How Many Of You Were Farmers In A Previous Life?

[Nickthegreek]

Hi I am interested to know how many of you had experience in farming before coming to Thailand?

I know that there are a lot of posts here from those of us that are about too,or have just started as well as those that will probably give it up soon,(maybe)

My main personal reason for asking is,obviously in Thailand we can live a more modest lifestyle if you so wish,relax more if the mood takes you,but farming can be very hard work..

I may have rose tinted glasses on currently but I know absolutely nothing about farming and so far this forum has been a wealth of information,so thanks....

But can I expect to live a modest existence on say 65 rai of rice land per year and 80 rai of sugar cane...

I am looking around 4\5 years in the future as I currenlty have two businesses that are doing well,but they only have a three/four year shelf life,so I am looking now to the future..

Any thoughts\comments appreciated...

Nick

[ozzydom]

Nick , You will find that quite a lot of our members were involved in farming in their life before Thailand.

These members are experienced in many different types of farming and agricultural pursuits and are from many countries of the world.

This diversity of backgrounds and knowledge is what makes it possible to get useful information on just about any type of farming from one member or another.

From Agronomists to Agricultural engineers to shearers ,all are represented among our members,as well many are still actively engaged in beef cattle and milk production , grain crops , hydroponics , aquaculture,pig farming etc etc.

As for the second part of your post,you have time on your side and I am sure that if you are prepared to observe,learn and put into practice modern methods then you can have a fulfilling life on the farm.

With that much land you wont become a millionaire but with diversification you can be comfortable.

[Nickthegreek]

Hi Ozzydom,

Thanks for the words of encouragement.I by no means want to become a millionaire,however, if as you suggest I can be comfortable,then for me that is enough..

I will I am sure over time pick more of your brains as you seem to be very knowledgeable on many aspects in the farming arena and I am grateful.

For now I will continue to tick along with my quiet little successes and save as money as I can for re-investing into my future ahead..

Regards

Nick

[dave_boo]

Right now the hot ticket is manspalang (cassava). Claims are being made that on a two year rotation you can expect to generate ~16 000 Baht. A one year cycle is only going to gross ~5 000. So if you were to take your whole field(the 80 Rai), plant it with cassava and harvest 1/2 of the area after the first year you would see a return of 200 000 Baht. Leaving the other area in the ground till the next harvest, and replanting the harvest area for two years so that you have a laddered harvest/plant cycle ensures that you will always have yearly income. When you harvest the 40 Rai of two year crops, you could expect 640 000 Baht. This profit should carry through the years, with the exception of natural disasters.

Also, I have to wonder if that Thai trait of following someone else's lead is going to hurt cassava farming's prices. I've heard a lot of talk around western Nakhon Sawan about others getting in on it. That will only drive down prices. However, it should drive up prices on other foodstuffs as the farmers that used to grow corn/sugar cane/etc move to cassava.

Another thing you should consider is the land price. Where I stay, it's currently ~12 000 Baht/Rai for average land off the road. This is of course without title, so caveat emptor. If the government decides to get anal and make sure everything is above board, the family could run into problems. If you, or the family, upsets the wrong people, the family could run into problems. Et cetera, et cetera.

[PaddyThai]

Right now the hot ticket is manspalang (cassava). Claims are being made that on a two year rotation you can expect to generate ~16 000 Baht. A one year cycle is only going to gross ~5 000. So if you were to take your whole field(the 80 Rai), plant it with cassava and harvest 1/2 of the area after the first year you would see a return of 200 000 Baht. Leaving the other area in the ground till the next harvest, and replanting the harvest area for two years so that you have a laddered harvest/plant cycle ensures that you will always have yearly income. When you harvest the 40 Rai of two year crops, you could expect 640 000 Baht. This profit should carry through the years, with the exception of natural disasters.

Also, I have to wonder if that Thai trait of following someone else's lead is going to hurt cassava farming's prices. I've heard a lot of talk around western Nakhon Sawan about others getting in on it. That will only drive down prices. However, it should drive up prices on other foodstuffs as the farmers that used to grow corn/sugar cane/etc move to cassava.

Another thing you should consider is the land price. Where I stay, it's currently ~12 000 Baht/Rai for average land off the road. This is of course without title, so caveat emptor. If the government decides to get anal and make sure everything is above board, the family could run into problems. If you, or the family, upsets the wrong people, the family could run into problems. Et cetera, et cetera.

Casava has been mentioned on this Forum as being a good earner. I myself would assume that because it has proved itself a good earner lots of Thai farmers will start growing it leading to shortgae of other crops. For that reason I would opt to grow one of the other crops- corn or rice. By the time all the Casava is ready for harvest the price may have plummeted.

[ozzydom]

Right now the hot ticket is manspalang (cassava). Claims are being made that on a two year rotation you can expect to generate ~16 000 Baht. A one year cycle is only going to gross ~5 000. So if you were to take your whole field(the 80 Rai), plant it with cassava and harvest 1/2 of the area after the first year you would see a return of 200 000 Baht. Leaving the other area in the ground till the next harvest, and replanting the harvest area for two years so that you have a laddered harvest/plant cycle ensures that you will always have yearly income. When you harvest the 40 Rai of two year crops, you could expect 640 000 Baht. This profit should carry through the years, with the exception of natural disasters.

Also, I have to wonder if that Thai trait of following someone else's lead is going to hurt cassava farming's prices. I've heard a lot of talk around western Nakhon Sawan about others getting in on it. That will only drive down prices. However, it should drive up prices on other foodstuffs as the farmers that used to grow corn/sugar cane/etc move to cassava.

Another thing you should consider is the land price. Where I stay, it's currently ~12 000 Baht/Rai for average land off the road. This is of course without title, so caveat emptor. If the government decides to get anal and make sure everything is above board, the family could run into problems. If you, or the family, upsets the wrong people, the family could run into problems. Et cetera, et cetera.

Casava has been mentioned on this Forum as being a good earner. I myself would assume that because it has proved itself a good earner lots of Thai farmers will start growing it leading to shortgae of other crops. For that reason I would opt to grow one of the other crops- corn or rice. By the time all the Casava is ready for harvest the price may have plummeted.

To true PaddyThai , its all based on supply/demand,.a case in point...... A few years ago when sugar prices were depressed, a cane farmer in Bundaburg Queensland decided to plant quite a big area of his land to Chilly and Capsicum ,he made an absolute killing through the Melbourne fruit markets.

The following year he repeated his planting based on his success, but so to did hundreds of others ,, the subsequent oversupply caused most of the crops to be dumped,so as you say ,sometimes it pays to be a leader and not a follower.

[Nickthegreek]

I have spent quite a lot of time in discussion with my wife and subsequently she has discussed things with her parents.

As I understand Cassava cannot live with wet roots and 80 rai of hers parents land floods every year,which the sugar cane seems to suffer..!!!

Paady thai,my father in law is cuurently suffering the sugar cane fate of over growing,he is now receiving about 1000 baht per tonne when only a year ago it was 1800 baht per tonne,so cassova may folow the same fate fairly quickly also...

I have however been looking at other types of rice..Doers anyone have any experience of Japonica,the Japanese rice,I am sure that this must be more profitable as I undertsand it the Japanese cannot export this rice due to an old law..?

[Mosha]

While not a farmer , I worked for an agrochemicals company. I worked in Huddersfiel England for ICI, then Zeneca, then Astro Zeneca, then Syngenta. That last lot being 1 million times to work for than ICI.

[ozzydom]

I have spent quite a lot of time in discussion with my wife and subsequently she has discussed things with her parents.

As I understand Cassava cannot live with wet roots and 80 rai of hers parents land floods every year,which the sugar cane seems to suffer..!!!

Paady thai,my father in law is cuurently suffering the sugar cane fate of over growing,he is now receiving about 1000 baht per tonne when only a year ago it was 1800 baht per tonne,so cassova may folow the same fate fairly quickly also...

I have however been looking at other types of rice..Doers anyone have any experience of Japonica,the Japanese rice,I am sure that this must be more profitable as I undertsand it the Japanese cannot export this rice due to an old law..?

Nick ,Japonica or Japanese rice is a short grained type of sticky rice used in Japanese cuisine, the problem is that the rice growing industry in Japan is highly protected by huge tariffs on imports.

But in saying that,there are exceptions such as the growing of special variety of Buckwheat in Tasmania for the Japanese market.

The Japanese are ultra fussy regarding imported foodstuffs and most are varieties specified by them and grown to their specifications ,sometimes even under their supervision.

Why not contact the Trade Commissioner attached to the Japanese Embassy and establish whether they would be interested in your growing crops for their market, they can only say no, but an affirmative answer is not unheard of.

[Gary A]

In a former life, I was a hobby farmer. The tillable forty acres I farmed couldn't be called a serious farm. I did enjoy my tax free gasoline and diesel plus all the other tax breaks Uncle Sam gave us hobby farmers.

What I learned from my farming experience in the US is worth VERY little here. Mold board plows and field cultivators are in short supply in Thailand. I also haven't seen many herbicide and pesticide dealers here who bring their floater field sprayer to your farm. Soil tests were free from the guy you bought your fertilizer from. It seems that wheel discs with mounted harrows are not used either.

[Nickthegreek]

Gary A,

I admire your honesty,I guess this learning curve will be as steep as the rest of adapting to living and making money in Thailand..

Nick

[slapout]

Yes, I used green diesel and we kept a gasoline tractor on farm to show if anyone wanted to know why we had tax free gasoline and diesel. I was partner in 1000 acre wheat, cattle, feed operation and both of us (partners) worked real jobs to support our farming interest. Partner took the thing over as he thought it would support one family. It will, but wife and daughter worked on farm to make it work and he still worked out in winter while family took care of cattle etc. The latter is the only thing I see in common with farms in US and Thailand. We ran a Versital 4 WD in latter year or so and worked 160 acres in 10 to 11 hrs, low tillage equipment to conserve mositure when we had it. About the only thing that worked the same was gardens (vegatable, fruit trees etc, dairy farming may come close also) Today most feel it requires at least 1200 acres, livestock and small grain for a family to make it in dryland farming. The world price of grains today, will give everyone (I hope) a shot in the arm. Just remember to save enough for that bad year when you have no crop to sell, because it will come.

[Happy13]

Hello all, In a previous life I farmed 2800 acres maize, wheat, soya beans, grass seed, tobacco with a small herd of cattle and flock of sheep, using medium size tractors 50 to 150 hp plus many ancillary equipment, any questions welcome, are there any other ex-Zimbabwean farmers about here?

[Dr. Burrito]

In a previous life, I worked with my Dad, raising sweet potatoes, tomatoes, watermelons, corn and cattle on about 1500 acres in Texas. The one thing it had in common I guess with farming here is sheer manpower needs, but the gear we could put on the ground there when needed would never be found here I am sure.

Not farming at present and not sure I will again, but if I did, it would probably be similar products if I could rent enough of Issan to do it right.

Dr. B