kickstart

Interesting post FJ, pity I live so far from you I would like to have gone with you. Those engines I would say would not be cheap coming from Germany. but saying that well maintained they should last a good few years. The plant can produce 3 MW any idea, to put it in to perspective how many homes /buildings that could provide power for. Those choppers for the Nappier grass look like the type some of our farmers use to cut Nappier grass or maize, single and double rows. The price of 450 baht/ton seems cheap to me, the Nappier they use will probably be well grown yielding 2-3 ton /rie ,how they would get on this time of year without any irrigation I would not know and taking that machinery over wet fields during the wet season could leave the field in a mess with ruts and poaching.

Our local big farming company growing some irrigated maize, this block is about 50 rie ,about 3 km away is another block of about 50 rie . Someone at the company does not know a lot about growing corn, this is about 3-4 foot high and in flower, chances of it producing any cobs is about nil, not even enough to cut for maize silage, just plough it in for green manure. The money they have invested in this crop they are watering it most days, a bit like they whole operation they rent all the land 1000 baht/,rie plus, some blocks they have drilled bore holes all they own equipment, they seem only to get one crop a year. We think they days are numbered they might have all the equipment; they have another 4-5 irrigation reels like this one, but they seem to lack the management skills. I know most of their land is 20-30 km up the road, not certain what that is like, but I would it is the same as here.

The Yanks had to fire two missiles at one balloon, as one missile missed, how many will the Thai air force use. Or use Somchia and his catapult.

Recycling plastic is big business's lot of people almost make a living out of it, picking up plastic bottles etc. from beside the roads, then un-like our country they sell it to a recycling company, and it is them that sell it on for recycling. That is where the problem is if they cannot get a good price for, they plastic they will not do it the price goes up and down, we have a place near here that buys in plastic bottles etc. put them in to big bales and sells it on, they yard is full of these bales, a low price at this time. We save all our plastic glass bottles etc. guy end of our Soi buys them, the last lot the wife sold was the lowest price she has got in a long while. For this to work the government will have to help out, with some form of subsidy, as that will not happen things will just carry on as before.

I see you have got some scalloped discs on their do they help to cut though the rubbish, we have a few farmers that that use them on they 3-disc ploughs, mainly for ploughing in cane straw/stubble. Do you really want to watch the cricket ..........may be ( yesterday) in NZ.????

Yes, FJ is right, I said no cane is burnt in our area, the reason is that this year 70% +? is now cut by machine, no cane is burnt when it is cut by machine, with a machine, a second hand import costing 2 million baht, it needs big growers to that can afford to buy one, and run one, grower we know said his fuel bill to cut 120 rie of cane was 100 000 baht, he has a total of 500 rie. Not all areas are the same as ours but given time they will be.

It already has, for some years they are various plants about Thailand making Ethanal Alcohol, from molasses. And have you noticed how much cassava is grown now, when I first come to my area 20 odd years ago, they were no cassava grown now it is alongside corn/maize, and cane, the reason that it is fermented down in to Ethanal Alcohol, and yes, a lot is still dried and exported, China and Rotterdam are big markets.

Lopburi, and we have 3 mills in the area, this is the second year of baling cane straw. Also, our local plant makes enhylal alcohol from Molasses, which will go on to make gashol fuel for all our vehicles.

Wifes family have just had two motorbike bike accidents over the past month, with Thai 3ed party insurance it only covers you up to 30 000 baht in hospital bills, one case the car driver who so we were told, was at fault and paid the extra hospital bill, not all accident victims are so lucky.

Do what they do in my area and some others, bale it to big bales, it goes for biomass, or at our local mill gets used as fuel for boiling molasses. No cane is burnt in our area, so it can be done

You can get limes this big there is a verity known as Mano Yat มะนาวย์ก in Thai, we have two bushes in the garden, and they bear fruit this size. We have had large limes on the normal lime trees in the past, they normally do well with the amount of cow manure that is put on them they should grow well. The wife says what do I do with limes this size one of these would keep me going for a few days cooking, I said quite easy make them into marmalade, which we do, and very nice it is to.

This was on Thai TV today, he made it she was still there, and they gave each other a very big hug. for the cameras? let's see how it unfolds over the next few days.

Cane is burnt in the late evening when it is dark, reason, very little wind/ breeze, compared to during the day and it can be seen to keep it under control. Will plans fly at nighttime at very low level, no.

They already do. the sugar cane mill will deduct money from burnt sugar cane sent to the mill, and farmers know that. I see Lopburi province is on the list of provinces with a lot of burning, in our area no cane is burnt, and we have 3 mills and a lot of cane. {were dose the op get their facts from.} Another reason cane is burnt, and a big one it makes the job easier for the cutters, as all the work is done on piece work, more you cut more money you earn, most cutter are Cambodians, Burmese and Laos, and as cutters are getting more difficult to find growers will burn cane. In our area most cane is cut by machine, but not so in all areas with a secondhand imported machine costing 2 million baht plus not cheap, and a grower near here has spent almost 100 000 baht on diesel for his machine this year @ 35 baht liter just to cut 120 rie the engine on a cane harvester is 250 hp, hardly environmentally friendly.

I had a Hornets nest in are cattle shed, one evening when they are all back in the nest, a log pole rag soaked in diesel set light to the nest ..................less than 2 weeks later they were back again, had the same problem using sprays we use the mosquito one. when they are gone we destroyed the nest ..............back they come again.

They would be better off sending a few plane loads of rice, especially to Syria, with the political situation in the country, they need more aid than Turkey. Or medical supplies to Syria only 20% of the people they are getting any aid.

Um, hardly porn after the last 2 MZ's,anyone remembered these ?a simple 250cc two-stroke single, This one was the 1976-1980 modal,I can remember reading a road test in Bike magazine ,the guy said ,he got on it ,then had to get off it to start it ,the kick-start is on the left-hand side , I knew a couple of guys who had them ,one guy was going to the Ise of Man TT on one,the day before he left he serviced the bike ,changed the spark plug ,went from Nottingham ,to a week in the Ise of Man and back no problems. What let them down was the styling.

From the video Missile from the east,story of racer Emst Degner ,interesting, amazing what they could do in former Eastern Block countries with limited resources. Not only 125cc bikes but 250cc as well.

Good question ,I know a few people who work,or use to work ,for the DPO ,The Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand ,the milk producing arm of the Thai Denmark milk group,also a part funded government quango .being based at Mortlec ,in Saraburi province ,as you say some of they employees have been sent abroad ,and some can speck fair English But it seems a lot instead of being out in the field as extension offices,they end up doing a desk job shifting paper about ,as they are concerned a lot easer job than walking about someone's farm one who I have meet on a few occasions is now at Khon Khen Unverstiy ,I think,or was , teaching dairy science ? The last time we meet I was saying about the big problem with dairy cows ,mainly infertility due to the poor diet the main forage sauce being rice straw,being very short of energy and how to cure it she agreed with me about growing grass cutting back /out,rice straw,she used to lecher about it, but the dairy farmers would not listen still using rice straw ,I would call it being lazy ,easier just to pick up a bale of rice straw cut the strings job done ,than going out in to a field and cutting grass. As for Australian beef coming in to Thailand ,this has been going on for a couple of years ,most imported beef gets sold at Macro Big C etc ,where I would say it is a limited market, can not see that changing the market trends ,my wife and most Thais I know what bit of beef they buy they get from the locale market ,the local noddle shops etc certainly do ,for them the Macro beef would be to expensive . Small scale dairy farmers giving up ,it is already happening in my area as I said ,and you said ,feed cost just too high and the debt a lot of these farmers have either with the bank or their local milk centre ,the milk centres borrow money from the bank ,loan it out to the farmers at a point or two higher ,they get it back by deducting it from they monthly milk income,one farmer friend of mine said they are in debt to the bank /co-op about 600 000 baht that was the last time I asked them. Raw milk price has gone up now about 19 baht/kg depending on quality, most say still not enough ,better management is certainly needed and a change of ways ,both unlikely.

Hi FJ This thing was working just up the road from us ,field was sugar cane ,been ploughed ,now this rotary harrow has been over it ,the soil is our blak land this time of year very hard no rain .you can see the ploughed land on the left the harrowed land on the right ,he made a good job . The JD tractor is 135 hp the rotary harrow is 3 meters ,the guy said it cost 180 000 baht ,new they are 420 000 baht. This was last Friday ,I said a good rainstorm you could drill in to that ,then on Sunday like you, we had 10 mm of rain,even after 10 mm, if more rain was due ,which it will not be ,you could have drilled in to that field . Our farming press in the UK and others is and as has been for a while now, saying about direct drilling ,mainly for Maize ,Wheat, Barley and Canola ,OSR the reason less environmental impact on the land ,less soi disturbance ,and more cost efferent. This is the first time I have seen the above set-up ,he said the guy will be planting cane again ,the owner ploughed the field himself, Ford 7740, this guy was contracting 450-500 baht/rie ,the cost of the two together900- 1000 baht/Rie??, diesel at 35 baht plus /litre. Farming methods in Thailand are changing ,they still have a long way to go to catch up with the west ,the two photos are new here to me ,but in our countries they are on the way out.

Do you want a job??,come to my area ad explain that to our dairy farmers ,I have being trying for ........a lot of years without any luck. Growing grass it would be cut and cart ,not all farmers have access to water,not all have tractors some use a grass strimmer to cut the grass. They like beef farmers just used rice straw as a main sauce of forage ,and relay on expensive concentrate for production ,in this area a lot of dairy farmers are giving up can not make it pay mainly the small ones ,all claiming that concentrate prices are too high and they can not make any profit. I have being playing around with Google/YouTube,about making small bales of silage,make it during the rainy season feed it for the cool/hot season ,equipment will have to be imported ,saying that Yanmar make a small baler ,doubt if it is made in Thailand ,but it might miss out on import tax . I reckon that for mower baler rapping machine,4-500 000 baht ,might be cheaper if you can find second hand ,most farmers have a tractor about 45 hp would do,grass management would have to be good and of good quality. With the above you could cut back on concentrate milk yield/beef growth rates would increase ,the big infertility problem with dairy cows would improve,all round more money could be made. A dairy farmer near me spent 200 000 baht on rice straw last year for his 60-70 head of stock, this year could well be 300 000 with the big increase in price of rice straw . Doing the above, it would pay for its self in less than two years . Reality,it won't happen ,farmers would say too big an investment something new for them,they afraid it would not work, better off doing what they do now.

The cattle are a mix of Thai Native and Thai Native X Brahman,Interting how they are going to test the cattle for disease ,which would be Foot and Mouth disease ,and Lumpy Skin Disease . It would probably have to be blood tests ,I hope they have some handling fertilities those cattle will not be easy to handle . As for red meat enhancement,the place being Mudahan ,have they come from Laos or Cambodia ,if so the odds of them having a hormone injection which the red meat enchantment basically is will e slim . I would say these cattle will be clean ,the big cattle area I live in every few months Foot and Mouth comes to the area,ater last year's epidemic very little Lumpy Skin about . These cattle what vaccinating to prevent them getting anything from the local Thai cattle.

Or we had a craze for a while left hand mirror on the right side,right side mirror on the left,both facing in ,reason, so they can see they face the mirror while driving. This was 20 years ago,now they are all grown up and responsible people.

The problem is still fed costs ,those farmers that feed concentrate are still finding the prices is going up. I do not know about your area but here in our big dairy cow area ,Lopburi, rice straw is still expensive about 40 baht /bale ,normaly this time of year ,just after rice harvest it is 25-28 baht/bale being dry not a lot of grass in the fields /hedge bottoms to graze/cut ,and the cattle price is still low in all markets ,dairy and beef,. So anyone buying cattle know they are some cheap cattle out they, but the rearing costs are leaving a very low margin ,if you are working on borrowed money with rising interest rates ,does not leave a lot of profit. Your past post about quality cattle ,we sold that black Angus bull last month ,we got 33 000 baht for him ,with the present market not a bad price ,as the wife said 18 months ago we would have got 45 000 baht for him, and he was only 13 months old . The guy who brought him is a local cattle dealer ,he has brought cattle from us before ,he will keep him for another year and sell him on for beef ,by then he will weigh about 500 kg ,hopefully the prices will increase

No it would not handle big branches ,as i said mainly for chopping grass, but it will handle small branches, 6 cm or 2 1/2 inches is a fair-sized branch,asI said I hope the knifes are up to the job ,ie not made in China. As CLW said look at patipong.com,they do have some videos ,I have seen one at work, and one modal will handle branches.