Maize farmers fear effects from imported barley

[CLW]

Yes in season you can find namdocmai 40 a kg but how can you explain the same retailprices? Those Spanish mango's had to be transported 2-3000 km, Spain has higher wages and more rules, they were transported in a safe good truck with dieselfilters and all, packed well for transport, sold on a real marketbooth on a clean European market..(it all costs extra)...
 
So Thailand is not competitive at all imo..And that will break them up again and again...Thailand has to go for large scale but they can't organise/fund it.

Agree with you.
Lack of optimisation and organisation.
Except a few big players that export Thai agricultural products most of them go to the domestic market for low prices.

They should have a look at their neighbours.
Vietnam is successfully exporting dragonfruit and coffee to the world market.
Japanese farmers have a very strong farmers association called JA (Japan agriculture) that acts as a middleman and selling products to retail markets and export.

[Ulic]

16 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

I'm thinking the barley and wheat come from areas with vast plains and highly mechanized farming.  In the USA, farmers talk in terms of how many "squares" they farm.  One square being a square mile or 1,581 Rai.  Even mom & pop farms are about 600 Rai.  Hard to beat economy of scale, mechanization and a micro climate perfectly suited to a particular crop.

 

There's a dairy farm in China with 100,000 cattle. 55 million Rai.

On top of that, US farmers get 24 billion a year in subsidies. It is very hard to compete with that.

[Ulic]

11 hours ago, Thian said:

Well then i look at the mango's in W-europe which come from Spain. On the market i buy 1 huge red/green mango for 1 euro..those are almost 1 kg each.

That;s also cheaper than in thai markets and not subsidised i guess.

I read many comments here with some amusement. The two greatest subsidized agricultural markets are the USA and the EU. The US to the tune of 24 billion a year and a similar amount in the EU. No country can compete. Bananas are not grown in the EU or they would cost far more and none would be allowed in from third world countries. Yes, they are sold as loss leaders in supermarkets. No money is made on them. Their cheap prices bring people into the stores. I see references to coffee sales from Vietnam. Note, coffee is not grown in Europe or the USA or it would not be allowed into the country. Canada has some small subsidies. Wheat transportation and crop insurance, as well as the milk marketing supply restriction. As far as Western countries New Zealand is truly competitive with no subsidies, not sure about Australia. 

[Thian]

1 hour ago, CLW said:

Agree with you.
Lack of optimisation and organisation.
Except a few big players that export Thai agricultural products most of them go to the domestic market for low prices.

They should have a look at their neighbours.
Vietnam is successfully exporting dragonfruit and coffee to the world market.
Japanese farmers have a very strong farmers association called JA (Japan agriculture) that acts as a middleman and selling products to retail markets and export.

Thai coffee is another example of being far too expensive for the worldmarket. In the Makro Thai i buy 500 gram very good coffee for 160 baht. Thai brands cost double that and are not as good.

 

Thailand could be the world supplier for mango's or durian. They sell mango's for 30 baht a kg (good ones) but if they made wine/jam/candy/juice they could get a much higher price.

 

Same goes for rubber, how can a latex Thai mattress cost more than from Ikea?? There's loads of rubber in Thailand.

 

This is the Thai farmer...

 

 

This is the worldmarket farmer

 

Edited June 20, 2018 by Thian

[Srikcir]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The prize of maize in front of animal feed factories averages 10-10.25 baht per kilogramme compared to 7-8 baht per kg of barley or wheat.

The funny thing is in 2016:

The Thai Feed Mill Association purchased corn at a price of at least eight baht per kilogram, in order to stabilize corn prices. 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/952352-thai-feed-mill-association-to-buy-corn-for-at-least-8-baht-per-kg-to-stabilize-prices/

At that time the "boogie man" was imported wheat that pressured the decline in the market price for maize.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/business/etc/30298744

 

 

[Damrongsak]

15 hours ago, impulse said:

 

And don't forget all the subsidies paid to US farmers, along with not having to pay for water they fritter away (other than the cost of lifting it from the aquifer).

 

In a fair world, Thailand would be imposing huge Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on many US agricultural imports.  Like our neighbor to the north.  And the US would heavily tax the export of water in the form of ag products that require tons of water to grow a bushel.

 

Ag subsidies bug the hell out of me. 

[rickudon]

Some of the claims made here do seem somewhat dubious. Firstly ,as to price, grain prices do fluctuate a lot due to supply and demand, so hard to say which is cheapest at any point in time. But maize kilo for kilo is generally slightly cheaper than Wheat (in the US, Maize often much cheaper). That is why it is used for Animal feed. Maize has higher 

carbohydrate levels than wheat, but lower protein levels and poorer quality protein. In Thailand, most animal feeds are used for pigs and fish which require higher protein levels - one reason why maybe CP are swapping to wheat or Barley (price of Soya also an issue). But i have never found Maize meal cheap in Thailand, always higher than world price.

 

Bananas? Supermarkets prices in Thailand are stupidly high. We rarely pay more than 10 baht a kilo from wholesale fruit and veg markets, and quality always better.

 

I was surprised to hear about the Spanish Mangoes. But outside of Spain Mango prices are not that cheap, in the UK much higher. We buy yellow mangoes in Thailand and typically in season pay 25-30 baht a kilo (for the better looking ones).

 

But many Thai processed and manufactured products ARE expensive in Thailand. Most are cheaper in the EU. And nearly all product classes are dominated by a few companies,  agro-chemicals are expensive in Thailand, and someone gets rich out of it (not the farmer). There may be 0% tax on some imports, but it is not usually reflected in the prices charged in the shops, again middlemen make a killing.