How much do you make rice farming?

[kingofthemountain]

40 minutes ago, marc26 said:

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..............

You are welcome

don't forget (But i am sure you know it already) you don't buy a land here in Thailand

you just give the money for it, in fact the land is in the name of your wife, so ''we buy''

or ''i buy'' a land is incorrect, the reality end in ''you pay a land for her''

then let's her to decide what she wants to do with her land, get involved as little as you can

in Thai mind, be involved in a project = you are asked to finance it.

If you have had a child together, you can put the land in your child name

if not, don't throw more money than you are ready to lose

even if everything is ok now with her, you can not be sure about the future

it's still better to be safe than sorry

good luck

[peterb0576]

You most probably won't make any money but you might find doing a small holding is better. We just brought 2 rai at about 400k (200k per rai) it has underground water so we will dig a pond for fish, grow fruit trees and vegetables, also keep chickens and goats. The idea is we become a little bit self-sufficient. So what we don't eat we sell to pay electricity and water bill. We also breed German Shepherds and Doberman, ( yes we are registered with the Thailand Kennel Association) so security is no problem.

[billsmart]

My wife has 30 rai of rice land. We grow khao homili (jasmine rice). We used to harvest two crops a year, but now, because of government restrictions which you should check out, only have one crop a year. We spend about 60K baht a year on expenses, and our crop can sell for anywhere between 100K to 140K depending on our yield and current rice prices. So, our profit is 40K to 80K a year.

 

As far as I'm concerned, it's not really worth the effort or investment, but if your wife is like mine, they feel very secure knowing they have rice land. Also, the land keeps increasing in value, so it's a good investment. We bought our land about 10 years ago for a total of 600K, and it is now worth 2M or more.

If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly.

[claynlr]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

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.

Had the GF start bookkeeping the expenses for her rice farm on the last crop and opened her eyes. She is harvesting the 2nd crop (after starting bookkeeping) in about a week. The last harvest had a profit of 22,000 for 16 rai. She splits this with her papa who also works the farm every day.

 

Told her I would give her 11,000 for the 3 months up it took to grow and she could stay home and play with me.......no answer lol

[andygrr]

From my experience most do not lease land by paying money up front. They usually come to a agreement to hand over a % of the crop in exchange for the use of the land. You can then sell or keep the rice. 

[LukKrueng]

On 7/7/2020 at 10:43 PM, marc26 said:

anyone know what that makes?

Probably peanuts...

[KhunKenAP]

I have tied to get a straight answer to that question for years. Answer is close to zero and perhaps a negative number.

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, KhunKenAP said:

I have tied to get a straight answer to that question for years. Answer is close to zero and perhaps a negative number.

 

 

 

I stopped asking 10 years ago. ................... a totally pointless exercise - and if any wife can accurately compute, record and react to the financials relating to rice farming, then she shouldn't be wasting her time in rice farming!

[digger70]

How much do you make rice farming? . 

 

Not enough to live, too much to Die.

[1FinickyOne]

there is not much profit and a potential for aggravation.. best off might be to invest in something you might enjoy using.. like a condo.. 

[Pedrogaz]

A pitifully small amount. When I came to Thailand I rented some land cheaply for the family....16 rai, bought them a Kubota, bought, seed, fertilisers and pesticides. If there was a harvest, it was only because floods, pests, drought etc had not killed the harvest which seemed to happen to at least 50% of harvests. I condemned them to a life of poverty. The people who make money out of rice are the broker families and the millers (often the same person). The farmer who takes all the risks makes next to nothing.

[Tongjaw]

21 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. 

When you say it supports 3 families, you mean it feeds them? No way would 12 rai cover living costs such as cars, holidays, medical etc no matter what you grow. My wife had 36 rai in Issan but sold it all a couple of years back. She rented it out to rice farmers but not for cash. For every 3 sacks of rice the farmer harvested my wife got 1 sack. Basically it would feed the family and some got sold. Initially we got 2-3 harvests a year, However, if no rain then no rice so she would get next to nothing.
Local farmers do get a certain amount of money from the Farm bank if they cannot produce from the land due to drought, not much but at least they get something. During harvest time you have to be present and count was they harvest or you will get cheated. Like you the family did grow sweet potato, corn, tapioca and other vegetables on land she let them use. They ate what they needed and the mother in law would sell the rest at the local market. 
I’m my opinion the OP would be best to keep his cash in the bank. 

[Stevemercer]

Our wives firmly believe land goes up in value every year and that it is a good investment. Maybe this is true in some locations, but not typical agricultural land. There is often a disconnect between what Thai people believe their land is worth and what someone is actually prepared to pay to buy that land.

 

If you want to buy farmland, buy it as a lifestyle choice and/or inheritance values.

[sencelebi]

On 7/7/2020 at 10:56 PM, 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.

That's not the question he asked !

[khunPer]

On 7/7/2020 at 5:43 PM, marc26 said:

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.........

If it's good land you might get 1,000 baht to 1,500 baht a rai (1,600 ­m²) per year; in some areas/cases the fee is as low a 500 baht a rai.

 

Some times the rental fee is not money, but a share of the harvest, so you might need storage space for rice, or insist on cash.

 

You can as a general hand-rule count around 1 percent of the buying price as yearly rent for farmland, so looked as business then farmland for rent is not a good one. However, land prices normally increase, so over time you make money just keeping the land and later sell it, or just see the rent-percentage rise a bit, but often less than the land value. If you can find some really bargain priced land from someone in urgent need for cash, you might be able to get as much as up to 3-4 percent in annually return.

 

Normal rental deals are for 3 years – which is the legal maximum without registration as lease at the land office and paying tax – and renegotiated, or just renewed, for another 3 year after the first period ends. If used for sugar cane – or other crops with more than one year growing period – instead of rice, it need to be 3-year agreements. Normally the fee is paid annually after the harvest; the payment date can vary depending of selling time for the harvest. Often a rent agreement will stipulate than the renter pays land-tax, and the renter might also be eligible for any support based on farmed land-size.

 

If you – or rather your wife – have a 25 rai land size you can normally make between 12,000 baht and up to around 25,000 baht a year; if you make more you are very lucky...????

[khunPer]

23 hours ago, kickstart said:

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.   

24 rai and 95 talang wah, almost 24 and a quarter rai, i.e. 38,780 m², so around 204,000 baht per rai.

 

Road-front land is normally higher priced, but looked at for rental for farming it's not the best investment, pay-back rate in the area between 0,5 percent and up to maximum 0.75 percent a year. The investment is future price increase in the land price.

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

The investment is future price increase in the land price.

A risky bet that i don't recommend to take if you want to be safe and secure

[kickstart]

19 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

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.

How do I know our land has doubled ,our next-door neighbour who has the other 6 rie of the original  12 rie block ,lets say had a big fallout and where going to sell they land and house ( they have since made up ),word soon got out and where offered ,like I said double what we paid ,and they did not have cattle shed  and milking shed .

The land has road frontage and it is now a black top road not the old dirt track road ,and it is not rice land ,it used to be ,and good land to, we grow grass .neighbour used to grow cucumbers  ,then corn .

Both plots of land have large ponds and  have reared fish ,and at the very back of the land is a small river that can be used for irrigation, and has been  in the past  

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

How do I know our land has doubled ,our next-door neighbour who has the other 6 rie of the original  12 rie block ,lets say had a big fallout and where going to sell they land and house ( they have since made up ),word soon got out and where offered ,like I said double what we paid ,and they did not have cattle shed  and milking shed .

The land has road frontage and it is now a black top road not the old dirt track road ,and it is not rice land ,it used to be ,and good land to, we grow grass .neighbour used to grow cucumbers  ,then corn .

Both plots of land have large ponds and  have reared fish ,and at the very back of the land is a small river that can be used for irrigation, and has been  in the past  

Well big inprovments have been done (A house, a new road and so on) so an increase on

the price is normal. Anyway i try in my post to stay in the ''rails'' of this topic and talking about a random ricefield, not a land with a house where the price can vary a lot depend on the location, the size of the house and so on.

 

There is another big problem with the ricefields ,and i am surprised nobody has writed about it yet

 

if one day you decide to sell ''your'' land, you don't have the hand on it, i mean it's not your name on the chanote,

 

Then you need to have the agrement of the real owner (Usualy the Thai wife or girlfriend) and there is nowhere you can go like a real estate agency where you can put your advertising for ''your'' land for sale

 

In the rural area most of these deals are done by ear to mouth, between family members, neighbors..

 

If your Thai partner is not decided to sale (And most of the Thais are very reluctant to sale a land, i don't develop the reasons here) she can still say ok to you but say not for the others, and  you are just screwed, you can wait for years an hypothetic buyer who never comes, because everybody (Except you) know already the real owner doesn't want to sell

[rvaviator]

17 hours ago, marc26 said:

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..............

At the end of the day ... If the plot is large enough and you are not is a financial need for it to generate income. Then its just 'something to do' .. Have someone grow fruit or plant trees or whatever .... I am sure it will provide you with endless opportunities for good stories and keep you 'busy' without having to worry about the financial implication. 

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

A risky bet that i don't recommend to take if you want to be safe and secure

That was not part of OP's question, but the risky part is mainly the time it takes to sell land, because in general the value, and thereby price, of land goes up; there are exclusions of course.

 

Let's say you bought 10 rai for 50,000 baht a rai, i.e. ½ million baht, and wish to sell it after 10 years. In average your land shall have doubled it's value by that time. How long time will it take to find a buyer that can come up with 1 million baht in cash?

[Paradise Pete]

On 7/7/2020 at 12:50 PM, 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.

 

Even if it is, I'd ask myself if have the heart to boot them off if they couldn't pay. If so, would I be willing to still live there being the farang that did that?

[kickstart]

2 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

Well big inprovments have been done (A house, a new road and so on) so an increase on

the price is normal. Anyway i try in my post to stay in the ''rails'' of this topic and talking about a random ricefield, not a land with a house where the price can vary a lot depend on the location, the size of the house and so on.

 

There is another big problem with the ricefields ,and i am surprised nobody has writed about it yet

 

if one day you decide to sell ''your'' land, you don't have the hand on it, i mean it's not your name on the chanote,

 

Then you need to have the agrement of the real owner (Usualy the Thai wife or girlfriend) and there is nowhere you can go like a real estate agency where you can put your advertising for ''your'' land for sale

 

In the rural area most of these deals are done by ear to mouth, between family members, neighbors..

 

If your Thai partner is not decided to sale (And most of the Thais are very reluctant to sale a land, i don't develop the reasons here) she can still say ok to you but say not for the others, and  you are just screwed, you can wait for years an hypothetic buyer who never comes, because everybody (Except you) know already the real owner doesn't want to sell

Why is it a very high percentage of frangs think that Thai's, mainly women are out to screw them , not all of them are the same ,I would trust my wife.

The only thing that bothers us if the wife dies first ,in whose  name the Charnort is ,then the fun starts .

[Alex2554]

29 rai 130000 baht 

40000 expences, profit 90000

[HaleySabai]

10 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

A pitifully small amount. When I came to Thailand I rented some land cheaply for the family....16 rai, bought them a Kubota, bought, seed, fertilisers and pesticides. If there was a harvest, it was only because floods, pests, drought etc had not killed the harvest which seemed to happen to at least 50% of harvests. I condemned them to a life of poverty. The people who make money out of rice are the broker families and the millers (often the same person). The farmer who takes all the risks makes next to nothing.

We live on the rice-belt in Mae Rim. The local-broker owns the biggest,beautiful most palatial place in the entire area. Our daughter visited the house with a neighbor and she was impressed that the two people that live there(husband/wife) have a huge indoor pool. Clearly the money is made in 'the middle' with the rice game. The rice farmers themselves remain somewhere between the salt and the earth.

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

Why is it a very high percentage of frangs think that Thai's, mainly women are out to screw them , not all of them are the same ,I would trust my wife.

The only thing that bothers us if the wife dies first ,in whose  name the Charnort is ,then the fun starts .

I don't mean its happen all the time

i just write it because when you think to all the risks like the OP wants to do it

you have maybe to take also this one in the decision, and you are right if the wife

dies first, it could be a problem for doing what you want with ''your'' land, particularly 

if you don't have child to put the land in his name. Good luck to deal with the rest of

the family if you want to sell the land and having your money back and they don't want.

 

[marc26]

20 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

You are welcome

don't forget (But i am sure you know it already) you don't buy a land here in Thailand

you just give the money for it, in fact the land is in the name of your wife, so ''we buy''

or ''i buy'' a land is incorrect, the reality end in ''you pay a land for her''

then let's her to decide what she wants to do with her land, get involved as little as you can

in Thai mind, be involved in a project = you are asked to finance it.

If you have had a child together, you can put the land in your child name

if not, don't throw more money than you are ready to lose

even if everything is ok now with her, you can not be sure about the future

it's still better to be safe than sorry

good luck

I've been with my wife for 17 years, actually maybe 18 years.

 

No real big outlays so far, and she makes good money in Canada and has a business that makes decent money in Thailand. So she contributes.

My deal with land/house has always been that whatever she saves towards that. I will double it.

Simply because I think she should feel the pride of "ownership", not me just buying her a house and she has always been on board with that............

 

She would be happy with a 1mil house but I want something I enjoy living in and spending time in. I think 4mil would give me a suitable house and 6mil will give me something I really like and want to spend time there.

 

So my share would be 4mil, which if she told me to beat it the day after the house was finished, I'd consider it her divorce settlement and time served 5555

[marc26]

16 hours ago, peterb0576 said:

You most probably won't make any money but you might find doing a small holding is better. We just brought 2 rai at about 400k (200k per rai) it has underground water so we will dig a pond for fish, grow fruit trees and vegetables, also keep chickens and goats. The idea is we become a little bit self-sufficient. So what we don't eat we sell to pay electricity and water bill. We also breed German Shepherds and Doberman, ( yes we are registered with the Thailand Kennel Association) so security is no problem.

Wow, can you BM pics of the German Shepherds? I would love to hear more about your breeding. Do you deal with just Thai clients?

 

I had a German Shepherd for almost 18 years and yes, I brought him to live in Thailand from the US with me when I moved there. That was 2004 and not many big dogs, let alone German Shepherds were in Thailand.

So my gf(my wife now) would get some surprised looks when they'd see this Thai girl walking down the street with a German Shepherd!

 

The Shepherd actually ended up living in this village I have been talking about, for about a year, before he came to Canada with me........

[marc26]

16 hours ago, billsmart said:

My wife has 30 rai of rice land. We grow khao homili (jasmine rice). We used to harvest two crops a year, but now, because of government restrictions which you should check out, only have one crop a year. We spend about 60K baht a year on expenses, and our crop can sell for anywhere between 100K to 140K depending on our yield and current rice prices. So, our profit is 40K to 80K a year.

 

As far as I'm concerned, it's not really worth the effort or investment, but if your wife is like mine, they feel very secure knowing they have rice land. Also, the land keeps increasing in value, so it's a good investment. We bought our land about 10 years ago for a total of 600K, and it is now worth 2M or more.

If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly.

40-80k/yr wouldn't be worth it for me to deal with any potential drama from the lessees............

[marc26]

13 hours ago, andygrr said:

From my experience most do not lease land by paying money up front. They usually come to a agreement to hand over a % of the crop in exchange for the use of the land. You can then sell or keep the rice. 

One idea I had is her closest relative is her Aunt, a really great person who really looks out for my wife, always has. So maybe if we end up with a decent poly of land, allow her to farm it however she prefers. Keeps the land in shape and her Aunt makes a living