Is growing eucalyptus profitable?

[jinners]

Hi, looking for some advice on the above. I've looked through forum's on here and the internet in general and all the information out there seems to be dated by 10 to 20 years old for some reason. I understand many things will still apply, but the part crucial to decision making will not. And that is, is there any money to be made from growing this? I understand it's the ideal crop for an absentee farmer and in around 5 years is possible for harvesting. Anyone having exposure to this or knowledge in any way would be extremely grateful. Some 'cheap' land has become available via the wife and as it's pretty well deep jungle, not possible to build a house on just ideal for growing. It currently has corn growing but lots of eucalyptus in the area.

 

[blackcab]

Moved to the Farming Forum.

[kwonitoy]

Years ago I bought 34 rai for the land to grow rubber. It already had full grown eucalyptus on it and I thought I might make a bit of extra cash harvesting the trees. A specialist contractor quoted us 3 months to clear the trees which was too long and still plant rubber. I did it myself in 6 weeks. Hired about 10 people to cut, trucks to haul the ecu to a dealer about 5 km away. I didn't even make enough from the ecu to pay for the labour and trucking costs.  

 

It's like most Issan farm ventures, labour and equipment costs will eat up any small profits to had

[tompelli]

I planted eucalyptus on 15 rai of the wifes land in 2009. After 5 years & 3 harvests, ended up +/- zero baht. All the trees went through agents to the nearby paper pulp plant. The only positive was that the land was used rather than laying idle & brother & sister in law made a living (3000 baht/month each to keep the trees clear of grass & jungle).

Edited July 4, 2021 by tompelli
Autocorrect

[boriga]

Similar story here. Planted euca trees on 40 rai 15+ years ago. Have given up getting quotes for pulping, does not even cover historic planting costs. That said happy to see the trees growing and the cover for nature it provides. The land was badly salinated before and the trees have solved that issue. Have in reality written it off and now with some trees approaching 20 years will hope for some upside in lumber value for large mature trees. Alternatively will look at building a wooden house on the site using the timber.. if you have a long term need for lumber or just want to rejuvenate the land, it could make a nice project if not particularly economic sense.

[HighPriority]

@owl sees all 

[zyphodb]

In a word, no...

 

 Like virtually all other farming options here, unless done on an industrial scale... 

[VocalNeal]

Eucalyptus will suck every available drop of water. 

[nobodysfriend]

1 hour ago, boriga said:

Alternatively will look at building a wooden house on the site using the timber..

Euca is good material for building ... to grow it for a profit is ok , but the profit will only be small . But it ' detoxes ' the land that is an important step to fertilize it .

best crop to grow , in my opinion is Maria Huana , but we're not there yet ...  and , may be , they need better soil ...?

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, boriga said:

Similar story here. Planted euca trees on 40 rai 15+ years ago. Have given up getting quotes for pulping, does not even cover historic planting costs. That said happy to see the trees growing and the cover for nature it provides. The land was badly salinated before and the trees have solved that issue. Have in reality written it off and now with some trees approaching 20 years will hope for some upside in lumber value for large mature trees. Alternatively will look at building a wooden house on the site using the timber.. if you have a long term need for lumber or just want to rejuvenate the land, it could make a nice project if not particularly economic sense.

 

Very interested in this Boriga.

 

If you had 40 rai planted all that time ago, you should be in the dosh.

 

Our 12,000 trees were planted 13 months ago and are doing well. We already have people visiting us with a view to cutting. Price at the moment 960 baht per tonne. Am I over-optimistic?

 

My planting costs were about 50k baht, but I don't have high upkeep costs. Much of the maintenance is done by my daughter and myself.

Edited July 4, 2021 by owl sees all

[DUNROAMIN]

Nothing make good money here. keep in the  bank and have plenty of holidays.

[pacovl46]

Well, it seems the other commenters who have planted it harvested it way too early to be making any money, I mean “after 5 years and 3 harvests!”

 

I would imagine, if you wait 25 or 30 years before you harvest there’s certainly money to be made.

 

Have you ever considered Brazilian Rosewood, though? It’s an extremely popular wood in the musical instrument business and the good news is that it has no natural enemies/pests in Thailand that could potentially befall it! As a matter of fact it’s so popular that it’s on the CITES list now and export has been banned from Brazil completely, if I’m not mistaken, because they kept rigorously harvesting it in the wild to the point where it’s on the. brink of extinction. But it will at the very least take decades before the trees are large enough to be used for guitars, but then again your offspring might be able to get really rich of them some day. The key is the bigger the tree the more money is in it. If you’re not dependent on the income right now, I’d go for Brazilian Rosewood because there’s is most definitely way more money in it in the long haul than your Eukalyptus trees will ever make! 

Edited July 4, 2021 by pacovl46

[Meat Pie 47]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Eucalyptus will suck every available drop of water. 

that's why Australia has no water ????

[pacovl46]

5 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

that's why Australia has no water ????

That’s a myth. Apparently they use about 785 liters per kilo of biomass per year, much less than a a ias for example which use 1323 liters per kilo or rice which uses 2000. 

[pacovl46]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Eucalyptus will suck every available drop of water. 

Not true, that’s a myth. They use 785 liters per kilo of biomass per year. Acacias for example use 1323 and rice uses 2000.

[Meat Pie 47]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Eucalyptus will suck every available drop of water. 

wrong again

 

The water use of a Eucalyptus plantation has been found to be 785 litres/kg of total biomass, which is one of the lowest if compared with tree species such as Acacia (1,323 litres/kg), Dalbergia (1,484 litres/kg) and agricultural crops such as paddy rice (2,000 litres/kg) and cotton (3,200 litres/kg).

[jomtienisgood]

4 hours ago, tompelli said:

I planted eucalyptus on 15 rai of the wifes land in 2009. After 5 years & 3 harvests, ended up +/- zero baht. All the trees went through agents to the nearby paper pulp plant. The only positive was that the land was used rather than laying idle & brother & sister in law made a living (3000 baht/month each to keep the trees clear of grass & jungle).

Unfortunately, I think if you don't intend to have a major Koala farm there is no point in growing eucalyptus. 

[jomtienisgood]

36 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

wrong again

 

The water use of a Eucalyptus plantation has been found to be 785 litres/kg of total biomass, which is one of the lowest if compared with tree species such as Acacia (1,323 litres/kg), Dalbergia (1,484 litres/kg) and agricultural crops such as paddy rice (2,000 litres/kg) and cotton (3,200 litres/kg).

Not to mention cows .......

[SOTIRIOS]

....Moringa.....

 

 

...if anyone wants to try Echinacea I have some Organic Canadian Seeds available...

[Stevemercer]

Most mature Eucalyptus (15 years plus, with no silviculture and left to themselves) will have poor form and limited value for lumber (e.g. the trees won't be straight).

 

The highest value is hardwood poles from 3 - 5 year old trees (typically used in cheap rural construction or as scaffolding). The plantation needs to be treated to thin out the initial trees, make sure the trunks are straight, and branches are cut off. 

 

Trees over 5 - 10 years, with poor form, will be suitable for pulp. Older trees are not much good for pulping (too tough).

 

Eucalyptus plantations have limited value for wildlife in Thailand being an exotic species. But this also means that they are relatively pest free. Eucalyptus can be a fire hazard in Australia, but this is not so likely in Thailand (plantations are smaller and lightning strikes generally occur during the wet season). Thais regularly burn native forests for mushrooms, but this is not the case for Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus will re-sprout even if a hot fire rips through.

 

You can make some handy pocket money out of poles, and the stumps will readily coppice. Just make sure you source some quality seedlings from stock that grow straight and is habitated to your district and soils.

[heybuz]

17 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

Unfortunately, I think if you don't intend to have a major Koala farm there is no point in growing eucalyptus. 

if you plant the right species and learn to distill the leaves it could be quite profitable,euclyptus oil is with its weight in gold, maybe a thought

 

[jinners]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:31 AM, kwonitoy said:

Years ago I bought 34 rai for the land to grow rubber. It already had full grown eucalyptus on it and I thought I might make a bit of extra cash harvesting the trees. A specialist contractor quoted us 3 months to clear the trees which was too long and still plant rubber. I did it myself in 6 weeks. Hired about 10 people to cut, trucks to haul the ecu to a dealer about 5 km away. I didn't even make enough from the ecu to pay for the labour and trucking costs.  

 

It's like most Issan farm ventures, labour and equipment costs will eat up any small profits to had

As suspected. Thanks

[jinners]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:39 AM, heybuz said:

if you plant the right species and learn to distill the leaves it could be quite profitable,euclyptus oil is with its weight in gold, maybe a thought

 

Maybe the case but I have no plans or interest in that. Thanks for the idea though

[jinners]

On 7/4/2021 at 5:06 PM, Stevemercer said:

Most mature Eucalyptus (15 years plus, with no silviculture and left to themselves) will have poor form and limited value for lumber (e.g. the trees won't be straight).

 

The highest value is hardwood poles from 3 - 5 year old trees (typically used in cheap rural construction or as scaffolding). The plantation needs to be treated to thin out the initial trees, make sure the trunks are straight, and branches are cut off. 

 

Trees over 5 - 10 years, with poor form, will be suitable for pulp. Older trees are not much good for pulping (too tough).

 

Eucalyptus plantations have limited value for wildlife in Thailand being an exotic species. But this also means that they are relatively pest free. Eucalyptus can be a fire hazard in Australia, but this is not so likely in Thailand (plantations are smaller and lightning strikes generally occur during the wet season). Thais regularly burn native forests for mushrooms, but this is not the case for Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus will re-sprout even if a hot fire rips through.

 

You can make some handy pocket money out of poles, and the stumps will readily coppice. Just make sure you source some quality seedlings from stock that grow straight and is habitated to your district and soils.

Great info. Thanks

[jinners]

On 7/4/2021 at 1:47 PM, pacovl46 said:

Well, it seems the other commenters who have planted it harvested it way too early to be making any money, I mean “after 5 years and 3 harvests!”

 

I would imagine, if you wait 25 or 30 years before you harvest there’s certainly money to be made.

 

Have you ever considered Brazilian Rosewood, though? It’s an extremely popular wood in the musical instrument business and the good news is that it has no natural enemies/pests in Thailand that could potentially befall it! As a matter of fact it’s so popular that it’s on the CITES list now and export has been banned from Brazil completely, if I’m not mistaken, because they kept rigorously harvesting it in the wild to the point where it’s on the. brink of extinction. But it will at the very least take decades before the trees are large enough to be used for guitars, but then again your offspring might be able to get really rich of them some day. The key is the bigger the tree the more money is in it. If you’re not dependent on the income right now, I’d go for Brazilian Rosewood because there’s is most definitely way more money in it in the long haul than your Eukalyptus trees will ever make! 

That's worth considering from a philanthropic view and something that I might consider. I'll certainly not be around to reap the rewards but may at least be planting some good for the future. Thanks

[owl sees all]

57 minutes ago, jinners said:

That's worth considering from a philanthropic view and something that I might consider. I'll certainly not be around to reap the rewards but may at least be planting some good for the future. Thanks

Don't think I'll be waiting for 25 years either.

 

We have 12000 trees, and the plan is to cut a quarter at four years, the second quarter the next and so on. Then off we go again; hopefully.

 

Euca trees grow fast. There is a good market for them from three years old (building) to 20 years (paper and composite wood products). The pic of the tree below (lifted off the Diary of a farang thread) is just 13 months old.

 

 

They can withstand a  few months of drought and generally look after themselves.

 

We trim our trees up to 2.5 metres. A couple of reasons for this. And to get best growth any unwanted vegetation needs to get rid of.

 

I haven't got all the answers. I'm learning as I go. So far; so good.

Edited July 9, 2021 by owl sees all

[pacovl46]

5 hours ago, jinners said:

That's worth considering from a philanthropic view and something that I might consider. I'll certainly not be around to reap the rewards but may at least be planting some good for the future. Thanks

You’re welcome! ????

[owl sees all]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:39 AM, heybuz said:

if you plant the right species and learn to distill the leaves it could be quite profitable,euclyptus oil is with its weight in gold, maybe a thought

 

Got me thinking. Thanks Heybuz.

 

Have millions of leaves for sure.

[DJ54]

Any advise on growing avocado trees? Local and graft haas 

or similar. We’re in the Nottheast.... Thanks

[owl sees all]

55 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

Any advise on growing avocado trees? Local and graft haas 

or similar. We’re in the Nottheast.... Thanks

I'm growing them at the moment; from seed.

 

I like the challenge.