How much do you make rice farming?

[marc26]

1st off, I have zero intention of being a rice farmer!  555

 

I've been with my wife for 17 years and we started to look at buying land in her village. Her village is quite known for having good land for rice, and I believe there is 3 harvests(SuphanBuri province)

 

The thing is, land in her village usually only becomes available in large parcels.

 

I am guy who has lived in the city/downtown his whole life..........

 

But if we bought a large parcel of land and leased it for farming, does anyone know what that makes? I don't want the hassle of dealing with leasing land if it doesn't make sense financially for me.

 

Thanks for any info.........

[robblok]

Just so you know most farmers make almost no money. 

 

 

[ratcatcher]

Have you been living with your Thai wife in the city for 17 years?

Will you be paying for the land which she will own?

Could you adjust to country life and how far from the nearest large town is this land?

Would you want to build a house on the land or just lease it to other farmers for rent?

I live in rice country, but my wife is a mango farmer. I could never go back to the urban jungle, here or anywhere.

Good luck in your investment plan.

[JeffersLos]

14 minutes ago, marc26 said:

1st off, I have zero intention of being a rice farmer! 

Don't worry, you won't be a profit making landlord either.

[marc26]

1 hour ago, ratcatcher said:

Have you been living with your Thai wife in the city for 17 years?

Will you be paying for the land which she will own?

Could you adjust to country life and how far from the nearest large town is this land?

Would you want to build a house on the land or just lease it to other farmers for rent?

I live in rice country, but my wife is a mango farmer. I could never go back to the urban jungle, here or anywhere.

Good luck in your investment plan.

Dated for 5 years, been living in Canada(downtown Vancouver) for most of 12 years, she goes back to Thailand a fair bit also(I do too)

We would be splitting the costs of land(and house build)

 

I've been to her village more times than I can count, it's about 20mins to Singburi, a decent sized town which I enjoy

 

I'd never live in the village full time, likely half the year but I think at this stage in life(I'm 48, probably retired at 54) I will be quite content spending time there. But I like the city and beach so would head to BKK/beach often also(and also back to Canada and US)

 

It's not so much an investment plan.......I'd happily buy 6-8 rai and not do anything on it but build a house.

Unlike your wife, my wife didn't grow up entirely in the village, so she doesn't have any idea about this stuff........

 

But if only a big parcel came available at a price I want, I'd like to know if leasing it is worth the hassle

Edited July 7, 2020 by marc26

[marc26]

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Just so you know most farmers make almost no money. 

 

 

I don't know how to fix a flat tire, I ain't about to be a farmer! 

 

I was talking about leasing the land for someone to farm on it............but would only do it if it was worth it. I wouldn't want the hassle if it only returns a small amount. But have no clue what income that would generate.

 

And my wife's family is mostly raised in BKK, so they aren't farmers either.............

[AndyAndyAndy]

No. Just no.

[samsensam]

9 minutes ago, marc26 said:

I don't know how to fix a flat tire, I ain't about to be a farmer! 

 

I was talking about leasing the land for someone to farm on it............but would only do it if it was worth it. I wouldn't want the hassle if it only returns a small amount. But have no clue what income that would generate.

 

And my wife's family is mostly raised in BKK, so they aren't farmers either.............

 

most thai farmers seem to be poor. the work looks hard under a hot sun. very little machinery compared to farms back home. holdings seem to be small, therefore no economies of scale, and run to generate a living for the family rather than as a successful business geared to turning a profit. plus you'd need to know what your doing or you'd be at the mercy of your thai partner's ability and knowledge... read the issan farmer's thread to see how that can pan out...

 

 

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, marc26 said:

But if only a big parcel came available at a price I want, I'd like to know if leasing it is worth the hassle

Hi

the answer is no

 

 

[blackcab]

I'm going to move this to the Farming in Thailand Forum. There are some very knowledgeable members in this forum who will be able to help.

[marc26]

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

I'm going to move this to the Farming in Thailand Forum. There are some very knowledgeable members in this forum who will be able to help.

Actually thank you

I could have sworn there was a farming thread and missed it.

 

Thanks for any info provided 

[carlyai]

We live in Isaan. We have 7 ry that grows Tapioca and we rent it out at B 1000/ry. That's usual for here.

We also have some rice fields but at the end of the irrigation system. At the moment not enough rain and by the time the irrigation water gets to us it's all gone. Ok when there's rain. So have a good look before you buy and make sure you have water. 

[sateuk]

About 1000 baht a rai rent you would get back

[Rimmer]

A troll post and an off topic post removed, topic is not about owning land

[robblok]

3 hours ago, carlyai said:

We live in Isaan. We have 7 ry that grows Tapioca and we rent it out at B 1000/ry. That's usual for here.

We also have some rice fields but at the end of the irrigation system. At the moment not enough rain and by the time the irrigation water gets to us it's all gone. Ok when there's rain. So have a good look before you buy and make sure you have water. 

is that 1000/ry per year or per harvest or per month ? Just curious as land seems to be expensive. If its on a year base then it might even be better on the bank (maybe not)

[blackcab]

A post containing speculation about pricing has been removed.

 

Please answer the OP if you have firm information about pricing.

[carlyai]

Wife said that the price is B100000/ry. 

Firm enough?

[kickstart]

12 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

Don't worry, you won't be a profit making landlord either.

How do you work that one out ,as the OP said the land can provide 3 crops a year ,considering in Issan one crop is normal  and that will be a low yielding one at that .

Wife s son-in-law is a rice farmer near us he rents his 15 rie , 1200 baht/year how he makes money I do not know, land is worth about 200-250 000/rie .

So ,in Supan with 3 crops a year rental income would be a lot more 

The op said the land is in Supan his wife is from Singburi ,the next Provence to us ,we are in Lopburi ,around our area  no end of land  is rented and the owners live in Bangkok no agriculture connections,  I would say a very high percentage of landowners are very absentee landowners quite happy to let the land increase in value  ,while getting some rental income.

Not many blocks come up for sale ,if they do it is for a silly price they will not get .

I would say it would be a good investment , land is a long term investment,  if  that money was in the bank what  interest would it earn.

The OP could fill the land up with Teak or Eucalyptus trees  long term investment, get someone in  to manage the land and harvest the crop .     

[kickstart]

A parcel  of land for sale just around the corner from us ,been for sale a while now ,road frontage ,by far not the dearest parcel,in the area.   

[kingofthemountain]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

is that 1000/ry per year or per harvest or per month ? Just curious as land seems to be expensive. If its on a year base then it might even be better on the bank (maybe not)

Is 1000 bahts per year, but it's only if you are lucky

 

In the countryside there are no papers and contracts 

all is oral deals and often between family members

 

so if it's a ''bad'' year, i mean one with not enough water

or too much water (Flood) or if a storm kill your crop just before the harvest

(And with the climatic changes, all of this comes more often year after year)

the farmer don't have money from the harvest, and the governemnt helps

(When there is one) only cover the expenses to prepare the harvest (Fertilizer, fuel, seeds and so on)

 

then how can you, the ''rich'' foreign owner, can obtain the payement fo the

rent for your land?

 

With a 1% per year or return on investissment (The price of the rai is around 100 000 bahts and you rent it for 1000 bahts per year ) that you are not even

sure to have on a regular basis (For the reason i explain above) It's a realy bad investisment 

 

Keep the money on a fixed account and you have the same ROI with your 

money available at anytime. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by kingofthemountain

[OneMoreFarang]

15 hours ago, robblok said:

Just so you know most farmers make almost no money.

I wonder how many Thai farmers actually know how much money they make.

How many keep records of payments, work, and income? How many calculate cost of cars, machines, etc.?

It seems lots of farmers "think" they make a lot of money when they just sold the harvest. And the next time they have to buy for the next season they are reminded that they didn't actually make so much money and/or they spent that money already for "luxury" goods like the new mobile phone and TV.

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

Is 1000 bahts per year, but it's only if you are lucky

in the countryside there is no papers and contracts 

all is oral deals and often between family members

so if it's a ''bad'' year, i mean one with not enough water

or too much water (Flood) or if a storm kill your crop just before the harvest

(And with the climatic changes, all of this comes more often year after year)

the farmer don't have money from done with the harvest, and the governemnt helps

(When there is one) only cover the expenses to prepare the harvest (Fertilizer, fuel, seeds and so on)

then how can you, the ''rich'' foreign owner, can obtain the payement fo the

rent for your land? With a 1% or return on invstissment that you are not even

sur to have on a regular basis (For the reason i explain above) It's a realy bad investisment 

That basically was my point.

[Andrew65]

13 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

most thai farmers seem to be poor. the work looks hard under a hot sun. very little machinery compared to farms back home. holdings seem to be small, therefore no economies of scale, and run to generate a living for the family rather than as a successful business geared to turning a profit. plus you'd need to know what your doing or you'd be at the mercy of your thai partner's ability and knowledge... read the issan farmer's thread to see how that can pan out...

 

 

There was a guy on here a few years ago discussing similar things, he'd lived up in farming country for many years.

In his opinion, out of all the crops that are commonly grown there, rice is the one crop that will almost ensure poverty.

[kingofthemountain]

5 minutes ago, robblok said:

That basically was my point.

 

Yes, to keep the money in a bank on a fixed account is a better solution imo

atleast you are sure to have the same ROI with your money in your name

and the funds are available at anytime. 

It's near to impossible actually to sale a ricefield

and forget to do a profit on it

too much sellers, very few buyers

[Pilotman]

We are partners in 3 farms in the north east, with the family.  Total of the three is 12 Rai.  They are not all exclusively rice, we also grow, sweet potatoes and corn.  We get two or 3 harvests each year and the income we derive totally supports 3 families although I would say that in accountancy terms, we do not totally recover the capital costs of equipment and irrigation. 

[Dumbastheycome]

More important than anything is that any land you consider buying has a transferable  Chanote.

 

[IsaanAussie]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

We are partners in 3 farms in the north east, with the family.  Total of the three is 12 Rai.  They are not all exclusively rice, we also grow, sweet potatoes and corn.  We get two or 3 harvests each year and the income we derive totally supports 3 families although I would say that in accountancy terms, we do not totally recover the capital costs of equipment and irrigation. 

This is a good indication of what I would expect under the very best conditions. The OP has 6 years before retirement to plan and to learn. Spend that time wisely. Assume nothing. Some of us on this thread are farming because we want to be involved and actually get our hands dirty. I do not know of a single success story where just a Westerners wallet has been successful. 

 

 

[kickstart]

4 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

With a 1% per year or return on investissment (The price of the rai is around 100 000 bahts and you rent it for 1000 bahts per year ) that you are not even

sure to have on a regular basis (For the reason i explain above) It's a realy bad investisment 

 

Keep the money on a fixed account and you have the same ROI with your 

money available at anytime. 

Haven't you forgotten something ,like I said in my last post land does appreciate, and the OP said he no intention of farming the land himself ,money in the bank at less than 1% interest ,that does not keep up with inflation ,land is still a good investment .

Our 6 rie and house has almost doubled in the past 10 years since we brought it ,if that money was in the bank how much would it have made over the same time.  

[kingofthemountain]

2 hours ago, kickstart said:

Haven't you forgotten something ,like I said in my last post land does appreciate, and the OP said he no intention of farming the land himself ,money in the bank at less than 1% interest ,that does not keep up with inflation ,land is still a good investment .

Our 6 rie and house has almost doubled in the past 10 years since we brought it ,if that money was in the bank how much would it have made over the same time.  

How do you know the price of your 6 rais of land has doubled?

Did you sell them? Or it's just what your Thai family says to you?

The prices for the ricefields where up during years

with a maximum when Yinluck was PM, because of the rice sheme where

the harvest was buyed by the govermemnt 2X the valor on the market.

Since this time, afaik, the prices have dropped non stop and actualy

there is all over Thailand an incredible stock of ricefields for sale, nobody wants to buy

the money you can hope to win working on it don't even deserve the effort.

[marc26]

11 hours ago, kickstart said:

How do you work that one out ,as the OP said the land can provide 3 crops a year ,considering in Issan one crop is normal  and that will be a low yielding one at that .

Wife s son-in-law is a rice farmer near us he rents his 15 rie , 1200 baht/year how he makes money I do not know, land is worth about 200-250 000/rie .

So ,in Supan with 3 crops a year rental income would be a lot more 

The op said the land is in Supan his wife is from Singburi ,the next Provence to us ,we are in Lopburi ,around our area  no end of land  is rented and the owners live in Bangkok no agriculture connections,  I would say a very high percentage of landowners are very absentee landowners quite happy to let the land increase in value  ,while getting some rental income.

Not many blocks come up for sale ,if they do it is for a silly price they will not get .

I would say it would be a good investment , land is a long term investment,  if  that money was in the bank what  interest would it earn.

The OP could fill the land up with Teak or Eucalyptus trees  long term investment, get someone in  to manage the land and harvest the crop .     

The village is actually Doem Bang, about 20mins from Singburi.

It still doesn't sound like it would be worth the hassle leasing the land, collecting payment.

Fortunately we wouldn't need the income from it, so it isn't something we need the money from.

 

Now if we were able to buy a smaller plot of land, I wouldn't do anything on the land............but it's extremely hard to find land in the 5-6rai range

 

So if we end up buying a larger piece of land at the price I want, I wouldn't want it to go to waste.

We started to chat about growing fruit on it, possibly

 

Again, this is all just throwing ideas around.

 

Some good info by a lot of posters, I appreciate it..............