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You make it sound as if the farmers were the only ones affected if they fail to get in their harvest.

by usrusr 7y ago

411111111111111 7y ago
That wasn't my intention at all. Fresh produce will get considerably more expensive this year, thats for sure. Especially fruits as they're often very hard to harvest through automation. In the coming years I'd wager that a lot of farms will increasingly go for automation now. That'll have it's own consequences. The effect of this virus on our global society is gonna be massive and will likely bring a lot of changes.. not necessary good ones either
- Zenst 7y ago
  >Especially fruits as they're often very hard to harvest through automation. So very true and an area in which the robotic revolution has always been mooted to happen soon, for many years... However the transition will have an impact as once you remove those jobs, you shift the issues. So yes, automation will make things cheaper in one hand, but more expensive in another.
PeterisP 7y ago
Products which require a lot of manual effort to harvest are generally luxury goods, not essential for feeding the population. If for whatever reason it seems that this year there's not going to be enough migrant labor to harvest your strawberries, then when the spring comes you can plow that field over and plant potatoes, which will require much, much less labor and feed more people from the same field. This year is very much not 'business as usual' both in production and also in consumption. Just as most other fields, farming needs to adapt to the changing situation; IMHO it's counterproductive to invest a lot of resources to try and preserve the status quo - we're going to see that some farm products become harder to grow, or harder to transport, or are more difficult for people to afford because of economic problems. It does not mean that we should heroically strive to preserve our ability eat as before, if that means that we're going to be eating less of product like that - less fresh food year round (greenhouses or imported), less meat, less fruit, etc, than that should be accepted, and it's okay; and it's okay if the circumstances force the farmers to switch from high-value labor intensive foods back to cheap, efficient staple crops. A prime example is the scenes I've seen from Netherlands sizeable flower plantations; as flower purchasing in most of their export markets is way down, a lot of the harvest is just discarded. I'm certain that some of that field/greenhouse capacity will be repurposed for basic food growing instead.
- bluGill 7y ago
  Strawberry to potatoes is a poor gamble. They like different soils. Even ignoring that, when you harvest all those potatoes you are selling into a market that already supplies all the potatoes people want so prices will drop.

You make it sound as if the farmers were the only ones affected if they fail to get in their harvest.

by usrusr 7y ago

You make it sound as if the farmers were the only ones affected if they fail to get in their harvest.

That wasn't my intention at all. Fresh produce will get considerably more expensive this year, thats for sure. Especially fruits as they're often very hard to harvest through automation. In the coming years I'd wager that a lot of farms will increasingly go for automation now. That'll have it's own consequences. The effect of this virus on our global society is gonna be massive and will likely bring a lot of changes.. not necessary good ones either

Zenst 7y ago
>Especially fruits as they're often very hard to harvest through automation. So very true and an area in which the robotic revolution has always been mooted to happen soon, for many years... However the transition will have an impact as once you remove those jobs, you shift the issues. So yes, automation will make things cheaper in one hand, but more expensive in another.

PeterisP 7y ago

Products which require a lot of manual effort to harvest are generally luxury goods, not essential for feeding the population. If for whatever reason it seems that this year there's not going to be enough migrant labor to harvest your strawberries, then when the spring comes you can plow that field over and plant potatoes, which will require much, much less labor and feed more people from the same field. This year is very much not 'business as usual' both in production and also in consumption. Just as most other fields, farming needs to adapt to the changing situation; IMHO it's counterproductive to invest a lot of resources to try and preserve the status quo - we're going to see that some farm products become harder to grow, or harder to transport, or are more difficult for people to afford because of economic problems. It does not mean that we should heroically strive to preserve our ability eat as before, if that means that we're going to be eating less of product like that - less fresh food year round (greenhouses or imported), less meat, less fruit, etc, than that should be accepted, and it's okay; and it's okay if the circumstances force the farmers to switch from high-value labor intensive foods back to cheap, efficient staple crops. A prime example is the scenes I've seen from Netherlands sizeable flower plantations; as flower purchasing in most of their export markets is way down, a lot of the harvest is just discarded. I'm certain that some of that field/greenhouse capacity will be repurposed for basic food growing instead.

bluGill 7y ago
Strawberry to potatoes is a poor gamble. They like different soils. Even ignoring that, when you harvest all those potatoes you are selling into a market that already supplies all the potatoes people want so prices will drop.