IsaanAussie

Just now, Hellboy75 said:

This bloke who exports is it he supplies you the cattle then you feed it his food and recipe which he deducts at the end? 

That was one option, but not interested in working for wages on my own farm. Sure to end in tears. The only thing I wanted was to see if there are any buyers. I have a lot more to learn about the whole process. 

Just now, Michael Hare said:

Make sure you plant your grass before buying any cattle. 

Come around here and tell that to my BIL. He has bought 4 beasts, two of which are pregnant (so he says). He can't tell me what breed they are or even how old they are. Also bought a new brushcutter. We have planted some trial patches of fodder but it is a month off cutting.

Just now, Michael Hare said:

seems to be plenty of cash about in and around the villages...

Seems indeed, BIL has borrowed 100% from BAAC based on a chanote for 7 ria.

There seems something familiar here. Lets all start growing more rubber trees, more sugar, corn and cassava. Bound to get rich and can learn how to do it along the way. The only experience BIL has, is helping his father out feeding rice straw to the little Thai cows they had years ago.

Tick, tick boom!

13 hours ago, Hellboy75 said:

I'm going Surin market this coming weekend what we're the prices like high, low or normal? 

They were higher than I expected but I have no base to comment. I looked at a Charolais cow and heifer calf and the price was 39K.

If you have older RIR hens, have you thought about getting a young RIR rooster? Make your own new replacement hens, succession planned. A few productive new ones and cull (eat) the old ones they replace. No eggs? Bye...

About ten years I bought 35 young hens about 4 months old and grew them out until they started laying. I think I paid 1-200 baht each. Day olds were a few baht each for a box full. Either way feeding them for months before they lay was expensive.

If you let the rooster loose with your existing flock selectively and let it happen naturally seems more sustainable to me than replacing a flock of aged hens with a new "future" flock and no eggs for a long time. 

Please understand I am only voicing my opinion in this social media enriched, minimum factual world we live in. To me, a premium product is one that is as good as it can be, the best of the best. I sold whole pigs to restaurants in Bangkok. They would advertise my pork as organic and I would object because we had no certification to claim that. They were fed commercial diets but their health issues were completely without drugs. I could have used Ivermetin to control internal and external parasites under organic rules, but it is completely synthetic, nothing natural. I used pre and probiotics, biology, completely natural organisms, but not organically certified. I use Roundup to kill weeds before we plant rice. The rice seed goes into the ground weeks later. Someone has to pay for the research we read on the web. Never the small holding farmer!

The point is, farming is a business. Morally I will not produce anything for human consumption that is a threat to health. My theory is, purchase prices are retail, sale prices are wholesale. Limit purchases!

This has been an interesting week. Monday I went to the Surin cattle sale and checked out prices for both cattle and fodder. Wednesday BIL announces he has purchased some cows and calfs, BAAC finance organised without myself or my wife on the hook. Yesterday I got introduced to a guy that claims to be selling Charolais to China and wants to do a deal based on a four month grow-out period. This is worth a further look, his beast/my fodder.

It will all have to wait until I see if we can grow Mulato II etc.. 

I have seen a few YouTube videos on insect farming here in Thailand, try that. 

No that was never my intent or what happened on open roads. Speeding yes, guilty. My point is we all have to live in what is the reality of Thai culture. Don't get angry, get even, doesn't cut it here. We are the guests and should respect local norms as different as they are to those at home. Make no judgements of others.

There has been a lot of discussion on farming insects. Worms, crickets and black soldier flies in particular. Even butterflies in the future. If your aim is to buy a Toyota as a result, then get some serious market connections before your start. 

My experience in Thailand. 1999 I came here as a senior level Aussie diplomat, a specialist Automotive Trade Commissioner. The Thai government welcomed me as they tried to be number one in SEA and attract FDI. I enjoyed Bangkok nightlife and was not early to sleep. Problem basically was every meeting at the GM and Ford factories on the eastern seaboard was "early" and I lived in Sathorn Soi 1. So the instruction to the driver to get there on time was "bury your boot in the headlight" (Holden V6 Calais) 160km/hr down the freeway. I would see the BIB with their little lollypop stop signs standing beside the road. They would step out to stop us, see the diplomatic plate and come to attention at the roadside and salute.

Move on, posting at the embassy finishes and I stay on as a farang. I had been schooled during my "immune" time that unroadworthy and overloaded truck drivers were never stopped by the cops. The answer was a M150 bottle cap with 100 baht folded inside tossed out the window.

It is what it is and always will be. Remember it is the Land of Smiles. Keep smiling.

Wow, not that much difference in total cost now, perhaps 300 baht? Thanks for sharing that. 

I never used creep feed as nursing piglets played with it more than ate it. I used starter and dusted it with milk powder giving it a nice smell and they ate some of it. The reason to introduce solid feed is to prepare their gut against scouring after weaning.

Sorry I cant remember the number of bags but I worked on weights. Wean to 15kg, up to 30kg, 60, 90 and over. Sows either gestation or lactation feed and boars on a combination of maintenance and gestation. 

Just now, Michael Hare said:

If you wanted to plant a small area, the goat farmer is selling Mun River tillers (have small roots).

Sounds good, speed things up a bit.

Mun is one of yours Michael isn't it? Looks interesting versus napier. Is it too late to start a small patch as a trial, say 1/2 Rai?

Sounds like you just want to get this block sold. So, start with the agent and the deal you have now. If they sold it at the advertised price how much would they earn in commission? 

Why not say to them, you will get your money if you can organise access rights and find the best offer within .... X months. Subtract the commission and access price, plus transfer costs and you get the rest.

20 minutes ago, Tikwik said:

Hi I and my wife have about 20 pigs ATM and I would like to know can I buy feed straight from the manufacture and price if anybody knows and or how much to make my own per kilo/ton.

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Not much happening on this forum regarding pigs. I have been out of pig farming for a while and the only guys I know are still around are growing under contract where feed is supplied. Hopefully someone can give you some up to date information.

As it was, the usual way you could buy commercial feed at a discounted price, was to become a reseller, and then you had to buy large quantities. Given the shelf life, not a good idea with only 20 pigs unless you can get regular customers.

Making your own feed is dependent on your herd. If you are setting up farrow to finish, then you need to prepare six different feeds to cover the full gambit. If you are simply growing a single batch of pigs out then you only need one grade at a time as they grow.

You can buy all the ingredients at a good feed store to mix it. But remember you will be buying those grains etc at retail price so it will be hard to compete against the finished price of the commercial producers. I found that it only saved 1 to 2 baht per kilo on materials only, without any cost or transport storage costs. Then you still have the risk that the soy or corn etc... could be of poor quality.

All said and done you are chasing low FCR numbers. Feeding low protein levels to starter pigs will mean they slow down equally higher protein levels to finisher pigs will just give you fatty expensive pigs. 

1 hour ago, Postmaster said:

Lemons (yellow ones of course)  They are really expensive in Thailand.  I think most are imported but not sure about that.  Maybe they need special soil or a lot of attention hence the reason why you never see them growing here.

I recently bought lemon and orange trees from TV member Grafting Ken to try growing them here. I also bought three different species of finger lime trees from him as well. A total of sixteen trees. They are all doing well in baskets. Plan is to plant them next wet season. 

There was a topic on this page started by GF if you are interested. Good guy to deal with and good stock.

Just now, kickstart said:

Would you use EM neat ,or mix it with water.

On compost and bokashi I use extended EM (EMA) at 1 in 20 water. EMA is a litre of inert EM as purchased and activated with a litre of molasses and 18 litres of water, takes about a week. The biology is multiplied and gives off gas which has to be released. The brew is ready when it stops gassing and the pH is below 4. The surface is nearly covered with yeast.

I used EMA to "sterilise" rice straw before growing mushrooms in it. No mould ever. 

Just now, mr mr said:

pfffft. ya for the garbage they pass off here as medicine. 

Not for or against, have no idea.

Not convinced that EM couldn't be used. The cassava fermentation process we have been looking at is firstly fungal than yeast. LAB is also in EM and a primary way to breakdown fibre as well as get the pH in the 3.5 to 4 range. I'm a long way from deciding but no way I'm using Urea.

I am thinking about EM bokashi as a starting point. There is both aerobic and anaerobic treatments.

Hey KS this is getting interesting!