02-15-2008, 05:53 AM
Glen..in the words of my lil' round& brown friend Gary Coleman.."What chu' talk'n bout Willis?" $3 dollar papaya fruit ? that would rot on the shelf and sprout a new tree before I bought that.
I wonder if some AG business people just don't know how to run a
Ag-business correctly, or run a business period. To be successfull in Agribusiness takes a skilled individual , in the modern age of farming. Farm equipment is super expensive as well. New/Used tractors run 20K with minimal attachments. Little Bobcat loaders at 26K, new & used D-9's are 50K. Thats a big chunk of change tied up in equipement. How can you not make money when milk retails for almost $4 a gallon though? Gasoline cost less than milk now. With the only dairy going under who controls the milk distribution now ? Wallyworld ??
People gotta eat..bottom line. Hungry people don't stay hungry for long. The key is distribution, in this case. The small scale farm has to figure out how to get their product to market. The use of wholesalers to open stands and outlets for sales would help free up the farmer to work. The wholsalers won't grow, but they will represent the farm and sell the products for the farmers at markets. It can work in Puna for sure, it just takes a business mind set and hard work. Now watch the nay sayers come out. Oahu is 700K plus population wise? Your telling me they don't eat things made& grown in Hawaii? If I went to Food4less and said I can supply 10 cases of fresh eggs a day for 3/4 what your paying now just for your Big island stores and me not make money on that deal compared to mainland eggs does not make sense? There is tons of room to cut out the midle man in this market for sure and to expand the market as well. I'm just not buying the line " can't make money in AG in Hawaii" or "the days of Big A are gone in Hawaii".
If you let Wallyworld squeaze out all the production of food the economy will suffer in the long run.
I wonder if some AG business people just don't know how to run a
Ag-business correctly, or run a business period. To be successfull in Agribusiness takes a skilled individual , in the modern age of farming. Farm equipment is super expensive as well. New/Used tractors run 20K with minimal attachments. Little Bobcat loaders at 26K, new & used D-9's are 50K. Thats a big chunk of change tied up in equipement. How can you not make money when milk retails for almost $4 a gallon though? Gasoline cost less than milk now. With the only dairy going under who controls the milk distribution now ? Wallyworld ??
People gotta eat..bottom line. Hungry people don't stay hungry for long. The key is distribution, in this case. The small scale farm has to figure out how to get their product to market. The use of wholesalers to open stands and outlets for sales would help free up the farmer to work. The wholsalers won't grow, but they will represent the farm and sell the products for the farmers at markets. It can work in Puna for sure, it just takes a business mind set and hard work. Now watch the nay sayers come out. Oahu is 700K plus population wise? Your telling me they don't eat things made& grown in Hawaii? If I went to Food4less and said I can supply 10 cases of fresh eggs a day for 3/4 what your paying now just for your Big island stores and me not make money on that deal compared to mainland eggs does not make sense? There is tons of room to cut out the midle man in this market for sure and to expand the market as well. I'm just not buying the line " can't make money in AG in Hawaii" or "the days of Big A are gone in Hawaii".
If you let Wallyworld squeaze out all the production of food the economy will suffer in the long run.