S/O panic buying thread... Do you stock up?

When DS was small and I was still married, I used to stockpile a bit. I had a freezer in the garage and would buy in bulk and then use my seal-a-meal to make smaller portions.

Then DS moved out and we moved across the country. Our apartment was directly above a nice grocery store so I just treated that like my pantry (not much storage in the apartment) and I'd shop every day.

Now that I'm on my own, I still have limited pantry stuff but I probably get online pickup about twice a week. I cook a lot for my parents and if I'm buying one lb of ground beef, I'll probably get one to use and 2 for the freezer. I'd like to cut my online pickup to once a week if possible so I'm working toward that.

As far as paper produect, I usually buy a 12 pack of TP and 12 rolls of paper towels and they last me quite a long time.

I am pretty sure I have several hundred pounds of ground beef right now! LOL The thought of having only a pound or two is terrifying!


Moisture - the lack of or over abundance is always a stressor. We have had a couple of very dry years, so dry that the subsoil moisture is almost nill. We have had timely rains that have saved the crop, but not replenished the subsoil. Going in to this spring was a worry. Then it rained. And rained, and rained, and rained. We were lucky that it did not flood right in our area, but not too far north was terrible. We practice mostly no-till farming, so the rains soaked in and did not wash our ground. Washing away soil is something you want to greatly avoid. It's bad for the environment and it's bad for your fields. We also have most of our ground extensively tiled, to efficiently remove excess water safely. But planting was delayed. Once summer hit, the rain stopped, and we had a couple crop saving rains, but it has been very dry since August. Soybeans are very dry, causing the yield to drop. Corn is looking VERY good for us though.

We manage planting carefully and reduce our planting rate. Less seeds, less competition between the plants for limited moisture. We 'prescription precision plant'. Our fields are mapped by soil types - and the very sandy spots that do not hold moisture get far less seeds planted, and the loamier areas that hold moisture get more seeds planted.

I haven't had a chance to catch a show, but I have seen some brief clips. I will have to make a note to watch some. There are so many different types of farming. Hobby Farming (which is small scale, but a lot of work none the less!), farmer market type farming, livestock, etc. We are diversified by being both livestock (beef) and row crop. We grow almost 100% of our cattle feed, other than protein pellets. We commercially harvest all the corn that does not go into livestock feed. It would go for animal feed and ethanol production (which also has animal feed as a by-product, that corn gets used at least twice in the supply chain, if not more). We also grow soybeans that go to commerical sales, most of which probably goes to hog feed, some cattle feed, soy oil, and bio-diesel production. We also grow hay for cattle feed. We have a great deal of pasture, that requires a lot of maintenance, to graze our cow/calf pairs. We finish out our calves for beef, but we do not have a big enough herd, so we also buy calves to fill up our finish barns.
It keeps us busy every day! And yes, some years are no profit. That is why you must manage your finances carefully. My husband grew up in some very VERY lean years in the 80's and that very much influences how he operates today.

Because of the pandemic, I had a huge stock of food. I kept adding to it and adding to it. There’s only me and I really couldn’t keep up. The food was expiring before I could get to it. My anxiety won’t let me eat expired can goods, etc. I ended up giving so much away. Neighbors, YMCA pantry shelves, etc.

I don’t do that any more. I have a *little* extra, but not much.

iowgirl, thank you for answering.  I am finding the whole farming process and the different variables that go into it very educational and quite interesting.  I had to look up a couple of your terms.  The term “no-till farming” gave me an idea of what it was all about, but I googled it anyway and learned so much more on Wikipedia about the different kinds of no-till practices and the benefits and drawbacks.  And tiled drainage was a new term for me too.  I was obviously raised in the city all of my life so I have no history of ever being around a working farm.

On the Clarkson farm, he has 1,000 acres, but only half is arable land for crop planting.  I have really liked seeing the different farming machines and implements involved too.  But the cost of them is quite shocking!  I would think that anyone who is farming now has been raised on that farm, learning the ins and outs throughout their life by both watching and participating since early childhood. And I would think most farmers are carrying on in family farms they inherited.  The thought of starting out fresh, buying the land AND all of the equipment is off putting.  And having the wealth of knowledge to successfully operate that farm, knowing all the tricks of the trade, so to speak, must be learned from generations of farming.  

How would it be possible for someone who has the desire, but was not raised on a farm, and is inheriting a working, established farm get into doing this?  I heard there were not many young farmers coming along because of the hard work and long hours, and cost of starting a farm is prohibitive.  Are most farmers hoping for their children to take an interest to continue on when they retire?  And if it is as scary as the article that I read on the lack of young farmers getting into the career, what will happen?  Major conglomerates buying up small farms and running them with all hired help? 

Were you and your husband both raised on farms?  Do your children plan to carry it on when you retire?  And how many acres do you have to plant?  Where I used to live in Southern California, there were so many orange orchards in the area when I first moved out there. Now all of those trees are gone, replaced with houses, condos, apartment complexes, and shopping centers.  I used to love driving by the trees when they were flowering.  I would put my windows down and breathe in the incredible smell of the blossoms.  Now it is concrete and asphalt.

I would be really interested in your take on the Clarkson show when you eventually see it.  Whether it gives an accurate picture of the long hours and hard work that goes into being a real farmer.  You are the only farmer that I know of, so I apologize if I am asking too many questions.  It is all so interesting to me.

Grew up in a doom’s day cult. My mother took the end times teachings and what my grandmother shared about living through the Great Depression as a kid and scared the hell out of my poor little child brain. On top of that, we were poor and the frequency of hearing the roll of toilet paper or shampoo had to last 4 days, for 5 people, until payday did a number on my need to have a small stockpile. Honestly, it was excessive for the first 10 years of our marriage. DH teased me about the TP stash. It never went under 100 rolls.

When the boy and I were sick with a virus, not COVID, we were fine with not buying anything for a month. DH would pick up perishables. We were good with everything else.

Can’t remember when I made a conscious effort to not keep the house supplied to that ridiculous level. I managed to get to the point that only one extra was the stock for most things. When the extra went into use, it was time to buy another. I was comfortable with having 2 packs of TP in the storage room.

Then COVID hit. Unfortunately, it happened at a time when we were in need of a shopping trip. Made things difficult. Thankfully, it did not undo all the work I did to reform my stocking ways. Though I did buy 2 extra 12 pack rolls of TP, for a total of four packs, when told the stock at WM was low. To be fair, I couldn’t get Dad on the phone to see if he needed anything and I would have shared with him.

At this point, I’m not sure we have enough to get us through a month on most things. Minus items that are sold in multiples—toothpaste, bar soap, floss, and the like.

I’m rather proud of myself for overcoming the fears that were instilled in my impressionable brain.

I tend to buy extra and/or buy ahead. I have delivery and cannot be 100% sure I can get and order always on time, plus I prefer not to make the drivers carry some of the bigger/heavier items in bad weather; heat of summer, rain, deep freeze or snow.

I grew up rural, my mom always shopped what was on sale and stocked up. I'm in a small town now with 1 grocery store. It's an hour to the city. I stock up on everything, groceries, toilet paper, toiletries. Some things I can only get at Costco and I sometimes go an hour the other way to a different city with no Costco. I stocked up so I can make whatever I want. I stock up so I don't have to go to the store, especially in the winter when the roads might be bad. I stock up in the summer because I get alot of fruits and veggies locally, so don't need to go to the city for stuff if I don't want to.