Economy effect on game bird business

[quailfarm7]

I am not doing this to scare anyone I just wanted to hear everyone elses opinion on this matter. Our feed prices are still going up, heating oil, gas prices and everything is going up and our $ is dropping it seems like everyday to an all time low. The feds had their meeting today and Bernanke the chairman says he expects our economy to slow even more even though most everything has already slowed in the last quarter with our subprime mortgage mess. When do our customers say enough and they cant buy our product anymore. I mean do you skimp on that 4 birds pheasant hunt or the heating oil for your family through the winter. Just something that I wanted to get going for opinions.

[Pheasant Hollow Farm]

Are you asking from the business end or consumers end?

Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm

[quailfarm7]

Mostly the business end.

[Pheasant Hollow Farm]

I am not doing this to scare anyone I just wanted to hear everyone elses opinion on this matter. Our feed prices are still going up, heating oil, gas prices and everything is going up and our $ is dropping it seems like everyday to an all time low. The feds had their meeting today and Bernanke the chairman says he expects our economy to slow even more even though most everything has already slowed in the last quarter with our subprime mortgage mess. When do our customers say enough and they cant buy our product anymore. I mean do you skimp on that 4 birds pheasant hunt or the heating oil for your family through the winter. Just something that I wanted to get going for opinions.

Well, I look at it this way, I have seen the bird market here in WV going in the slump for 2 years now. 3 years ago was my best year, even though I was in the red. Feed prices keep going up and so does the gas. What I am paying now for feed per ton, I got 2 ton last year for the same price.

Many shooting preserves in Ohio and WV have gone belly up. No one is driving the distances to the shooting preserves after they find out the costs for either 1/2 day hunts or full day hunts, with or without dog handlers.

I sent out flyers last year stating " Why travel and bird hunt at shooting preserves with gas prices on the rise, when you can hunt on your own land for a third of the costs"

The general upland bird hunting public just doesn't have the disposal income like they use to. Every penny is saved for the mortgage, utilities, taxes, and gas, and what is left over for food.

Even the Die Hard Upland Bird Hunters are now doing local rabbits, squirrels, and deer. Driving for them is less then 3 miles or just out their back doors.

This year I cut back production by 50% so I wouldn't get stuck. I have even slaughtered over 100 birds, and have them in the freezer either as pheasant cutlets, Fryers and for soups and BBQ'S.

I have released over 200 birds on my property and near by farms and people are hunting them in our community for free.

I don't for see any relief in the near future. I will make another decision after the 1st of the year on whether to cut back futher or remain with the amount I have now. It all depends on the bird sales for Nov and Dec.

Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm

[maplesummitgamebirds]

Personaly I have been seeing a slight upswing. I do not sell to too many perserves I mainly sell to individuals and hunting clubs. They don't want to spend the money at the preserves when they can buy the birds from me at half the price or so of a preserve and hunt them on thier own property. I did just sign 2 new preserves this year so I will be significantly increasing my production for next year. Not including the 2 preserves I have already taken orders for more birds than I sold this year for next year. I do understand what you guys are talking about and I do believe the economy will effect every thing. I have just been lucky and found a small niche market in my area. Good luck to everyone

[hoofster]

I to have seen an upswing,Im located in upper cental Ohio and the demand is still there and when we raised our prices on the birds we had no complaints. As of September my business is up 12% with no advertising at all. 08 preorders are so strong Im going to be in a pinch for birds in March.It will be interesting to see what other parts of the country are seeing.
                                                                                                      Dave

[quailfarm7]

I to am seeing an increase in birds needed as well. I have a decent amount of hunting preserves and a few bigger ones in NY and a couple smaller ones in PA. The larger ones I wouldnt be as worried about as they have their club members and their usual clientel its the smaller ones that get a lot of day hunters. I think prices are going to go up again since game bird breeders are still having to pay more for the feed. Hunting preserves in turn will have to raise prices again to make up the difference that producers are cutting into their profit margin. There is no other way to make any money other than raise prices to keep that profit margin. It just hurts the smaller places that do it more for the fun of it than to make a living.

[RedOakGamebirds]

The market around here is good I would say.  I personally decided to downgrade some as its far too expensive to maintain high numbers than what I had in previous years.  This week I plan to get rid of another 1,500-2,000 birds just so I wont have to keep buying a ton of feed every 2-3 weeks.  Feed prices have skyrocketed and are now near $450 per ton which adds up really quick.  I had dozens of contacts for Coturnix and like a fool I took my numbers up into the 10,000's.  Well this is all fine and dandy until I started having problems shipping live chicks again.  And as you know a Coturnix seems like it eats constantly and double of what a Bobwhite will eat.  What I should have done was the opposite and I now regret it as I have extremely high numbers of birds still.  If I would have kept with Bobwhites ( I still have lots of them but not in the Coturnix numbers) I could have sold every one of them.  As in recent years there is another Bobwhite shortage and I'm getting so many calls my machine is filling up.  People are willing to pay top dollar if they can just find a bird thats flight ready.  So I'm stuck here with thousands of birds that I have to feed and havent been laying for the past couple months.  The price of gas, heating oil, and even food on the table is so high nowadays its getting extremely hard to make ends meet.  I think once I get rid of a few thousand more birds shortly and just maintain my Bobwhite stock until after the first of the year and then start back up things may be better.  Like steve I've just been releasing birds or putting some in the freezer.  In the meantime I decided to start back into Taxidermy which is much less in overhead and maybe by this time next year I may be able to quit one of my side jobs....but looks like unless I hit the lottery the way things are going I may just have to keep working....lol



Larry