Rice

[zoolander]

We live in a small village and send our rice to the village miller. But we are getting less than a thied of a sack back after its been milled. Is there such a machine as a domestic milling machine where we can do this job ourselves. thnx

[gotlost]

Sure is .You don't say where you are but in front of the Surin train station there is a farming implement shop he has them. I Want to say about 25,000 baht.

[WatersEdge]

The Component Weight percentage of Paddy Rice is

70% White Rice

20% Hull

10% Bran

Paddy Rice has comparatively low bulk density,

compared to White Rice being much more dense.

Might check the weight returned,

in contrast to the volume

to see how close to 70% it comes.

There is a certain percentage of White Rice kernels which are broken in milling.

Better mills more carefully adjusted break less of course.

New style rubber mill rollers handle the grain more delicately,

thereby breaking less.

Old style corundum rollers are more severe

thereby breaking more.

The best reason to mill your own rice is that you own all the components,

versus the hull, bran and broken rice typically surrendered to the mill

as their payment in kind.

Parboiling the Paddy Rice before milling migrates nutrition inward from bran layer to white rice interior.

and it makes the kernel more able to withstand the stress of milling,

resulting in less kernel breakage.

I should add a caveat...

I know nothing first hand about milling rice,

all the above is gathered from the knowledge of others.

An Associate told me a few weeks ago,

that his farm Foreman just bought a rice mill for B80,000.

So the B25,000 mentioned above seems a bargain,

assuming that bells and whistles steadily add up.

Out of curiosity, I inquired about a machine at my equipment dealer a year or so ago,

If memory serves correctly, B50,000 bought a 2.5 hp electric powered machine that processed 40 kg/hr of paddy.

Considering the significant difference in price between

white rice at high price

and the two by products,

bran and

broken kernels, at low price

it would make general sense

to spend more on the equipment to get the rubber rollers,

and steadily earn better returns

over the life of the machine

In Mae Sot area there are no big rice mills,

but small rural mills with typically old equipment,

still somehow make a living in the same market

as medium sized mills with the latest modern equipment.

This indicates that there is a good profit margin in the market,

if the small old mills are still in business.

It could be that they have less debt burden than the new fancy mills.

Both the mill types that I know of are operated by people who are first farmers

who then also run rice mills.

[rice555]

Hello All, another place to look for things related to AG, is in the

Thai Ag magazines. They have a verity of options price/quality

wise.

rice555

[IsaanAussie]

A word of caution. Mills aint mills Soll! They are not all the same and produce different products. If you purchase a mill buy one that suits your needs. How much polish do you need on the rice? Are going to use the bran for stock feed? Many qiuestions to be answered first.

I have seen the small electric machines at around the 25,000 baht. They process the rice reasonably well but very slowly. Not viable in a farming community. They are also comparatively "high tech" and I doubt they would survive the local mechanics for long.

Isaanaussie

[Pond Life]

I agree with most of whats been said already.

In my experience.

1 sack of paddy rice yields about 1/4 to 1/3 sack of cleaned rice by volume.

My sacks weigh about 32 kg of paddy & return about 20 kg clean rice.

At Mae Jo Ag fair they had small rice machines on demonstration.

25 k got you a machine that did just brown rice.

40 k gave white rice with chaff, bran & broken rice coming out of different chutes (it could also produce brown rice).

Both had rubber rollers.

I dont rmember the output rates, but I dont think you could supply a village with it.