The Official Maize and Rotational Crops Thread

[farmerjo]

23 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Was out today about 20 km from home saw a drone spraying a very poor crop of maize ,about 8 inches high ,a lot of weed .looks if the army worm is having a go.

This guy was charging 70baht/rie ,must be about the only thing about that is going down in price .

Brewers grain, one of my cattle feeds has just gone up 6 baht,40 kg bag ,can not complain fist price increase in at least 6 years .

Hi KS

This time of year around here there is not much work for the drones as most crops are established so the guy told me.(they do mostly rice work)

i think i got caught with the farang tax from our previous operator.

It didn't bother me to much as i found out afterwards they traveled 70 km's to get our place and not sure how they made anything out of it.

Still i hope we were friendly enough that they will come back when required in the future.I got 500 kilo's of seed off today before rain which would not have been possible otherwise.

Good to hear your tractor is a goer again,i must have a look at my crawler.

Worried about pulling the tarp off it to see whether the rats have won or the 6 foot rat snake i saw head in under it the other day has been living there full time. 

 

[farmerjo]

21 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

We got great weed treatment this year, no idea what it was, but still no weeds in the rice and no pre-emergent spray used. 

Could have had something to do with me telling the BIL I would not be paying for urea this year at these prices to grow weeds before we started. 

Also could be him realising how many weed seeds we have in last years crop when he got left to mill a few bags for the family.

Hi IA

Sounds like a good season for rice down your way.

I have given up on ours,whatever grows grows and it won't be a lot.

I got caught up with planting early with good rains only  for the temperature to be to hot in upland fields so lesson learnt there.

Fil wanted me to plough it all in and start again but it made more sense to me to leave it in at a small production cost and use the government subsidy to buy the yearly eating rice from neighbouring crops.

This year i have given him 1 and 3/4 rai of paddy field to do as he pleases.

His production costs already out weigh the current 9 baht/kilo price from the millers and has more costs to come in diesel for pumping water,chemicals,fertilizer and harvest.

He saves face by having a nice flourishing (expensive) crop on that piece of land while the rest looks <deleted>ehouse.

 

 

[IsaanAussie]

7 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Sounds like a good season for rice down your way

Time will tell. We definitely need more rain so far we have had just enough to keep the surface moist-ish!

[farmerjo]

On 8/7/2022 at 4:05 PM, IsaanAussie said:

Time will tell. We definitely need more rain so far we have had just enough to keep the surface moist-ish!

Mrs just heard over the PA system,if you don't burn the rice stubble after harvest the government will give 300 baht/rai.

Put your paperwork in.

[kickstart]

On 8/8/2022 at 6:42 PM, farmerjo said:

Mrs just heard over the PA system,if you don't burn the rice stubble after harvest the government will give 300 baht/rai.

Put your paperwork in.

When I was in the UK at collage ,we were told burning was a good thing ,gets rid of any disease spores ,some weeds ,and the residue had some P and K fertilizer in it.

Someone had worked it out that a good burn was worth a good few quid/dollars an acre.

How things have changed ,just a pity Thai combines do not have choppers on them to chop the straw in to small pieces for incorporating back in to the soil ,get a bit of organic matter back in to the soil,

Saying that around here it is the main sauce of roughage for the dairy cows along with all the problems it causes, mainly infertility ,if rice straw was chopped farmers would have to get off they backsides and grow some grass.

[farmerjo]

On 8/9/2022 at 8:32 PM, kickstart said:

When I was in the UK at collage ,we were told burning was a good thing ,gets rid of any disease spores ,some weeds ,and the residue had some P and K fertilizer in it.

Someone had worked it out that a good burn was worth a good few quid/dollars an acre.

How things have changed ,just a pity Thai combines do not have choppers on them to chop the straw in to small pieces for incorporating back in to the soil ,get a bit of organic matter back in to the soil,

Saying that around here it is the main sauce of roughage for the dairy cows along with all the problems it causes, mainly infertility ,if rice straw was chopped farmers would have to get off they backsides and grow some grass.

Hi KS

All the farms i worked at had a set of fire harrows and if it was a leased block far away we would chain together old tyres and tow around.

Burning is not a bad thing as long as done in moderation.

There was nothing worse than when a farmer would add extra paddocks late to the program with a heavy stubble load,amazing what sort of a mess you can make with the seeder and blockages.

I have about 20 rai with fungal disease that needs burning this year,should of done it last year but thought i was doing the right thing by not,plenty of fires ended up around me.

 

Son brought covid home from school so we all ended up with it,

3rd day today and was able to run what sunn hemp seed i had through the cleaner without feeling to bad so will try and harvest rest of the crop tomorrow if rain holds off tonight.

 

[farmerjo]

403mm rain for september and 45mm so far this month and still raining.

Only thing that's changed around here is the height of the weeds on our place.

In general around the area sugar crops are thriving,bit to wet for the cassava and most of the rice is hanging in there.

 

KS,hope your place is drying out.

 

1st rice payment is meant to be due on 15th this month from the government.

Once verified will look to lock in 1500kg's with the up coming harvest of the neighbours rice for the families needs this year.

 

[kickstart]

10 hours ago, farmerjo said:

403mm rain for september and 45mm so far this month and still raining.

Only thing that's changed around here is the height of the weeds on our place.

In general around the area sugar crops are thriving,bit to wet for the cassava and most of the rice is hanging in there.

 

KS,hope your place is drying out.

 

1st rice payment is meant to be due on 15th this month from the government.

Once verified will look to lock in 1500kg's with the up coming harvest of the neighbours rice for the families needs this year.

 

Hi FJ ,we  are drying slowly ,took the tractor up the field to cut some Napier grass for the cattle,more like driving through a rice field ,that will take some drying out .

We had 248 mm of rain last month , and it is still raining about the same as in other years ,our flood come after 92 mm of rain over 3 days ,but the land was at saturation point before the flood . 

The water comes from a small river,at the back of our land in the dry season ,some years it dries up ,to now it is 2-3 times its size ,but the problem is 15 km up the road another small river feeds in to ours the water just can not get away and over it comes, about 1 km away hence the floods ,and our land sits low as well .

Like you our cane is looking well ,some say sugar containt  will be low ,almost too much rain , could do with some sun ,harvesting  price will be well up this year fuel costs ,the past 2-3 years it has been 350 baht/ton to cut and haul  to the mill ,like nearly   all Thai agriculture commodities you never know what the price you get for your crop until you are about to sell it .

Did hear,rice price of 90 baht/Tang,a Tang being the Thai equivalent of our Bushell 15 kg ,did not say what the moisture was ,I would say with a lot of flooding in Issan rice prices should be higher .

Your 1500 kg will that be for 15% moisture ,like I said last year not many farmers around here sell a crop at 15% moisture ,most straight off the combine at 25-30% moisture . 

PS Did you ever get the tracks on your Morooka sorted out.

[farmerjo]

9 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Hi FJ ,we  are drying slowly ,took the tractor up the field to cut some Napier grass for the cattle,more like driving through a rice field ,that will take some drying out .

We had 248 mm of rain last month , and it is still raining about the same as in other years ,our flood come after 92 mm of rain over 3 days ,but the land was at saturation point before the flood . 

The water comes from a small river,at the back of our land in the dry season ,some years it dries up ,to now it is 2-3 times its size ,but the problem is 15 km up the road another small river feeds in to ours the water just can not get away and over it comes, about 1 km away hence the floods ,and our land sits low as well .

Like you our cane is looking well ,some say sugar containt  will be low ,almost too much rain , could do with some sun ,harvesting  price will be well up this year fuel costs ,the past 2-3 years it has been 350 baht/ton to cut and haul  to the mill ,like nearly   all Thai agriculture commodities you never know what the price you get for your crop until you are about to sell it .

Did hear,rice price of 90 baht/Tang,a Tang being the Thai equivalent of our Bushell 15 kg ,did not say what the moisture was ,I would say with a lot of flooding in Issan rice prices should be higher .

Your 1500 kg will that be for 15% moisture ,like I said last year not many farmers around here sell a crop at 15% moisture ,most straight off the combine at 25-30% moisture . 

PS Did you ever get the tracks on your Morooka sorted out.

Hi KS

The rice we will get off the neighbours is hand cut and laid in the field to dry before threshing.

Will check with my  moisture meter and put over our gravity screen before storing.

The Morooka is still a work in progress,it's on the jobs board for the dry season.

It has a heavy duty tarp over it so been protected from the elements.

It has been one of those years were i put the cheque book away.

Bulked back up with sunn hemp seed so that is the shining light and with the dams all full should get some of that in as well as sesame seed in during the dry season.

 

[farmerjo]

With the rain seemly passed for the year it's time to tidy the place up.

Ended up with 1470mm(58 inches) for the year to date which is one of our wettest on record.

Started putting water on the rice today for the 1st time this year to help fill the heads.

Tried to syphon from top dam but my technique needs fine tuning so set the pump up,as usual check valve leaking so had to replace the seal with some tyre tube.

Fil has been on the wipper snipper finding a few fence lines while i set up the slasher on the tractor,his next job is cutting over hanging tree branches on the boundary so the cane trucks don't get angry when they pass.

For me i will be on the slasher knocking down weeds a few hours a day in between watching the cricket.

 

 

[kickstart]

Rice crop looks well ,around here just starting to harvest rice crops ,rice straw from this year's crop is just starting to come in to our area ,for cattle feed, for most dairy cows it is they main sauce of forage ,not a good one,poor quality 

Now about 40 baht a bale ,most years about 30-35 baht/bale ,dropping to 25-27 baht/bale when rice harvest is done this year can not see it dropping below 30 baht/bale.

With dairy concentrate prices going up all the time, margins are getting tight for dairy farmers, some are giving up .

As I said, rice harvest has started wife's daughter and son-in-law have the combine booked for the 10th of next month along with other farmers .it will probably be the about 15th before the combine arrives.

As of yet not heard about rice prices this year ,would have thought they would be good ,famous last words.

We have had 1152 mm of rain this year ,less than last year 1320 mm ,or two years ago 955 mm ,but that was almost a drought year 

Not watching the cricket, following it ,not a great fan of white ball cricket ,I see our match was rained off. 

[farmerjo]

Got the harvester out today and took a sample of hom mali rice that was planted on 6th of May.

The sample read 48%. with other weeds and chaff in it.

One run through the cleaner and it came down to 32%,so not far off getting started.(they say 28% is ok)

I have Cowneo planted on the 21st April which i will give a crack tomorrow.

 

 

[farmerjo]

Did half the Cowneo rice harvest today,the rest is still a couple of weeks away.

Think i will continue on with the hom mali tomorrow as a bit of rain forecast later next week.

 

 

[farmerjo]

Did most of the hom mali today,about a hour to finish tomorrow.

Have decided to put the hom mali straight through the cleaning machine then spread out to dry.

Mrs went to town today so gave her a sample of the hom mali to take to the millers to see how accurate the chinese copy of a Kett moisture meter i bought is.

Was happy the calibration was within .1% of each other.

Not sure why the price is less for this years crop compared to last and the millers aren't paying what the government quoted in a paper a few days a go.

A couple of pics,mrs earning her keep spreading out the Cowneo to dry.

Moisture meter at the millers and price board.

 

 

 

[kickstart]

1 hour ago, farmerjo said:

Did most of the hom mali today,about a hour to finish tomorrow.

Have decided to put the hom mali straight through the cleaning machine then spread out to dry.

Mrs went to town today so gave her a sample of the hom mali to take to the millers to see how accurate the chinese copy of a Kett moisture meter i bought is.

Was happy the calibration was within .1% of each other.

Not sure why the price is less for this years crop compared to last and the millers aren't paying what the government quoted in a paper a few days a go.

A couple of pics,mrs earning her keep spreading out the Cowneo to dry.

Moisture meter at the millers and price board.

 

 

 

As for rice prices, wife's daughter and son-in-law harvested and sold their crop , 3 days ago, as far as I know,all conversation being done over a mobile phone with the wife ,they got 11040/ baht/Kwian daughter speak  ,Kwian being a buffalo cart load ,or in 21st century speak 1 ton. 

They said moisture was 25% not tested, what they estimated.

They said better than last yeas crop ,better yield , more rain, they  got 14 ton from 27 rie ,they will keep 2 ton back for next year's seed.

Likewise, they are hoping for the government subsidy of 1000 baht/rie for the first 20 rie. 

[farmerjo]

Latest rice prices.

Last years crop has come back in price.

 

 

[kickstart]

6 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Latest rice prices.

Last years crop has come back in price.

 

 

Interesting ,my post in farm photos that guy was buying Marley  in at 11000 baht ton ,off the combine .selling at 12-13000 bat/ton .

 I see your price  13000 baht/ton for dried 15% moisture ,what it is around here I would not know very few ,if any dry their crop before selling it.

Would it be worth the hassle of drying it down for the extra  2500baht/ton ,I would say yes,but as most farmers do not have any drying area,you would need a big slab of concrete to dry say 10-15 ton .

Anyone thought about importing a mobile batch drier .you could make some money.   

[farmerjo]

17 hours ago, kickstart said:

Interesting ,my post in farm photos that guy was buying Marley  in at 11000 baht ton ,off the combine .selling at 12-13000 bat/ton .

 I see your price  13000 baht/ton for dried 15% moisture ,what it is around here I would not know very few ,if any dry their crop before selling it.

Would it be worth the hassle of drying it down for the extra  2500baht/ton ,I would say yes,but as most farmers do not have any drying area,you would need a big slab of concrete to dry say 10-15 ton .

Anyone thought about importing a mobile batch drier .you could make some money.   

Hi KS

You must of read my mind about a dryer.

I agree trying to sun dry 15 ton is beyond the average farmer here.

I guess that is why nobody uses harvesters around here,cut and bundle for 10 days then through the thresher and into the storage shed.

It is however labour intensive,a neighbour did theirs yesterday and must of been a dozen people involved.

A dryer would be useful and not to hard to knock up.

Although batch dryers would take a bit of suck and see to get right.

To much heat to quick will see the seed sweats up and sucks the moisture back in.

I'm doing a little trial here at the moment,bought the Fil a couple of drums to do his charcoal so checking drum temps and duration time as that may be a way to provide the heat for a home made dryer.

Our carport can easily be modified to work as a 5-6 ton batch dryer for a few days a year.

I know my wife would be happy as i use the undercover area in our house yard now with a bit of rain around.

 

 

 

[kickstart]

I think have got it right ,wife's not so happy daughter ,was saying they will not get the 1000 baht/rie government subsidy this year,the government have decided rice farmers are getting a good price for they crop ,no need for a subsidy,

As for drying rice a simple floor drying system would work using a fan ,they must be large fans about that could blow air though ducts ,probable have to be PTO driven could be done .

Or a  continues flow drier ,using gas ,even with gas prices as they should still be economical,have seen mobile ones in the UK. 

 

 

[farmerjo]

11 hours ago, kickstart said:

I think have got it right ,wife's not so happy daughter ,was saying they will not get the 1000 baht/rie government subsidy this year,the government have decided rice farmers are getting a good price for they crop ,no need for a subsidy,

As for drying rice a simple floor drying system would work using a fan ,they must be large fans about that could blow air though ducts ,probable have to be PTO driven could be done .

Or a  continues flow drier ,using gas ,even with gas prices as they should still be economical,have seen mobile ones in the UK. 

 

 

My wife got notification from the app on the 26th that the subsidy had been deposited in her account.

No sign yet of the 2nd payment for the price adjustment.

The good price which isn't that great is still below par.

Input costs rose significantly this year.

[farmerjo]

The sugar mill must of opened a couple of days a go.

One of our neighbours has started cutting.

The cane cutters have got a wrestle on this year with the height of the cane.

Looks like a 15 or 16 ton crop,it is 1st year sugar.

Haven't seen or heard any prices yet.

 

 

[kickstart]

8 hours ago, farmerjo said:

The sugar mill must of opened a couple of days a go.

One of our neighbours has started cutting.

The cane cutters have got a wrestle on this year with the height of the cane.

Looks like a 15 or 16 ton crop,it is 1st year sugar.

Haven't seen or heard any prices yet.

 

 

Our local mill is due to open in 2 days time,like you have been asking what the price is ,no one seems to know,yet 

[kickstart]

Eat my words time,this crop of Sunflowers in flower ,along with a lot of other crops ,early this year ,I have said Sunflowers do not like a lot of water,these crops must have been sown at the end of the rainy season ,some fields still well wet with the rains,thay all look well.

A lot of Cassava being harvested , and has been for he past 2 months ,again early ,before very little done before the New Year.

Wife's daughter and son-in-law are out cutting cassava storks in to bundles  for next year's root stock,a lot of cassava being planted,all will have to be irrigated,mainly drip systems ,again something you did not see a few years ago ,but saying that when I first come here 20 years ago no Cassava was grown in this area,thing certainly are changing.  

 

[IsaanAussie]

Two things now lodged in the our villager's brains. First forget small harvesters, too much mess with dirt and sticks picked up,  and too high a loss rate. Two large harvesters did most of this area between them. producing a much cleaner paddy harvest. The second thing is, sell the crop straight off the harvester without moisture testing yielded better bottom line.

The two big guys both ran large tip trucks that took the "damp" rice to be weighed and returned with the money. Farmer then paid for the harvest services. Quick and easy.

From the weight/sale docket I saw, they were paying about 10.2 baht.

We used pickup trucks to move bulk rice we would keep. That was then dried on blue nets and bagged. In total about 120 bags.

[farmerjo]

7 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

Two things now lodged in the our villager's brains. First forget small harvesters, too much mess with dirt and sticks picked up,  and too high a loss rate. Two large harvesters did most of this area between them. producing a much cleaner paddy harvest. The second thing is, sell the crop straight off the harvester without moisture testing yielded better bottom line.

The two big guys both ran large tip trucks that took the "damp" rice to be weighed and returned with the money. Farmer then paid for the harvest services. Quick and easy.

From the weight/sale docket I saw, they were paying about 10.2 baht.

We used pickup trucks to move bulk rice we would keep. That was then dried on blue nets and bagged. In total about 120 bags.

Hi IA

Not sure what their thinking is with big v small combine,one would think it comes down to the operator of the machine.

Would be interested to know if the bigger machines run east/west drums,not axial flow.

You will always lose more grain if the combine is not kept full at all times.

For instance if you slow down to pick up rice on the ground your wind speed will be higher throwing more grain out the back.

What is the price of a harvest contractor these days,it was capped at 600 baht/rai a couple of years a go.

Anyway seems a shame to do all the hard work to grow the crop to receive a heavy discount from not following thru till the finished product.

Farmers back home were always taught to make the most of a good year to make up for the bad ones.

Glad to see you got enough to keep the bellies from aching plus extra,it looked like you guys got a lot of late rain down that way.

 

[kickstart]

23 hours ago, kickstart said:

Our local mill is due to open in 2 days time,like you have been asking what the price is ,no one seems to know,yet 

So I was told this evening cane will be 1300 baht/ton,??,a farmer friend of mine was saying tomorrow this is a meeting at our local mill ,they will be saying what the price will be ,a lot will depend on the sugar containt ,some say it will be low with all the rain we have had .

That price is good ,but around here most cane is now cut by machine ,last year it was 350baht/ton to cut and haul one ton ,this year word is 400 baht/ton.

Last year our local mill received 1.8 million ton of cane, this year it is looking like 3 million ton .I was on the road to the mill last month , full of potholes ,what it will be like after all this cane has been though. 

 

[IsaanAussie]

1 hour ago, farmerjo said:

What is the price of a harvest contractor these days,it was capped at 600 baht/rai a couple of years a go.

Depending on conditions (basically water level) either 700 or 800 baht/rai

1 hour ago, farmerjo said:

Glad to see you got enough to keep the bellies from aching plus extra,it looked like you guys got a lot of late rain down that way.

More reservoir discharge than rain. But yes this year has seen paddies very wet. Little wind but very sloppy conditions which meant lot of lodging.

1 hour ago, farmerjo said:

Anyway seems a shame to do all the hard work to grow the crop to receive a heavy discount from not following thru till the finished product.

Times have changed. No real or iron buffalos ploughing any more. No DC60 bag filling machines let alone teams of hand cutters and thrashers mounted on clagged out light trucks. People here aren't traditional rice farmers any more, they are rice producers that minimise work and cost. The romance is disappearing

[kickstart]

4 minutes ago, IsaanAussie said:

Depending on conditions (basically water level) either 700 or 800 baht/rai

More reservoir discharge than rain. But yes this year has seen paddies very wet. Little wind but very sloppy conditions which meant lot of lodging.

Times have changed. No real or iron buffalos ploughing any more. No DC60 bag filling machines let alone teams of hand cutters and thrashers mounted on clagged out light trucks. People here aren't traditional rice farmers any more, they are rice producers that minimise work and cost. The romance is disappearing

It is probable a good idea the romance has disappeared,the main problem with farming is they are no,or very few new entrants the only way new entrants are going to take up farming is to minimize the work ,as my old boss said 35 years ago "You lads want to do every thing from the seat of a tractor",he was brought up with horses .

Well that time has arrived, people need food ,the average age of a farmer is now 50-55 plus,ie you and me, in Japan the average age is 65.

Farming has never been sexy,low wages, long hours .

Girl in pub,What do you do for a job ,answer Milk cows  at 5 am ,and shove my hand up cows a#@e for AI-ing.

Next guy, What do you do for a living ,I work in IT earning x0000 GBP/dollars/year,no competition.

The only way youngster will take up farming is to use tractors,and drones,as for the livestock sector,old saying for the love of the job, AI-ing a cow seeing it calve that calf,well maybe a few new entrants will think that way.

I know you can say with modem technology one man can now do the work of 5 ?, so as an industry you will need less staff, but you still have to find the man/woman,and pay them.

[farmerjo]

Sold some rice today,

Hom Mali has come down a little in price,got the 12.8 baht/kilo..

Had a rai of  sticky rice variety(khaowong) which they only gave 8.5 baht/kilo.

Not sure why,no deductions on the docket and a bigger plumper seed than KK6

Should get 11.5 tomorrow when take the KK6 variety.

Mrs is happy it's out of the house yard,i prefer to keep it and the rats there if any than in my shed.????

 

Sugar is in full swing here,only one weigh station had a price up and it was 1000 baht plus 40.

Thought it might be higher than that.

 

[farmerjo]

Sold the last of the KK6 rice today,price up to 12 baht/kilo.

Will have to think whether to grow any hom mali next year.

The markets favour the domestic market and the KK6 yields better than the hom mali.

Driving passed a few sugar depots,the price has gone up a little to 1050/ton plus 70.