Farmers pissed over falling milk and meat prices protest in Brussels, threaten to drown the city in
31 replies, posted
[quote]
The announcement from the commission came after a day of protests, which police said involved 4,800 farmers – with 70 from Britain – and 1,450 tractors.
Tractors blockaded streets while some protesters pelted the police with eggs and sprayed milk and hay at them. At least one police officer was injured and water cannon were used.
British farmers blame supermarkets for the slide in milk prices. They claim milk has been used as a weapon in the industry price war and retailers are not doing enough to promote British-sourced products. In protest, they have blockaded distribution centres and herded two cows through an Asda store in Stafford.
[/quote]
[url]http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/07/farmers-clash-police-brussels-milk-meat-prices-protest[/url]
Milk wars
[img]https://pp.vk.me/c543105/v543105638/d352/vhHgZiLIM4E.jpg[/img]
They won too.
What the fuck am I looking at? Hahaha goddamn what the hell.
I get why they're pissed off and it sucks but those pictures are hilarious, it's so goddamn surreal this doesn't even feel like it's real life. Though having grown up in a rural community I can easily see some of the people I know doing this in a fit of pure countryboy rage. I guess when you put in a hard day's work every day and get less and less reward for it and society in general is at least [i]slightly[/i] hostile toward you since it's dominated by an urban mentality, it becomes this big us versus them thing. Pushed hard enough, that can make a guy start a tractor riot in a major European city.
[editline]7th September 2015[/editline]
Feel bad about that one riot cop though, it doesn't say how he was injured but since they didn't mention it I guess it wasn't serious. (maybe he fell or something)
Of course they should be pissed. How can bottled water be more expensive than milk ?
Or another example I saw few days ago in a market; How can 1 kg of carrots be half the price of 1 liter of water ? You could buy carrots, extract water from them, bottle it and still make profit. They either messed up the prices in the market, or the world has gone mad.
Wait what? I laughed at this this morning, can't believe this escalated like that :v:
[QUOTE=AntonioR;48634232]Of course they should be pissed. How can bottled water be more expensive than milk ?
Or another example I saw few days ago in a market; How can 1 kg of carrots be half the price of 1 liter of water ? You could buy carrots, extract water from them, bottle it and still make profit. They either messed up the prices in the market, or the world has gone mad.[/QUOTE]
Bottled water is a luxury item because you can get extremely cheap water from the tap (at least in areas with good water quality). It's not that easy to get cheap milk and carrots.
[QUOTE=Robber;48634265]Bottled water is a luxury item because you can get extremely cheap water from the tap (at least in areas with good water quality). It's not that easy to get cheap milk and carrots.[/QUOTE]That doesn't really make any sense at all, to be honest with you.
[QUOTE=Robber;48634265]Bottled water is a luxury item because you can get extremely cheap water from the tap (at least in areas with good water quality). It's not that easy to get cheap milk and carrots.[/QUOTE]
bottled water is literally the exact same shit you find from a hose, a sink, and a shower in any area with decent filtration though.
if anything, tap water here in WNY is better than bottled water. In many areas it's the same. Though in tons of American and non americans the tap water is is so bad that it will actually kill you.
Bottled water is the same thing as cheap tap. "Spring" water doesn't exist, it's a marketing term.
[QUOTE=AntonioR;48634232]Of course they should be pissed. How can bottled water be more expensive than milk ?
Or another example I saw few days ago in a market; How can 1 kg of carrots be half the price of 1 liter of water ? You could buy carrots, extract water from them, bottle it and still make profit. They either messed up the prices in the market, or the world has gone mad.[/QUOTE]
They increased effectiveness of milk production for decades and decades under the protection of production quotas and not long ago they wanted the quota to fall to increase revenue but it came back on them because now we have to much production.
[editline]7th September 2015[/editline]
Basically they wanted the free market and now that it's biting their own ass they are protesting.
[QUOTE=AntonioR;48634232]Of course they should be pissed. How can bottled water be more expensive than milk ?[/QUOTE]
Because people view the fancy bottled water as being better and will offer to pay more money for it. Also people are willing to pay for convenience. Many people are lazy enough that they won't take a bottle of water with them out to school or work and will instead buy it while they are out and about.
Some of the cheaper kinds of bottled water can be exceptionally cheap. I've seen bottles of water from shops that cost 9 pence.
This sucks for farmers if we don't keep them in business we don't have any milk and milk is good lol :) if it's one thing we need it's farmers. Milk in the US is roughly $3 a gallon which isn't bad at all. We need to keep these guys in business... Or is it not as bad as it sounds?
[QUOTE=apierce1289;48634412]This sucks for farmers if we don't keep them in business we don't have any milk and milk is good lol :) if it's one thing we need it's farmers. Milk in the US is roughly $3 a gallon which isn't bad at all. We need to keep these guys in business... Or is it not as bad as it sounds?[/QUOTE]
Well if farmers went out of business, prices for milk would go back up and then the remaining farmers would be very happy.
There's no risk of any agricultural crisis in Europe anytime soon considering we produce far too much food.
[QUOTE=J!NX;48634291]bottled water is literally the exact same shit you find from a hose, a sink, and a shower in any area with decent filtration though.
if anything, tap water here in WNY is better than bottled water. In many areas it's the same. Though in tons of American and non americans the tap water is is so bad that it will actually kill you.
Bottled water is the same thing as cheap tap. "Spring" water doesn't exist, it's a marketing term.[/QUOTE]
Bottled water goes through a purification process that removes most impurities, including the stuff that's good for you in it.
Tap water is better for you to drink but saying bottled water is just tap water is just plain untrue.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;48634482]
There's no risk of any agricultural crisis in Europe anytime soon considering we produce far too much food.[/QUOTE]
This can be a problem too.
[QUOTE=Tea Guy;48634671]Bottled water goes through a purification process that removes most impurities, including the stuff that's good for you in it.
Tap water is better for you to drink but saying bottled water is just tap water is just plain untrue.[/QUOTE]
Where are you getting this from? Apart from pure/distilled water to use in your iron or car I am not sure if anything that is "good for you" is removed from water. It still has some minerals and salts in it, though the amounts might differ from brand to brand, but so does tap water between cities.
In the end I wouldn't call it just tap water either and I'm sure some of the brands are treated or purified but there is not much that is good for you to remove from water anyway.
I've been working for the national farm research unit as a summer internship this year and I've got to say the farmers are massively [i][b]pissed[/b][/i]. I've been talking to exclusively milk farmers following the beginning of this crisis and, after ending the farming year in debt, more than half have already sold their herds for beef stores. The rest are holding fast but will fold in about a year if the prices don't rise.
Basically unless something is done by my superiors (or at least their superiors in government) the British dairy industry is fucked.
Ama about farming btw.
don't know why people get upset milk doesn't benefit us in any way.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;48634482]Well if farmers went out of business, prices for milk would go back up and then the remaining farmers would be very happy.
There's no risk of any agricultural crisis in Europe anytime soon considering we produce far too much food.[/QUOTE]
Europe imports more food than it exports last time I checked that wiki graph with world food exports and imports.
But damn, the agro sector in Europe is waaaay more bitchy than that of the USA.
We're covering the saturation and the decline of profits in the milk market, pretty much all farmers sell milk at a loss.
[QUOTE=confinedUser;48635417]don't know why people get upset milk doesn't benefit us in any way.[/QUOTE]
The people (mostly) complaining are the ones who sell the milk....
[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;48634803]I've been working for the national farm research unit as a summer internship this year and I've got to say the farmers are massively [i][b]pissed[/b][/i]. I've been talking to exclusively milk farmers following the beginning of this crisis and, after ending the farming year in debt, more than half have already sold their herds for beef stores. The rest are holding fast but will fold in about a year if the prices don't rise.
Basically unless something is done by my superiors (or at least their superiors in government) the British dairy industry is fucked.
Ama about farming btw.[/QUOTE]
why didn't they see this coming when they lobbyed against the quotas?
The results of getting rid of the quota system unfolds.
[QUOTE=confinedUser;48635417]don't know why people get upset milk doesn't benefit us in any way.[/QUOTE]
Except it's used for a bunch of other things? Yogurt, ice cream, butter, cheese, chocolate, etc. Not to mention that milk and its products are used as ingredients for other things (bakery goods, cereal, pizza, cooking oil, chocolate bars, etc.).
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;48634482]Well if farmers went out of business, prices for milk would go back up and then the remaining farmers would be very happy.
There's no risk of any agricultural crisis in Europe anytime soon considering we produce far too much food.[/QUOTE]
You fail to realize that the tertiary industries set the prices, not the farmers. Farmers will have to sell regardless of the asking price, so the tertiary industries can sell for ridiculously high prices while buying from the farmers for dirt cheap.
[QUOTE=_RJ_;48635682]You fail to realize that the tertiary industries set the prices, not the farmers. Farmers will have to sell regardless of the asking price, so the tertiary industries can sell for ridiculously high prices while buying from the farmers for dirt cheap.[/QUOTE]
Supermarkets actually sell milk on the cheap though. They sell milk as a loss leader.
One of the reasons that farmers here are complaining is because of supermarkets selling staples (milk, eggs, bread, etc) at a loss or for no profit while making up more than the difference from other goods (hence why bread and milk or eggs tends to be in the back aisles). The result of every supermarket doing this inevitably forces prices down.
There's some pretty heavy deflation going on with it - £1 for 2 litres of milk! A veritable bargain when I'm out at the shops.
[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;48635477]Europe imports more food than it exports last time I checked that wiki graph with world food exports and imports.
But damn, the agro sector in Europe is waaaay more bitchy than that of the USA.[/QUOTE]
It's production in general. Prices in general are either stagnant or falling and there's oversupply of a lot of milk. Butter mountains and milk lakes have been one headache for the European Union for decades.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;48635786]Supermarkets actually sell milk on the cheap though. They sell milk as a loss leader.
One of the reasons that farmers here are complaining is because of supermarkets selling staples (milk, eggs, bread, etc) at a loss or for no profit while making up more than the difference from other goods (hence why bread and milk or eggs tends to be in the back aisles). The result of every supermarket doing this inevitably forces prices down.
There's some pretty heavy deflation going on with it - £1 for 2 litres of milk! A veritable bargain when I'm out at the shops.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I've heard that you could buy milk from the stores, pour it in your bulk tank, and make a profit.
[QUOTE=_RJ_;48635948]Yeah, I've heard that you could buy milk from the stores, pour it in your bulk tank, and make a profit.[/QUOTE]
Not sure about that, since almost everybody in Britain is within walking distance of a supermarket. If somebody is making a profit on milk it's probably some weirdo selling organic/raw milk to hippies in a whole food store.
I'd blame it on oversupply rather than the supermarkets, since they've been doing this for years and it doesn't seem to be the exogenous cause of the crisis.
The reality is that international markets are volatile and that recently (like with oil), the prices of goods such as butter and cheese have come down. Russia banned a lot of imports, while the Chinese giant has gotten sluggish lately.
The walls will run wet with milk tonight.
[editline]7th September 2015[/editline]
This gives a whole new meaning to "Don't cry over spilled milk."
[QUOTE=MuffinZerg;48634051]herded two cows through an Asda store in Stafford.[/QUOTE]
Only in england, this got me giggling way more than it should have.
I hope they literally flood the town with milk, I've got 100 boxes of Count Chocula and a dream
Disappointed that the picture is actually the cops spraying water at them.
Imagine if the shitstorm if they hit someone who was deathly allergic to milk.
[QUOTE=confinedUser;48635417]don't know why people get upset milk doesn't benefit us in any way.[/QUOTE]
A delicious product thats required for other delicious products? Not to mention all of those jobs...
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.