Farmers overwhelmed by losses as price of rice falls to just Bt6 per kilo

By The Nation

 

 

Farmers in Kalasin province were reduced to tears due to massive losses after the price of rice dropped to just Bt6 or Bt7 per kilo this week.

 

Pee Wannasri, 68, said on Friday he was expecting the price be between Bt9 and Bt10 per kilogram, so he could earn enough money to pay off his debts and support his family.

 

He said 300 to 400 kilograms of rice is produced per rai, and at this rate farmers will only earn Bt1,800 to Bt2,400 per rai instead of Bt2,100 to Bt2,800.

 

Since the cost of production per rai is about Bt2,900, farmers will suffer heavy losses and all they can do is complain and hold each other’s hand.

 

They called on the government to guarantee the price of rice, as they will not be able to pay the money they owe to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30398286

 

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5 minutes ago, webfact said:

Since the cost of production per rai is about Bt2,900, farmers will suffer heavy losses and all they can do is complain and hold each other’s hand.

 

Is this supposed to be funny? 

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

and at this rate farmers will only earn Bt1,800 to Bt2,400 per rai instead of Bt2,100 to Bt2,800.

 

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

Since the cost of production per rai is about Bt2,900,

 

Something must be missing, because even if the price hadn't fallen, they would still make a loss of 100 Baht per Rai

So we will be seeing cheaper rice in the shops, markets and supermarkets,

.....no I don't think so , just more profit for the middle men, shops.

regards worgeordie

Rice farming has become unprofitable for many. I know of a few farmers in the northeast whom I've tried to help by making calculations for all their spendings and earnings and was shocked how little it made sense to actually farm rice. But the families I spoke to didn't want to give it up, it's what they did for decades. They also paid into a scheme where they receive 100k THB in case of a death so they'd have money to pay for the funeral. I asked to see their books and saw they already paid about 200k THB into the scheme. These families are just bleeding financially and it's an open wound that wont heal. They rely on members of their family to work somewhere else to support them. Schools are horrible, loan sharks and drugs are widespread. There are also many good very hard working people but it's a really tough environment. And I don't think it is going to get easier in the future. They need changes and they need help, that's all I know. But not in the form of more loans.

Rice is so cheap here why can't they increase the price. I pay 100 baht for a 5 kilo bag in Tesco, the same as 2 large Changs ! So the farmers get 6 baht a kilo and the shops 14 baht.

23 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Rice is so cheap here why can't they increase the price. I pay 100 baht for a 5 kilo bag in Tesco, the same as 2 large Changs ! So the farmers get 6 baht a kilo and the shops 14 baht.

 

the first lesson i ever learned in business - "he who controls the customer controls the business"

 

so the farmers could try putting the price up but the seller (in this case tesco et al) would just find alternative suppliers

 

sucks i know. but as yet no-one has come up with a viable alternative that doesn't resemble a form of communism.

 

 

Rice Farming has been a ticking time bomb for many years now.   There are so many failures all through the system and whilst other countries are able to grow better quality rice and export it cheaper as time passes the Farmers in Thailand are still mainly growing the same old stuff.  Of course; the greedy middle men are ripping off the Farmers and nobody has ever done anything to stop it.    It's become a dead end trade sadly and more and more Paddy's will end up under Concrete.

The farmers need to vertically integrate the supply chain to the end customer. The end customer is paying about 300% more than the farmer gets. Who's getting all the profit in the supply chain??

this is what climate change look like:

with increased co2, crop yields goes up and prices down

49 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Rice is so cheap here why can't they increase the price. I pay 100 baht for a 5 kilo bag in Tesco, the same as 2 large Changs ! So the farmers get 6 baht a kilo and the shops 14 baht.

 

So you think that the 14 Baht difference goes to the shop ????

 

Not quite that simple

 

 

"He said 300 to 400 kilograms of rice is produced per rai"

 

That doesn't seem very much as the lady who rents our paddy always gets between 600 and 800 kgs per rai.

 

the wife owns quite a lot of rice fields up north , she just lets a local farmer use them ,doesnt want anything ,just to help a neighbour of her mums.

1 hour ago, ivor bigun said:

the wife owns quite a lot of rice fields up north , she just lets a local farmer use them ,doesnt want anything ,just to help a neighbour of her mums.

She should charge at least a token amount and/or get something written that he "rents" it or after 10 years he might claim he owns it. Heard of enough people claiming others land up there.

4 hours ago, eisfeld said:

Rice farming has become unprofitable for many. I know of a few farmers in the northeast whom I've tried to help by making calculations for all their spendings and earnings and was shocked how little it made sense to actually farm rice. But the families I spoke to didn't want to give it up, it's what they did for decades. They also paid into a scheme where they receive 100k THB in case of a death so they'd have money to pay for the funeral. I asked to see their books and saw they already paid about 200k THB into the scheme. These families are just bleeding financially and it's an open wound that wont heal. They rely on members of their family to work somewhere else to support them. Schools are horrible, loan sharks and drugs are widespread. There are also many good very hard working people but it's a really tough environment. And I don't think it is going to get easier in the future. They need changes and they need help, that's all I know. But not in the form of more loans.

 

Nothing can change without a sincere programme of social/economic improvement for the population.

 

But that will not be forthcoming.

 

The system is rotten, abusive, and resolutely backward looking..

 

The only vision of a changed future is that held by those on the streets, demanding one now.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, scammed said:

this is what climate change look like:

with increased co2, crop yields goes up and prices down

But the bloody idiots want to go green by reducing CO2, which ultimately leads to less crops and food. They want to starve people to death.

 

For example UK wants to ban diesel and petrol cars by 2030, which will create further problems for the average folk. The quality of life that we enjoyed is going down the drain.

The mills are a major problem.

5 hours ago, Henryford said:

Rice is so cheap here why can't they increase the price. I pay 100 baht for a 5 kilo bag in Tesco, the same as 2 large Changs ! So the farmers get 6 baht a kilo and the shops 14 baht.

I think you have forgotten  something the rice you buy in a shop has been thrashed out with the bran and husks taken out ,I think it is 20% loss?

The farmer sells his crop complete  with the above  .

6 hours ago, webfact said:

They called on the government to guarantee the price of rice

 

Didn't they try something like this before?

17 hours ago, Susco said:

 

 

Something must be missing, because even if the price hadn't fallen, they would still make a loss of 100 Baht per Rai

I know from experience (missus has 210 rai) that rice farming is a mugs game. Even with 210 rai you rarely make a decent profit and often just break even with maybe 5 or 6,000 Baht left over. 

 

16 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Rice Farming has been a ticking time bomb for many years now.   There are so many failures all through the system and whilst other countries are able to grow better quality rice and export it cheaper as time passes the Farmers in Thailand are still mainly growing the same old stuff.  Of course; the greedy middle men are ripping off the Farmers and nobody has ever done anything to stop it.    It's become a dead end trade sadly and more and more Paddy's will end up under Concrete.

Mabybe HEMP would be the answer to the ricefarmers prayers..You can get get 3-4 crops per year,male everything from Insulation material,to oil..paper..rope..Make a OTOP with HEMP grown products only..Hemp doesn't need alot of ferts,if any..not to much water either..AND I'M TAKING HEMP NOT MARIJUNA...OKEY.

15 hours ago, eisfeld said:

She should charge at least a token amount and/or get something written that he "rents" it or after 10 years he might claim he owns it. Heard of enough people claiming others land up there.

dont worry its all sorted ,my wife knows exactly what to do in business ,i believe she gets a "token" rent ,she has building land there as well ,as has most of her familly ,it seems in their village ,the family were quite well off ,in fact still are ,

If they had cooperatives like they do in Africa they could get better prices and cut out the middle men but this being thailand they can’t trust each other because someone would do a runner with the money . I pay 30 baht a kilo for my rice so these middlemen are really taking the 

After harvesting on the family farm this week because the price was so low they only sold enough rice to pay for machinery hire, the family kept most for seed and to eat.

 I delivered one load to the farmers co-op, the board outside showed 320 baht per sen แสน. A sen is 100,000 so I assume they meant 100,000 grams= 100kg ? So that’s only 3.2 baht per kilo. Or does sen mean something else with regard to weight ?

21 hours ago, webfact said:

reduced to tears due to massive losses after the price of rice dropped

Bring back:-

 

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Pee Wannasri, 68, said on Friday he was expecting the price be between Bt9 and Bt10 per kilogram, so he could earn enough money to pay off his debts and support his family.

 

   Rice costs about 40 Baht a kilo in UK supermarkets , the extra 30 odd Baht would go towards transport costs .

  Not much room to maneuver there costs wise 

23 hours ago, Henryford said:

Rice is so cheap here why can't they increase the price. I pay 100 baht for a 5 kilo bag in Tesco, the same as 2 large Changs ! So the farmers get 6 baht a kilo and the shops 14 baht.

 

Sorry. Your sums are wrong. You forgot transportation, milling, etc. Shops do not get 14 baht.

 

in UK, the shop price for the rice I bought was around £1 per kilo. A decent Basmati. Here, the rice I like (not a Basmati) is around 40baht per kilo. The same price, from a country that produces it.

So far this year, I have spent 30,000 on rice farming and I've told the wife that if we do break even or make a small profit, I'm not subsidising any more. We don't eat the rubbish the locals plant.

 

Rice farming has always been loss making for the family farmers.

4 hours ago, Foghorn said:

If they had cooperatives like they do in Africa they could get better prices and cut out the middle men but this being thailand they can’t trust each other because someone would do a runner with the money . I pay 30 baht a kilo for my rice so these middlemen are really taking the 

 

Sorry. Have to do the sums. Transport and milling costs, associated bagging costs, wholesale and retail, etc. Who is taking the proverbial...?

what are they waiting to all grow weed with or without authorization ?

they are so slow to think and understand...

 

 

Kg in uk around 50bht in a shop for plain rice ????