Oversupply or Underdistributed?

[crwth]

There are so many things that move around an issue to something like this, but with the majority of the members who have already discussed, like logistics, traders, corruption, etc. I want to add something to the discussion about prices.

What the government can do is set price floors to ensure that farmers are protected from price fluctuations. That they can also subsidize a portion of it, so they could have a stable life and wouldn't be affected by the harsh economy.
^{(This is what is happening in my countr,y and the farmers are bleeding out because they are taken advantage of by businessmen)}

The result is that this becomes harder for farmers who plant crops like tomatoes, which may be limited by shelf life. This could be solved by cold storage, but there are also financial problems.

It is not just oversupply or underdistribution, but a systemic problem that plagues the supply chain.

[Reatim]

The farmers will choose to dump it without anyone benefiting it with cheaper cost. Because that's against their ego and I think they have the right to do that since from the planting to harvesting, it's all their efforts that have been put into it. And that's their choice if they chose to destroy their agri products due to the abuse of the middlemen and businessmen. Instead of them benefiting from their own products, it's them that are the ones who's suffering due to the manipulation of these people who are greedy and don't think of their welfare.

from my perspective this throwing out their harvests is similar to burning tokens. why sell something for a cheaper price and not get some kind of profit from it? they are also still doing this for a living.

plus i think that the supply is simply too much that it could just rot if left given away. they need to raise the demand for their harvests as it is also time sensitive

[viljy]

To avoid such imbalances in agriculture and prevent farmers from going bankrupt, the government should impose import duties so that local farmers are at least on equal terms with importers. If this is not done, it means that the interested parties have some business interests. In general, tomatoes are a small thing against the background of this story: by the end of the year, the margin of Russian banks is three times higher than in Europe and China. The total payments to a narrow circle of people - about 1,500 people - exceeded 220 billion rubles. That is, the entire banking sector of the country with 140 million people works in the interests of 1,500 people.

[Emjay24]

the answer simply is underdistribution. the overwhelming produce aren’t distributed properly to markets or to consumers. instead the imports are the ones prioritized and sold in markets. sometimes the middlemen also really rake up the prices.

Sure it is because there should be other parts of the country where those products are in short supply but the case is always that logistics cost of redistribution is very high and only a few farmers can afford the capital needed for the distribution. Some middlemen buy from them and redistribute for profit and the cost of redistribution inflated the prices of these goods. Some farmers don't have such connection to these middlemen and in most cases production outweighs redistribution channels.

imagine how cheap the groceries can be if the government focused on the right things..

This is correct, but the government are more interested in the high taxes they collect from the middle men instead of fixing the roads and providing cheaper transportation so that the farmers can redistribute it themselves and would lead to cheaper food costs.

[uchegod-21]

recently, news of farmers dumping their produce (in this case, tomatoes) have been a topic. this isn’t actually a new topic because already for years this has been happening. the consumers are left confused because the produce they have been buying are so expensive so how is it that there’s an oversupply?

the answer simply is underdistribution. the overwhelming produce aren’t distributed properly to markets or to consumers. instead the imports are the ones prioritized and sold in markets. sometimes the middlemen also really rake up the prices.

imagine how cheap the groceries can be if the government focused on the right things..

Oversupply or underdistribution is never the main problem, the main problem that needs to be given immediate attention is the lack of proper storage. Taking agricultural produce for instance, sometimes you cannot control the number of supplies (matured farm produce) you get from the farm. When these produce come in excess, some can be stored to cover up for seasons when their will be scarcity.

Another issue is lack of proper education on preservative techniques. Tomatoes may be perishable, but it can be converted to a paste in large quantities and it will serve for a very long time. Wastages is not something we should be deliberating on in 2026. There are solutions to this.

[HONDACD125]

yeah in the US and Europe crop pickers are not so cheap so letting the food rot in the fields happens from time to time.

So farmers don't do that themselves? No wonder why first-world countries are always looking for cheap labour from third-world countries. In our country, farmers pick their crops themselves and then either sell them to vendors who then sell them to consumers, or farmers could sell them themselves because most of the farmers are also vendors which means they sell their products themselves instead of selling it to others. I know that things work differently in different regions, but farmers should be doing that themselves and it should be done instead of allowing the products to get wasted in the fields only because pickers are expensive.

In our country though, the thing about products becoming expensive, it's actually mostly done by farmers again, if they want to increase the price of a product, they will reduce the supply, either by storing the product for sometime instead of letting it out in the market, or wasting a portion so that the remaining portion could sell at a higher price, and this is done by all the farmers combined so that it can become effective. This is one of the main reasons for the rising inflation in our country, but there is nothing that can be done as long as the government is turning a blind eye to it.

[Mhizlove]

In my country when it comes to agricultural produce, the problem isn't about scarcity but a failed system there are many farm produce(food) but the reason is that is not enough to go round for those whose are in need of it. Why this is because of bad transportation system the storage is very weak and lastly those that stands as middleman sometimes blocks the flow of the produce, with all this happening the goods that are been imported easily enters the market without stress and it will make price very high.

So am saying that if government can fix the access and movement of farmers selling their product instead of ignoring them it will really help those in the country because it will make food more affordable and this will reduce waste of food

[Razmirraz]

Problems like this also often occur in my country, the government may focus more on imports to meet market needs rather than supporting local farmers to increase production and distribution of crops, resulting in problems between unbalanced agricultural and trade policies. The action of farmers throwing away their harvest as a form of protest because they are very disappointed with the government which does not distribute the harvest properly to the market or consumers, while imports are still carried out, making prices unstable.

The case you describe in Op is due to farmers not having sufficient access to markets or adequate infrastructure to distribute their crops. This kind of inequality only benefits one party, while farmers are always the victims of the greed of the government or intermediaries/large sellers because they prioritize imports because they are more financially profitable.

[YOSHIE]

imagine how cheap the groceries can be if the government focused on the right things..

At times like that, the government's role is needed, the government should not just make big profits before they come in.
It should be when farmers have exceeded the supply of crops, The government is responsible for placing supplies and arranging distribution strategies for farmers and looking for target market locations to supply supplies of goods, so that farmers do not suffer losses and the farmer's economy remains stable against excess goods.

The government is responsible for paying attention and determining appropriate strategies for farmers' goods, of course they must target imports abroad, meaning the government must be ready to buy goods at standard prices so that the farmers' economy remains stable.

[Findingnemo]

It isn't undersupply or a problem with the logistics, it is simply due to mass volume produced in just a very short time frame which is their season but farmers don't have the perks to keep it for long term or convert it into something then sell it all throughout the year this is why ketchup companies but the tomatoes at dead cheap price and process them and then sell it throughout the year. So it is the farmers lacking value added products which is due to lack of capital.

[Cryptomultiplier]

imagine how cheap the groceries can be if the government focused on the right things..

At times like that, the government's role is needed, the government should not just make big profits before they come in.
It should be when farmers have exceeded the supply of crops, The government is responsible for placing supplies and arranging distribution strategies for farmers and looking for target market locations to supply supplies of goods, so that farmers do not suffer losses and the farmer's economy remains stable against excess goods.

The government is responsible for paying attention and determining appropriate strategies for farmers' goods, of course they must target imports abroad, meaning the government must be ready to buy goods at standard prices so that the farmers' economy remains stable.

The government is often more focused on sectors that being huge revenue and am sure technology, cryptocurrency and the Blockchain network as well as other investment sectors like gambling, has done much more to bring in more funds than agriculture products would in the recent times for the government .

Being an exporter of food items from agricultural produce is a sure way for country to become developed and less hungry, because there would be food supply available everywhere and cheaper, but when farmers can't store them properly due to insufficient supply of electricity or other basic needs that can preserve them, including taxing, these farmers may choose the path to least resistance and sell at giveaway prices, or more often than not, under distribute the items because these items are perishable even while in transit.

[Davidvictorson]

Logistics is always the problem for 3rd world countries like my country. I don’t know what country you are referring on your scenario but redistribution is indeed the main culprit why many produce doesn’t go to the market easily that creates a shortage on supply.

Most developing countries have issues with logistics and in the case of my country add to that insecurity. So because only one region of the country are able to produce tomatoes and most of the produces when insecurity arises, the distribution becomes a problem. Farmers can no longer go to farms for fear of being kidnapped and so there is a reduction in the planting and harvesting of the produce. And the once that eventually get to the people becomes so expensive.

In the country where farmers chose to dump their produce rather than sell , we have a reverse in my own country.

And there is still a lot that the government needs to do to help the farmers.

[slapper]

Maybe. But also probably not?

We continue to outsource solutions to institutions with no real motivation to solve it. And then we're surprised when nothing happens. The farmers continue to dump produce. Consumers are paying too much anyway. And somewhere in the middle a very small group of people are making a lot of money off both sides. And that arrangement works perfectly for the people who have influence over the policy. So why would they change it.

There are direct-to-consumer models available. Cooperatives exist. Community supported agriculture has existed forever. They work, they cut out the extraction layer they make food cheaper. But they haven't scaled. Part of me wonders if that's on purpose, or just inertia. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between those two things.

If prices are high in the oversupply situation, then prices aren't reflecting supply and demand anymore. They're reflecting control. Whoever is sitting on the bottleneck determines the number.

And that should bother us a lot more than it does.

[passwordnow]

The farmers will choose to dump it without anyone benefiting it with cheaper cost. Because that's against their ego and I think they have the right to do that since from the planting to harvesting, it's all their efforts that have been put into it. And that's their choice if they chose to destroy their agri products due to the abuse of the middlemen and businessmen. Instead of them benefiting from their own products, it's them that are the ones who's suffering due to the manipulation of these people who are greedy and don't think of their welfare.

Farmers should be under the control of government agricultural agencies. Allowing farmers to act as they like will undermine the food security of the country. Some of these farmers receive grants and enjoy subsidies from the government to ensure an unhindered supply of agricultural produce. Farmers who destroy products because they want to manipulate the market should be sanctioned. The people who enjoy cheap produce instead of destroying it. The reason why some agricultural products are destroyed is due to poor or a lack of storage facilities.

If they get support from the government, they won't do such act. But because of lack of support, they're choosing to dump it instead of selling it cheaply. They're not begging for it and they can still live with what they're planting. And those who are waiting for their products, they're the ones that will purchase more expensive vegetables when the demand increases and there's not that much supply. I think it's not the farmers that manipulates the market but it's the middlemen or the businessmen that buys directly to the farmers and sells it to their market areas.

[Dunamisx]

In a perfect economy, all these must have been worked on in other to ensure that every aspect is fully balanced and there is no shift in such a way that could affect the other through certain imbalances, there must be the department or agency that control for the supply and demand of every economical production process, whereby signal will be indicated for when there is a need for each aspect to increase or reduce production or supply in respect to demand.

[DYING_S0UL]

There are so many things that move around an issue to something like this, but with the majority of the members who have already discussed, like logistics, traders, corruption, etc. I want to add something to the discussion about prices.

What the government can do is set price floors to ensure that farmers are protected from price fluctuations. That they can also subsidize a portion of it, so they could have a stable life and wouldn't be affected by the harsh economy.
^{(This is what is happening in my countr,y and the farmers are bleeding out because they are taken advantage of by businessmen)}

The result is that this becomes harder for farmers who plant crops like tomatoes, which may be limited by shelf life. This could be solved by cold storage, but there are also financial problems.

It is not just oversupply or underdistribution, but a systemic problem that plagues the supply chain.

While your intention is effective and pure, I'm afraid it's hard to implement and is often ignored by greedy third party distributors.I'm not saying we don't have such rules, we do. But despite that, every year we see farmers being sucked up by every level of middlemans. These hard working root level farmers are never getting what they deserve, while their products are being sold with expensive price tags in every other supermarket. I am somewhat involved with farming as I live in a rural place, so I know this much.

It might be hard to believe, but I have seen farmers destroying their own crops willingly out of frustration as the cost of harvesting or transporting exceeds the amount that they could have sold in the market. So they'll just let it rot in the field or feed it to livestock.

[Die_empty]

If they get support from the government, they won't do such act. But because of lack of support, they're choosing to dump it instead of selling it cheaply. They're not begging for it and they can still live with what they're planting. And those who are waiting for their products, they're the ones that will purchase more expensive vegetables when the demand increases and there's not that much supply. I think it's not the farmers that manipulates the market but it's the middlemen or the businessmen that buys directly to the farmers and sell it to their market areas.

This is why the government should closely monitor the operations of both farmers and middlemen. These people can devise any strategy to make a profit. Some farmers in my country decided to illegally export their produce out of our country because they wanted the goods to be scarce. The government was able to discover their smuggling routes and they were brought to book. If the government is not proactive in protecting the interests of its citizens, these businessmen would cause a man-made scarcity to maximize profit..

[davis196]

recently, news of farmers dumping their produce (in this case, tomatoes) have been a topic. this isn’t actually a new topic because already for years this has been happening. the consumers are left confused because the produce they have been buying are so expensive so how is it that there’s an oversupply?

the answer simply is underdistribution. the overwhelming produce aren’t distributed properly to markets or to consumers. instead the imports are the ones prioritized and sold in markets. sometimes the middlemen also really rake up the prices.

imagine how cheap the groceries can be if the government focused on the right things..

What country are you talking about? The problem with tomatoes being too cheap due to overproduction isn't valid for my country. If something is too cheap and the farmers can't sell it, this means that the demand for that certain food isn't enough to cover all the supply. If there's an over-production of tomatoes in your country, then why there's no way for those tomatoes to get exported to other countries? I know that tomatoes don't last for long. These tomatoes can be used to make ketchup and export it overseas. There is a tomato shortage in my country and we import around 80% of all fruits and vegetables.

[passwordnow]

If they get support from the government, they won't do such act. But because of lack of support, they're choosing to dump it instead of selling it cheaply. They're not begging for it and they can still live with what they're planting. And those who are waiting for their products, they're the ones that will purchase more expensive vegetables when the demand increases and there's not that much supply. I think it's not the farmers that manipulates the market but it's the middlemen or the businessmen that buys directly to the farmers and sell it to their market areas.

This is why the government should closely monitor the operations of both farmers and middlemen. These people can devise any strategy to make a profit. Some farmers in my country decided to illegally export their produce out of our country because they wanted the goods to be scarce. The government was able to discover their smuggling routes and they were brought to book. If the government is not proactive in protecting the interests of its citizens, these businessmen would cause a man-made scarcity to maximize profit..

The most comprehensive and progressive countries does this. They're giving importance to their farmers because they're the ones responsible for their food security. But countries that don't have support for them, boycotts their importance and so this is an easy act for them if they're not given the importance that they deserve. So instead of making their countrymen eat their food and the vegetables that they've grown, it's either exported or destroyed so that none of them will take benefit from their hard work under the heat of the sun.

[tygeade]

~snip

This has been a going on problem all around the world, seen it in my nation, you saw it in yours, we recently saw it in France, happened in USA, and it keeps going further and further. Reality is that farming isn't a profitable business, you can't farm today and sell at a cheap price so that people would be able to live. So the outcome would be, either farmers will make a loss and people will eat cheap at which case people will stop being farmers, or you are going to sell at a very high price and people will not be able to buy and that causes problems all the same.

This is where governments get involved, and pay subsidies to farmers, like cheaper stuff to make them profitable. If you do not do this, and say "capitalism/liberalism will fix it" then you end up with what we have today, expensive enough for people to not buy, cheap enough where farmers make a loss.