douglasspade

1 hour ago, kingofthemountain said:

asking to the farmers to cut their income by 50%

Nope...That is not what they say.

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

advised farmers to exercise caution by avoiding second-crop cultivation

They are advising farmers that there will be a shortage of water and that crops might suffer because of it...

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

and turning to crops which consume less water, if they want to continue cultivation in the dry season to make some extra income.

... and to rather turn to crops witch uses less water could be more economically viable if they (the farmers) still want to continue farming during the dry months.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives are merely advising and cautioning, and from my perspective it is a very positive point to consider to Farmers as they still have time to change and plan their crops for the dry season.

Nothing wrong with the software or the date format.  As the most blunt tool in the shed, even my peanut brain can swap numbers on the go no matter what the date format is.

Make it sporty and put a roof-rack on!

Some cars has a tyre repair kit and no spare, better stock up on a few bottles of slime.

On 3/6/2021 at 2:47 PM, canopus1969 said:

$1k - please say how !

Personally I'd say living gracefully and not a high life has helped me tremendously. Did spend my 'hard earned' money securing assets that will have value in the future, invested in my wife by enrolling her into a college so she is gaining a side income, and I got some farms rolling.

We're living normally during the covid on less than 20K THB a month, that's with kids and the odd farm running costs and other ventures.

21 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Just remember a little water will go a long way in the dry season

Had pouring rain in lower Isaan for the past 2 days, looks like more coming ... so I will fill our water canons with pure  'Pla Duk' and 'Pĕd' poop pond water, and douse the village elders with it.????

Marijuana is slang for the drug produced from the Cannabis plant. The leaves are discarded in the drug producing process. So, should the title not read "Cannabis Shabu-shabu Is Legal", because "Marijuana Shabu Shabu" is definitively not what they are marketing here.

Can an expired passport be accepted as identification to authorities? Can your visa length of permitted stay in the kingdom out date your passport? 

Maybe just cross the road tomorrow and go ask them. The answers you will get here will not hold weight as that of the Farmer directly.

Isaan is a tough place to farm. We are a very small family, probably because most is old and dying, and the young has grown up and made a run for the big cities. Our major bulk crop we sell to big corporations, there are no other choices. Without GMO seeds I can not grow produce fast to sell when it comes in demand. Also GMO seed allows to grow feed year round to supply my animals. Water and electricity around the village is supplied by the gov. connection, it is dirt cheap and reliable enough to run pumps, lights etc. Out on the farm land I am dependent on machines, parts and fuel needed to keep things going.

And I keep my money in a bank, it allows me to cash in on cheap life insurance, crop insurance and other yearly deals that benefit us in the long run.

We can not be 'self sufficient' by choice, maybe because we are poor as <deleted>, or it is just the not way the agriculture puzzle fits together in Thailand for us.

We make silage if we have too many banana tree's dying during the change of seasons. I started experimenting a year ago with Banana, Corn, Millet and Napier grass fodder processed to silage. All make good silage that can last a long time and although it is an xtra step and cost in the feed production chain it really helps out during the winter when natural feed (ruzi, napier, natural grasses) becomes less abundant and/or I can not rotate fields lots (corn, millet) fast enough.

The feed banana hand chopped, chipped fodder, or silage to the cows by mixing it with rice hay or other natural cut grasses. We double the feed ratio when we feed bull calves about 2 to 3 months before they sell off.

Pigs also eat it rough hand chopped, chipped to fodder, and silage mixed with rice bran and rice skins. But we stop feeding silage by 30kg weight else they put on too much fat instead of muscle and we get a lower price from our clients.  I am only on my third rotation of fattening pigs so I am learning as I go.

There is a guy around Satuek that has goats and he feeds them Banana daily as well as my ducks eat the dried fodder wet, or the fresh fodder blended finer mixed with rice bran.

On 2/11/2021 at 7:49 PM, kickstart said:

do not weld steel in flip-flops weld splatter is hot and makes you dance a jig when it lands on your foot

Still weld with flipflops, but tie 'chaps' below my knee that covers my legs and my feet. I made them from an old synthetic leather welding apron.

For the farm I tried "gumboots", in my home country they are strong, durable and fits naturally. I tried a few local pairs in vain, way too tight around the calves and without breathing my legs sweat inside. The rubber tend to stretch and my feet slip inside leaving me with rotten toe nails. Rubber boots here are made for Thais with chicken legs and hobbit feet.

I wear the these tipe of 'water shoes' around the farm these days. They don't slop mud around like boots and flipflops. They work well in most conditions and are comfy and easily washable, the soles last as long as  cheap flipflops if you don't drag your feet like a buffalo. They are about 150฿ with delivery on Lazada.

I my home country we have croc farms where they are bred and harvested for their meat and skin. The meat goes for about 100 Baht p/kg now. Although these farms are just profit driven, they worked with authorities and have boosted croc population in the nature and reserves so much, yearly culling is necessary to keep the ratio's down.

I fear this croc will not last long if some 'hungry' locals find out where it is. Publicity might have been the wrong type of attention.

But you still can get Covid... so all the restrictions in that particular country will still apply? I am almost sure.

Sure this has to do with the World Bank report 2 days ago  indicated that 1.5m people in Thailand are bordering the poverty line after Covid-19 hit. story here: 1.5 million Thais approaching poverty line

If managing tax cuts for daily living cost is an answer to that, it proves how disconnected he is to the poor people of Thailand. Sad.

22 hours ago, kickstart said:

,how are you going to set the post ,dig a hole 18 inches and concrete the post in

The land is filled and in the rain season it drains easily off into the rice fields. Yes I was going to go half a meter deep and mix cement with the excavated material and compact that in. The eucalyptus is to break the inside of 6 something Rai up into manageable pasture yards.

The outside boundary fence I was planning to drop the buck and go for concrete poles just because everyone else is using them here in lower Isaan. Will need a small fortune to get labor digging the holes and carrying those poles around, for 2 people it is 700 Baht, pay and food daily.

The eucalyptus fence I was going to attempt myself in my own time. 

22 hours ago, kickstart said:

The enclosed photos are a fence I put up

I like this whole idea, reminds me how we do it in my home country.  I have not yet started the perimeter fence so there is still time to change the plans.

Some questions...

How far apart are the poles between the straining poles? The strainer poles are not concreted in? Had any issues with cows pushing poles over?

Stay away from my village! We live happily without masks, vaccine politics and farang incidents.

3 hours ago, cooked said:

Even Thai red wood rots after 4 - 5 years. 

No attempt is made to preserve the wood. Common Thailand attitude is to rather let anything go that will cost money, time and effort until it's <deleted>.

Most times bigger logs are cut into planks or the logs are split, leaving the whole grain exposed to suck up water. I think the trick is to keep moisture from entering the pith else it will keep sucking it .The sapwood also gets rotten around the hardwood, hence pulling a waterlogged planted pole usually leaves the sapwood behind in the ground and reveal the hardwood core attached to the rest of the pole.

It is a means to an end to use the wood purposefully instead of spending 30K on concrete poles. Also although we get 8 hours of sunlight, the corn and pumpkin fields get most of the tree shadows due to the low sun of winter, not enough sun to grow well and fruit.

I process about 5  trees a day, depending on the horrid N/E gusts that passes weekly.

Cut the trees to 2M poles,

and process some firewood from the smaller branches/tree's also.

4 hours ago, CLW said:

I guess if you are selling the wood and buy some concrete / steel fence posts it might a better solution

I will get around 2000 Baht with the current price, and at 100 Baht a 2m pole I will only get 20 poles. Steel is a good idea but will need something really strong like droppers that will be pricey as I wall span at least 5 lines of tight barb wire.

I have cut a 3rd of the trees and lumbered 42 poles of 2m so far. I will end up with around 120 poles.

I have seen a video of a guy who dips poles in a diesel and oil mixture, but he scald the poles bottoms and the sides that will be submerged in he soil first. Maybe I will do the same, it seems legit.

1 hour ago, khwaibah said:

Have you vaccinated them against bird flue.?

I use a reputable hatchery that vaccinate all chicks before shipping them. They know if there is an outbreak with their chicks the gov will be coming around.

After 4 weeks I vaccinate the chicks myself with a broad based vaccine (duck plague, NDV , fowl cholera etc.) than can not be administered to birds below 4 weeks old. The cost is 130 Baht for a 'one time' dose. I redo this again by 12 weeks, then every 6 months therafter for the layers and the ducks.

The chicks has moved into a "safe zone" yard cage yesterday to protect them from cats and other game birds we have around. Also contact from other stock is nullified until I vaccinate. After 4 to 5 weeks they will roam free in the cage, and from 8 weeks on they are semi free range as I lock all my birds up 6pm to 6am.

I have Golden Comets for some time now, they are a docile layer breed that gives me more than 300 big eggs per bird in a year. Chicks do not need a hen but need a brooder, especially this time of year in Thailand. I recently got 62 to supplement my stock and they have done well inside ramen noodle boxes with rice skin substrate, 7w lights and waterers. Cleaned once a day.

In the wrong state he might get the death penalty.