Canadian and California droughts starting to affect food prices
Beef carcasses
A reader tipped me off to the following:
July 6, 2015
From burger meat to prime steaks, the rising cost of beef from Canada shows no signs of easing anytime soon. To understand why, look no further than ranchers like Shawn Freimark who can’t afford to feed their cattle.
A drought has parched pastureland throughout the biggest beef-producing provinces and left Canada, the world’s seventh-largest exporter, with its smallest herd in 22 years. Freimark was unable to grow the grass normally used to feed his 200 cattle in Castor, Alberta. He’s sold one-fifth of his animals to cut his losses, and may unload even more.
“We’re going to be buying all of our feed,” said Freimark, 45, who estimates it will cost him C$50,000 ($39,800) to get C$100,000 of hay by truck from six hours away.
Cattle supplies are so tight in Canada that meat plants are running at 74 percent of capacity, a seven-year low, forcing processors to pay a premium for animals to slaughter. Retail prices are the highest on record going back to at least 1995, with a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of ground beef up by a third over the past two years to C$12.64 in May and sirloin steak jumping 44 percent to C$24.22.
Delaying Expansion
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In February, the government said high meat prices would encourage ranchers to expand the breeding herd this year. Instead, they’re shrinking as persistent dryness compounds the financial strain on an industry that has been hurt over the past decade by cases of mad cow disease, flooding and labor shortages.
“It could be four to six years of tight supplies,” said Charlie Pearson, a market analyst with Alberta’s agriculture ministry in Edmonton.
That spells trouble for meat eaters south of the border in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer. Canada exports more than a third of its cattle and beef to the U.S., where tight supplies also have led to record prices. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-05/expensive-steaks-here-to-stay-as-drought-cuts-canada-cattle-herd
And of course, south of Canada, California’s drought is affecting food prices:
Jul.y 6, 2015
California is making the largest water cutbacks on record, and Lake Mead is dropping toward 1,075 feet of water, a level it’s never hit before and that triggers the first-ever mandatory water cuts in the Colorado River Basin. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/twenty-wests-leading-water-managers-raft-colorados-yampa-river-180955618/#KvEU8bVCbiir5p8B.99July 5, 2015
With California in its fourth year of drought, the burgeoning assortment of almond products is in danger of becoming too costly for most consumers.
“Almonds a year ago were priced at about $3.30, and we thought that was an exorbitant price,” Stephen Smith, Hain Celestial’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call last month. “And here we are looking at prices in the mid-$4 range.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-06/almond-prices-surge-as-sales-boom-collides-with-drought
Californian beef producers, the fourth largest producer in the country, are raising their prices amid the water shortage. Distributors said beef prices have jumped at least 10 percent in recent weeks, highlighting in a new way for consumers how crucial water is to meat production.“The issue of water [intensive] foods has been important for a long time, of course,” said Sophie Egan, who works for Culinary Institute of America. “But now with the drought in California, the concept of a food’s water footprint has really come into mainstream conversation.”Red meat has a high water footprint because farmers must plant a tremendous amount of grass for the animals to feed on, in addition to providing drinking water. While vegetables are ready to eat after a couple months, beef cattle require over two years of maintenance — the water adds up. Low rainfall in California has forced ranchers to move herds to wetter regions and purchase feed to supplement their animals’ diets, which led to statewide price increases. http://peninsulapress.com/2015/06/23/water-cost-california-drought-and-beef/
Of course, there are also droughts in parts Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
The Bible warns of food shortages and pestilences. Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus taught:
7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8)
We seem to be in the time Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows.”
Notice also the following end time prophecies related to food shortages and price fluctuations:
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)
The above prophecy will come to pass (see also Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and/or watch the video The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse). Those predictions have NOT yet been completely fulfilled. Food shortages and price fluctuations for food are still going to happen and we are seeing some now.
The Bible connects sin and drought. Scripture shows that water/rain/drought will become a problem for various disobedient peoples:
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:13-17)
6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 7 “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. (Amos 4:6-8)
10 “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace — and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar — 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. 12 Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?'” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. 14 So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:10-14)
15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:15-24)
6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:6)
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. 2 “Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3 Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads. 5 Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass. 6 And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their eyes failed because there was no grass.” 7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You. (Jeremiah 14:1-7)
5 “A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord, “Against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes and her wise men. 36 A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. 37 A sword is against their horses, Against their chariots, And against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols. (Jeremiah 50:35-38)
4 We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price. 5 They pursue at our heels; We labor and have no rest. (Lamentations 5:4-5)
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity. (Ezekiel 4:16-17)
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:7-11)
10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11)
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (Revelation 16:8-9)
Droughts and weather problems, including floods and high heat, can contribute to food shortages, higher food prices, and sometimes famines.
Notice that God uses weather to warn people to turn to Him, but many ignore this:
17 I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord. (Haggai 2:17)
21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:21)
The Bible shows:
30 God…commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30)
And weather-problems are one way that God uses to urge people to repent (cf. Haggai 2:17).
Now, does this mean that those most affected by weather are necessarily worse sinners than those less affected?
The biblical answer is no.
Notice the words of Jesus:
45…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:4-5)
God uses weather and other events to warn people.
There is a cost to sin and we are seeing some of that in the weather patterns.
Some items of related interest may include:
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2015? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language video The Great Tribulation Will Not Begin Before 2017. You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
The Bible Condemns Homosexuality “Same-sex marriage” for “gays” and lesbians is becoming more acceptable to many. What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? Can homosexuals change? A related video sermon is titled What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here is a related YouTube video GMO Risks and the Bible.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? You can also see a YouTube video sermon The Gospel of the Kingdom.
Just What Do You Mean the Kingdom of God? A booklet that was written by Herbert Armstrong answers questions about the Kingdom.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? A related sermon is titled The Millennium.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2021 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up?
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