitation for 3 months, then what we did get wasn't much. A family friend, who is a 5th generation cattle rancher sold one of his hay trucks to my dad last week. It's a 53 Ford that his dad bought new. He still needs it, along with the other hay truck but, he was short on Hay and wouldn't be able to make it through the winter, so he had to sell it. He sold around 60% of his herd when the drought was on, but it was pretty much for bargain basement prices. Today was Thanksgiving, and it was 70 degrees outside. I never remember it ever being that warm on Thanksgiving. In fact, this was the first Thanksgiving at home that I didn't wear a sweater or a jacket, it was short sleeve weather. I used to not buy into Global Warming. Now, I'm not so sure.

reply to post by dave_welch


Sorry to hear that. The way our society is these days and their perpetual distractions...it makes you want to reach through the screen/monitor and give them a good



I refer to the weather as "climate change". It does not have the divisive connotations that "global warming" does. When you say global warming, someone is going to assume you mean "man made global warming" and immediately tell you that mankind is not affecting the weather. Which may or not be true...but we are experiencing real "climate change"...for whatever reason. We can accept it and seek means to lessen it's effects on the lives of people...or we can ignore it and hope it goes away. Looking at the history of paleo-climatology, the cycles of climate changes are usually a little more "inconvenient" than a couple years of odd weather patterns.

Prepare for the worst...hope for the best...but it is insanity to just try and ignore it.

I was just discussing this subject with someone today, that we have a food crisis coming. Good to see this topic isn't being swept under the rug. S & F!!!

While no one can actually prove weather warfare is being used against us, it would certainly fit the criteria for what the "elitist" goals are for altering the world's population.


"Food is no less a weapon than tanks, guns, and planes" --Franklin D. Roosevelt

6 Ways Food is Being Used as a Weapon foodfreedom.wordpress.com...

Originally posted by dave_welch
Here in NE Oklahoma, it was also bad I have seen a few droughts in my time, but nothing like that. My parents own some land on Lost Creek, At the height of the drought, it was down to about 6 feet wide in the swimming hole, and only about 2 feet deep, usually it's about 40 feet wide, and 6 or 7 feet deep in the middle. We only got one cut of hay. When I first came home from the Navy in March, it was looking like normal. Lush, green grass. Got our first cut of hay in Early May, it was that tall, by the end of June, it was completely dried out. The corn, which looked like it was going to be a great crop in May, dried up to nothing by July. We had record heat, saw no precipitation for 3 months, then what we did get wasn't much. A family friend, who is a 5th generation cattle rancher sold one of his hay trucks to my dad last week. It's a 53 Ford that his dad bought new. He still needs it, along with the other hay truck but, he was short on Hay and wouldn't be able to make it through the winter, so he had to sell it. He sold around 60% of his herd when the drought was on, but it was pretty much for bargain basement prices. Today was Thanksgiving, and it was 70 degrees outside. I never remember it ever being that warm on Thanksgiving. In fact, this was the first Thanksgiving at home that I didn't wear a sweater or a jacket, it was short sleeve weather. I used to not buy into Global Warming. Now, I'm not so sure.

I know. First Thanksgiving I remember with the windows open. I keep wearing my hoodie defiantly. "Its november

Are you suggesting OP, that things like.. elections and a crisis in the middle east were fabricated to distract us from.. a drought?

Droughts occur quite frequently. I imagine we'll see the same fallout that we did from the others. i.e. not much. Why do people act as if every time there is a drought or an EQ or a hurricane, that nothing like this has happened in our past?

This thread definitely deserves a star and flag. I have been studying food futures for years, buying things ahead of time that are expected to rise. What we have here is a unique condition that is being downplayed by many. The government is giving the information out but is not spreading it well, afraid of the impact it may have on the fragile economy. I have stocks to help buffer this upcoming event, it is not going to be too bad except that prices will be jumping on most things. Butter will go over five bucks a pound with increasing milk costs, beef and pork will increase a third more. Chicken and eggs will increase sharply, chickens eat a lot of feed. Flours will go up a third causing a big increase yet to come of a lot of products from cereals to breads to coatings of breaded meats.

We have been told of this over and over and most people are not listening, thinking it is just a line of crap or something. If you have a limited budget, as most people in this country have because they are overextended, it could cause a lot of hardship and severely impact the economy when it manifests fully. Buy some food stores of some of these items for your christmas presents. Turkeys are cheap this time of years, they freeze well and are a good source of protein. Chickens are still reasonable, they can be double wrapped and froze for six plus months at Zero Degrees F and still be fresh tasting. There is no reason to get caught with your pants down.

It is important to also say....It does not matter what the cause of this crisis is, the remedy is still the same. Be prepared. Don't deny it is happening because some say it isn't caused by mankind. It is real, the government doesn't have our butts covered on this, this is our own responsibility...the government is broke.

Originally posted by fleabit
Are you suggesting OP, that things like.. elections and a crisis in the middle east were fabricated to distract us from.. a drought?

Droughts occur quite frequently. I imagine we'll see the same fallout that we did from the others. i.e. not much. Why do people act as if every time there is a drought or an EQ or a hurricane, that nothing like this has happened in our past?

No...I am saying that most people cannot pay attention for more than 15 minutes to remember things...

Thanks for proving my point...

reply to post by rickymouse


Thank you!







That is exactly my point. We have been warned for months now and many people just don't seem to pay attention...or like you said...they think it's not serious. It's very serious.

When beef and milk products shoot through the roof cause farmers sold off their cows in the later part of the summer because they could not afford or did not have the resources to feed and water them anymore...most of the people not paying attention WILL be paying attention then.

I live in Virginia. We did not have a drought this summer. We had plenty of rain.

Great thread about the drought. It was the worst here that I can ever remember. Not just the drought but the combination with the heat, both near records. We have a well, so I don't water my yard and some of the ground was as hard as concrete. This past summer seriously has me thinking about a cistern or at the very, very least rain barrels at each of my downspouts.

I really hope we don't have a spring and a summer like these last. It seems like we need a lot of snow to make up for that.

Oh yeah, I got peanut butter a few weeks ago, a twin pack of two pretty large jars. It cost almost $13 at Wal-Mart. I couldn't believe it.

reply to post by Jeremiah65


You cant sneak in anything if the price is per pound. A t-bone at 5.99 a pound is still 5.99 a pound whether the steak is 8 oz or 5 oz or 1 lb. the 8 oz steak would be $3.04 the 5 oz steak would be about $1.90 and the one pound steak would be $5.99. So saying they make the package smaller but keep the same price doesnt apply when the price is per pound.

Originally posted by Jeremiah65
Well as stated, the biggest puzzler is how easy people just blew it off because they weren't immediately impacted at the dinner table.

It's my turn to fear monger...it's going to get a whole lot different I think after the holidays are over. I'm not talking empty shelves, I'm thinking less and less quality food at affordable prices till the poor and those on assistance are not going to be able to make it through a month...

I personally think we as a people need to present a plan to our representatives. I stated earlier that I think there is no harm in preparing for the worst. If we build the lakes and reservoirs and the aqueducts...and don't need them...oh well. If we don't build them and find that this cycle is going to be long...we will have serious problems at this time next year.

What do you mean by blow it off? What exactly were 'we' supposed to do? Learn a rain dance from the local indians? Make a contribution to some organization? Pee on the lawn? What kind of plan can we come up with to make it rain? I dont know any municipalaties that dont alreay have reservoirs for drinking water.

reply to post by karen61560


It doesn't matter if you had rain in Virginia this year. We had rain here too. If half the nation is in drought, than we have a problem. We need a lot of food to feed our populations, half the states cannot provide that much food. Think of all the people in New York alone, a state that produces a lot less food than it consumes. That is just one example, many other states are the same way. These people have a right to eat also, and sometimes "for the good of the people" will take too much out of a non effected area and cause problems with food supplies there. On top of the droughts, our underground aquifers are getting depleted quickly, the Ice Age put those there.