NFU Scotland has issued some really interesting figures which highlight that livestock farmers need an urgent price increase because of rocketing feed costs.
But at the same time they show that retailers and manufactuers can't use commodity price rises to justify massive increases in retail prices.
A 30p/kg rise for pig farmers – to cover extra feed costs – would represent a rise of only 13p on a typical pack of pork steaks or sausages, 10 pence on a pack of bacon and 4 pence on a pack of sliced ham.
The doubling of wheat prices only adds 8 pence to the price of a loaf (every £10 per tonne increase in wheat prices is equivalent to one pence on the retail price of bread).
If malting barley doubled in price, it would add around 3 pence to a bottle of whisky.
In the last year of its life, a prime suckler beef animal will eat around one tonne of barley. The cost of this has increased from £90/t to £170/t. Suckler beef producers need an extra 25p per kilo deadweight, just to cover that individual cost.