For all the tea in China, no Kenya....

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By Dwain Duxson - An Ag Enthusiast

For all the tea in China Kenya... - I found this article (in dark below, take a read first) last night and couldn't resist putting it up. Many of you who have been around the Farming bock a few times will remember something similar in an industry that our country was built on: Wool. Sounds familiar?

"Three years ago, Kenya — one of the world's biggest tea producers — set a minimum price for the commodity to cushion Farmers from losses in an oversupplied market. Now, it's been forced to suspend the plan and set about clearing a huge inventory at bargain rates instead. Supply began piling up after Kenya set a reserve price of $2.43 a kilogram in 2021.

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The effort was recently scrapped, and a glut that touched 100 million kilograms (220 million pounds) at its peak has been whittled down. But a backlog of 15 million kilograms (33 million pounds) remained as of October, according to the government, enough to brew roughly 7.5 billion cups. That could take until the middle of next year to clear. And aging reserves mean its taste is also likely to suffer, heralding more bad news for the East African tea industry, with prices set to remain depressed for the foreseeable future".

If only the Kenyan Tea Industry had reached out to us, we could have saved them a lot of pain. I remember those days; I was about 18 or 19 when the Wool Reserve Prices Scheme was abolished. Before that, I remember the old man saying we had finally made it. A flippant sorta statement we have all made many times that has come back to bite us on the arse. Not his fault, they were good times before everything went pear shaped. I was just starting my Farming journey at the time, and remember not long after having to go on the dole so I could stay on the Farm. Do you remember those days? Or have your parents or grandparents talked about that time in history? Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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