thoongfoned

drove past the largest weigh station this morning, afew tractors and trailers waiting to be tipped, 2 macro's unloading and loading, did not look like burnt cane, but did not stop to look, 650 baht a ton.... 

4 hours ago, ireckonso said:

With the low prices and hopefully chemical bans most of these sugar cane toxic waste dumps will go out of business, in the last 5-6 years with the growth of cane around here the environment has taken a heavy toll let alone the children and elderly showing up at the hospital where my wife works with major lung problems. I say F&&k em all and their sugar cane !!!

we have 4 children all have lived in the village full time, only now the eldest is off at school in bkk, never any lung problems, we are surrounded by cane land.... around the village there is no rubbish collection, so people just burn all the non sell items, always have since i ve been coming here. i would think that living in say bkk would be more harmful to ones health then living in the sticks.... not to menetion chaing mai...

even if the price at the gate drops alot the processor plant we still be making good bahts, dont hold ya breath on the banning of the chemicals to control weeds...

the returns per rai on say growing cane vs say rice, what returns the best baht do you think?

from what i can make out from the wife the local government have said there is to be no burning of cane from now on.... our cleaner lady said some thing along these lines this morning, she is cutting full time at the mo, stops when she gets to 200 baht a day...

On 11/24/2019 at 1:47 PM, kickstart said:

Burnt sugar cane  has always had a reduced price , burnt cane is easy to tell ...........because it has burn marks on it and it is black,......and it has a  lower  sugar containt ,so a lower price ,but growers  take a lower price ,as a burnt cane crop is easy to cut than un-burnt cane ,and with cutters getting more  difficult to find each year ,growers will almost do anything to keep them happy .

And remember cutters are paid on piece work one bundle of cane has 10 storks ,and a cuter gets 1 baht /bundle ,so to earn some money a cutter needs t cutat least 300 bundles day ,can not be done with un-burnt cane.

In this area this year more cane will be cut be machine , can not find the cutters ,and most are from Burma or Cambodia ,and we get the Issan rice farmers ,come come down after harvesting they rice crop.

lady that "cleans" our house also does the farm labor jobs localy, past couple of days she has been out cutting un burnt cane for re- planting. 10 "sticks" in a bundle 2 baht each bundle, says most of the day working all for about 200 baht.... working cleaning our house for a couple hours every other day seems like a dream job when you put it into context.

10 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

I seem to remember the thresher we used to use took 10% of the rice as payment. For one or two rai, I doubt they would turn up. 

yeah its about 10 percent here, but if you have less then 50 bags they will take more...

almost managed to stop fil working now, they (plus wife) used to do 50/60 rai plus, to a good standard years ago, but old age ect and the fact that they will be given money most weeks from family means they only really "plod" about doing this small patch of land and or course the cutting of trees for "black wood"

On 11/25/2019 at 5:51 PM, IsaanAussie said:

Well the harvester has been and gone. 300Kg per rai is not what we had hoped for but with the rice blast issue, it could have been worse. Holding on to enough for the next year and the rest sold at 11.3 baht/kg. The washup is we just about covered cost and have seed and eating rice for the next year. 

you got more than the father inlaw got from his 7 rai, 20 bags or about 500 kg total, always more weeds than rice, same for the last few years...

13 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

We have lots of those notices... massive posters, put up all over the countryside here in CM too...… today cycling I passed a couple of the signs next to rice fields that were burning.  No good having these laws and spending money and time on putting posters up, if everyone knows there is zero enforcement!  

where we are they set the fires after dark.....,  drove past the local weigh station this morning,they got the tractor in clearing the weeds, get the finance in place (had a bank car in the lot also) then open the gates come new years time...

13 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

Today we harvested a 1 rai plot. 150kg at best of crappy rice. Fall army worm, water stressed and rice blast.

the wife has been saying that around here the rice yields are lower this year, most people are well into the harvest now,alot of the wifes friends have had the machine in to cut, 600 baht per rai so im told. 

this is the first year i can remember not selling out of the bags (from the pigs feed) still got afew hundred in the "shed" we have been selling @ 3.2/3.5 per bag if buy at least 1000 or 4 baht for smaller orders.

2 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

We haven't grown rice for 3 years. The one 20 rai block is rented and the other 20 is unused. The first year we had it good and got average 650kg per rai.  I was shocked! I was expecting 900kg or more. ???? Had to pay for soil prep,  labour on several days and machine to harvest. Still we made enough to have a go next year.....which wasn't so good.  4 rai at the West end didn't get enough water as the dam dried up and yield suffered.  Still made money but not enough to do it again.   We made a bit more on corn each year and we only planted 14 rai.   Not enough water for more corn.  And there is a shortage of farm labour here.  And the average age of the workers is 50's something.   Moving 3" hoses around in the corn almost killed the both of us!  Looking after mango trees is a snap in comparison.....but,  not highly profitable. 

where we are the land is not that good,loads of stone(large under land) plus clay.... wife rents some land out, if they can get 17/20 bags (500 ish kg) per rai this is good, only rain fed, hand planted and small vits added. sister inlaw has some good land for rice, maybe  600/700 kg per rai, she lives abroad so the  wife/family handles this, keeps father in law in 3 diggit lotto numbers for a short while at least..... in the past i have messed about with the tractor making large land locks, added loads of pig poo, put still never improved the yeild... now most of this land is going for home builds....

50 minutes ago, fourpack said:

As a matter of interest ball park figure if I may costs of sows ready to breed.

Asking only as I have a vested interest (very silent partner) in a pig farm run by wife's family. Just have a sneaky suspicion about one of the managers.(uncle).

Excuse my ignorance on this just trying to get a ball park figure.

 

 

depending on breed, a gilt 140kg @ 250 day old, on third/fourth heat cycle from the company where the wife works (company in house sales) 18,000 baht each.

3 minutes ago, IsaanAussie said:

Take Kickstarts comment on "going pear shaped" a step further. What would happen if George "Seriously" decided to screw the Baht again, or the international system collapsed and the ATM's were "offline". Just like in Greece, a limit of a few hundred dollars per week withdrawal from your account. No international movements. Would you survive?

you could ask the same if it were to happen back in your home country, look at your or my country and or even china with its cashless payment systems in place,  just turn of the electric/internet for afew days and see what happens....

bugs and frogs start to look good.... not to mention lack of water...

thinking about it........... the build (basic) cost of our farm 220/240 head sow back in 2011 was around the 3.5 million baht, projected cost now 5 million. wifes friend that has 300 head sow farm down in surin that has 2 buildings ie gestation/lactation with better bigger steel pens was 2.5 million back in 2000....  

been selling the fish at 50 baht a kg this years in the village, pla nin, most around or under the kg. rice is 20 bag out of every 100, so 20 percent on the land rental, father in law will have most of this as he has the storage and i dont eat the village rice.. sugar cane is 1000 baht a rai rental per year...

39 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Not being a damp squid ,how long  do you think the Thai economy will keep going before things go pear shaped ,all this government spending  can not go on for ever ,ask any Thai they will say things are not like they use to be ,is it the right time for some big investment .

On the farming side catfish are doing well guy near me getting 42 baht/kg ,a lot better than 32 baht/kg a year ago ,corn not good ,around here  in Thai ,Tang-Roy baht ,or 15 kg 100 baht not a lot to be made on that , sugar cane a dry year will be low yields  same with cassava ,lot of mung beans being grown this year ,they need less water than corn ,and will put something back in to the soil they are a they are a now a combine crop before they where hand picked ,not certain on the price  but some farmers are happy .

About the best around here are dairy cows they seem to be  paying ,and a lot of  new broiler farms in the area ,must be some money in chickens .

The few rice farms we have ,well I think it is the government subbing them that keeps them going ,wife's son-in -law is one ,he will harvest his rice near the end of the month,by the time he has paid off all his debts plus 1000 baht/rie rent for next years  rent ,on 24 rie they will not be a lot left .

Pigs around here are mainly company farms CPF and Betagro ,one pig farm is owned by a farang who leases it out to Betagro.

Tomorrow is Loa-Klatong ,we will be out some where the Passak Dam on our doorstep is only 40-50% full and it is the end of the rainy season , so we will not be going they, and they will not be a lot of water for irrigating next year.

If things do go pear shaped ,they will be a lot of  farmers knocking on the banks doors  yet again .

.

 i agree that the baht/economy are due a kick in the <deleted>, but when? i have been waiting for a "crash" or even a small correction for 4/5 years already...

have been trying to get the wife to sell land that we/or she has had for 10/15 years, sold some rubber land that "we" bought back around 2006 then again more around 2008, both at over 200 percent profit will only "normal" inputs ie vits/land maintance,  that dont include the growth on the exchange rate..ie bought with the pound at 70/60 ish sold back with the pound 50/55 kept most of the money here, re invested in pig start up,  had the same with some pickups that we have had ie bought at 70 baht pound, driven owned for x years sold on at 50/45 baht and nearly broken even if you were to send money back home. (send money back most years) land has gone up loads even since i have been here (around 2003/4 most of the time) wife sold the beginning of the year some rai of land she bought around 1995/6 at 2/3,000 baht a rai, sold 200,000 baht a rai..... gotta love it....

with the pigs as the chickens (contract farming) (i would guess) when you build you will sign a contract (thats what the wife did) that states the selling price/condition of "product". over the past 7/8 years the basic buy price for us has gone up by around 40 percent per piglet.... very happy with the pig business, better than my business back home, even if you include the home rental/appreciatation value...

with the baht so strong and the pound so weak (even at 50/55) it has been good to send "little" bits back home for me, sent most of my money over at 70/60.... 

if things go pear shaped i would think that most banks will stand to loose also, as most people are "ticked" to the max already. around here all the new money is coming in from the "little ghosts in south korea" as with most things its timing and luck....

10 minutes ago, IsaanAussie said:

I got a few gates and S/steel sow feeders if you are interested. Much as I would love to get my sty happening, getting too old and bruised to do so.  

Very pleased to see your future looks bright though. 

 i like the pig set up we have here, the business is good and also good for the childrens future, so lucky for the wife to earn bahts.

 just gotta hope the wife will sell more land than she wants to buy, its took many years to even get the wife to think about selling some land, now she seems set on selling a good few plots, sell the other house we have here, pay the one off in my country..... oh such dreams....

15 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Having a boring night i read thru the old thread,my diary.

I do wonder what has happened to the participates over the time.

KS (legend) still a strong contributor on the forum.

Wayned,watching NFL?

Slapout

BSj Back in Aus?

Allgeier upfront contributer.

Cobbler?

JB is still around but his sound advice is missed.

Thongthoned precise as ever.

CLW

Pigeon jake

IA is back now.

Seems like there are not many farmers prepared to share their experiences anymore.

 

still doing the pigs, maybe an extra 100 sow after new years, not 100 percent sure at the mo(been thinkin this over for acouple ofyears already..) already got the roof on the extension, just the metal work and extra fans needed..... current production levels are good.

rice is about to be harvested, looks good... (not by us,by the people that rent the land) sugar land looking good, new guy that rents looks to be over the 10 ton a rai, older rent people used to get 3/4 ton on same plot land, looks like he will be increaing the rai by about 20 ish, land already prepped.

wife has been busy selling land this year, (im happy about this 555)got 1 finisher farm built on one plot, another finisher farm just starting to have footings dug, and one of the families are interested in buying more, for 2 more pig farms.(gotta love the pigs) they have got the ok from the local govenment to build just gotta "find" the asking price on the land...

got the builders in, building more out side storage for the house/farm, plan to get the macro in after new year, dig more fish ponds,new  bio gas  pit, raise some land for new access road for lorries to come in for the new feed silo that will be coming in 1,2 or who knows years ahead, will give time for the land to settle anyway.

next year will be trying to do more fish, got a couple of large "pond" already working, dont make loads of money but a little here and there is better than nowt. trying to talk the eldest into building/financing a new sow farm, she can do the work but is more interested in have fun at the mo (oh to be young again...)

back when we had a 47... what ever kubota, we were always having small - ish problems after only 100/200 hours of abuse from my right foot.... engine good, running gear was weak and always breaking, even the owner of the shop was in agreement with me after the 3rd/4th low loader pickup/delivery back to our farm, when i asked why the tractor was always having problems, she laughted and said thats how we make the money on these, ie spare parts and labor ect... sold it on before 400/500 hours...having said that parts,labor and transport were always very cheap, plus now when we go into the shop the owners always remember me and the wife and do all they can at cost to help with what every problem i go in with.... (have many small tractor engines ect..)

wifes farm got its 2nd dose of foot and mouth vaccine this year, earler his month. like you say if you have strick bio security in place it helps to control the nasty stuff. 

i was reading about the spread of asf in china, cpf has very large pig holdings in china, but has had very little infection from asf because of the very strick bio security its farms have in place. 

as of afew months ago i banned all mobile phones going into the pig farm, workers were/are not happy, i told them all to club together and buy a uv box,so their phones can be zapped, as of yet they have not bought the uv box.... 

wife got some messages on friday about fmd in kk, about pig farms and pig movement in that area though. 

ask the people at the shop that you buy your feed from, ask other pig farmers near by you, or just butcher them yourselfs then sell by the kg/cut.

got teak trees spread over the "gardens" of 2 houses, mostly grown from seedlings from some small trees we bought years ago. just measured the one by the front porch its 59cm around @ 1.5m this was just some seed pods thrown on the land around 5 years ago. some of the ones that we bought (very small around 10cm high, 20/25 baht each) around 8/9ish years ago are very big, at a guess about the same size as my waist 34/36 inches around, just rain feed never any shop bought vits, if you were to "feed" them would be massive.... 

i used to buy finished teak furniture afews years back from indonesia, had a walk a round afew plantations over there, at 25 plus plus years they used to have massive trees/logs, some are left till 50 years old...

like you say we have some massive euca trees around too, just grown from the wind/seedlings around 7/8 years old, always getting asked to sell them to the guys that cut the euca.

1 hour ago, thaiguzzi said:

Heard on the grapevine yesterday, that Bung Khan Province, the epicentre of rubber plantations in Isaan, prices for cup were down to 16 Baht per kg at auction and 14 on the gate.

Worrying times...

read (on here i think, somewhere?) that the main buyers/exports in thailand have stopped buying at the mo, all saying the same,  reason, doing maintenance work....

5 hours ago, sateuk said:

Had a government worker come round asking for wife's ID card so they could get all details then he was asking how many pigs we got what size are they etc he was going around everyones house that had pigs anyone else had this?  Also this morning rang our pig guy who we sell to and they said price down 3 baht as everyone wants there pigs out even at 60 70 kgs so the market flooded this is buriram area 

around us people that look after more than afew pigs have to be ok'ed/registered with the local government office, this then goes to the amper level that try and keep an eye of amount of animals plus any movement of animals..... try

if they measured the area of the farm then you should get a bill each year from local govenment office, around feb time.  wife pays every year,  bill for  covered farm (17/70m)area is around 3/4,000 baht then there is the environmet tax they put on, it all comes to just under 10,000 baht a year all in, with this we get the "licence" from local office to operate plus 2 certificate that are needed for another bit government stuff later in the year, they come and check, when and if they inspect farm for tax payment. (wife now goes to the local tax office a couple of times ayear.... gotta love the tax and vat.....

from what i have been told,from amper level meetings, the govenment is try to get the local "slaughter houses" / drive by/ wholesale buyers to pay tax.... by getting everyone who keeps pigs registered... have a look on facebook people have been moaning for some time now