Rubber Trees

[EXS]

Hi,

My wife is thinking of buying some land planted with rubber trees in Sisaket. I think the trees are about 8 years old.

Is there anything in particular we should look for when we go and see the land? Any tips relating to soil or tree types would be appreciated. I read that the red coloured soil is better. I imagine the trees were provided by the Government. Any idea what type they would be?

Also any guidance for cost per rai for chanot land with similar age trees would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[jamescollister]

Hi there, first question is why anyone would want to sell 8 year old trees in the first place. They should be pumping out rubber and if the land is Charnot the owner could borrow from a bank, as they have a income. As for price I would be happy to pay 100,000 Baht a Rai plus 2000 bht a tree. Best advice go and watch them being tapped and see how much rubber they get> Jim

[EXS]

Jim,

Thanks for the reply and figures.

It did not make sense to me either. Apparently they don’t live very close to the land so want to sell which seems feasible.

I am sure I will have more questions once we have seen the land.

Cheers

[Mobaan]

Hi there, first question is why anyone would want to sell 8 year old trees in the first place. They should be pumping out rubber and if the land is Charnot the owner could borrow from a bank, as they have a income. As for price I would be happy to pay 100,000 Baht a Rai plus 2000 bht a tree. Best advice go and watch them being tapped and see how much rubber they get> Jim

WOW-100 000 per Rai plus 70 trees at 2000 each ,that would come to 240 000 per Rai. Around Udon there are plenty of rubber Rais 5-7 years old with asking prices of around 140-150000 per rai. Bring your Baht over here and make a killing .

I believe what happened is his: Landowneres/investors(our Chineese neighbors) had or bought land on the cheap years ago . Nothing wrong with that . They planted the trees to increase the vaue of the property .Good thinking. That is fairly easy to do and can be mechanized etc ,not too much involvement. But now ,when the trees come into production, they do not want the management hassle and dont want to be robbed blind by the people doing the tapping (I certaily can understand that fera , because I feel the same way).

So there might be opportunities for someone who really wants to get seriously into this business-if indeed the returns are such that a price of 240000 per Rai would be justified.

[jamescollister]

Hi there, first question is why anyone would want to sell 8 year old trees in the first place. They should be pumping out rubber and if the land is Charnot the owner could borrow from a bank, as they have a income. As for price I would be happy to pay 100,000 Baht a Rai plus 2000 bht a tree. Best advice go and watch them being tapped and see how much rubber they get> Jim

WOW-100 000 per Rai plus 70 trees at 2000 each ,that would come to 240 000 per Rai. Around Udon there are plenty of rubber Rais 5-7 years old with asking prices of around 140-150000 per rai. Bring your Baht over here and make a killing .

I believe what happened is his: Landowneres/investors(our Chineese neighbors) had or bought land on the cheap years ago . Nothing wrong with that . They planted the trees to increase the vaue of the property .Good thinking. That is fairly easy to do and can be mechanized etc ,not too much involvement. But now ,when the trees come into production, they do not want the management hassle and dont want to be robbed blind by the people doing the tapping (I certaily can understand that fera , because I feel the same way).

So there might be opportunities for someone who really wants to get seriously into this business-if indeed the returns are such that a price of 240000 per Rai would be justified.

You get what you pay for and the difference between good trees and bad is rubber, which means money. A Thai farmer can live with bad trees as he taps himself but we on the other hand must hire tappers and then if the trees are not up to standard, means no profit. You really need to see for yourself the out put and do the numbers then. You can always find deals, but as I say people with good plantations rarely sell. People with bad trees are happy to get rid of them. Jim

[Mobaan]

Thats a fair enough answer. Now -what does a good vs bad tree look like ?

Is there any way to determine that by looking at them ,doing some testing???(leaf tests??). Or is it a matter of waiting for the rubber yield to see if this was a good /bad tree.?

I you look at a 5-6 year old plantation (according to the owners)that is offered for sale, what will have an influence on the price you would be willing to pay?

I would imagine the way the tree was brought up (with or w/o fertilization /irrigation /ground maintenace ) will have an influence . So the tree may be fair/good /very good for its age. Is there a way to bring the standart up in a fair situation by providing all the needed (and more ) requirements to bring the tree up to par by the time tapping starts?

James ,you are the resident expert here , can we please have your input.

[jamescollister]

Thats a fair enough answer. Now -what does a good vs bad tree look like ?

Is there any way to determine that by looking at them ,doing some testing???(leaf tests??). Or is it a matter of waiting for the rubber yield to see if this was a good /bad tree.?

I you look at a 5-6 year old plantation (according to the owners)that is offered for sale, what will have an influence on the price you would be willing to pay?

I would imagine the way the tree was brought up (with or w/o fertilization /irrigation /ground maintenace ) will have an influence . So the tree may be fair/good /very good for its age. Is there a way to bring the standart up in a fair situation by providing all the needed (and more ) requirements to bring the tree up to par by the time tapping starts?

James ,you are the resident expert here , can we please have your input.

Thats a question I have asked myself [ can bad trees be made good again ] and I don't know the answer. My guess is if you get in early enough you may be able to get the production up, but I will not be spending money to find out. The trees need to be grown from nursey to tapping properly or the output will not be up. As an example the plantation beside one of mine was planted at the same time with the same trees. The owner did his best, but he just didn't have the money to fertiliser properly. My trees produce 3 times what his do. Now to make up for lost income he cuts harder and does more damage and will get less and less as time goes by. 5 and 6 year old trees in good nick should be big enough to tap the canopy should be right our and very little grass growing. Of course the clone type will make a difference. Have to say I can't claim to be anywhere near an expert on the subject and made too many mistakes when I started. If I was looking at buying someone elses trees I would be looking at how high the branches are, if the owner was to lazy to cut the branches then he probably was to lazy to do much else. Jim

[EXS]

Hi all,

We went to see the trees today. They are younger than we were led to believe, 6-7 year old trees that will be ready for tapping next year. The trees all look quite healthy and are growing on the reddish clay type soil that is typical of the area. A family member who has some experince of growing tress advised us they are type 51. The average diameter 1m off the ground of the ones we checked was 405mm. At a guess the lowest branches of the canopy are about 3.5m off the ground.

The chinese lady selling the site was pretty bold, and has set her inital price at 5M THB for 20rai Chanot. Although i am sure this we could get a better deal than this as she seems keen to sell.

We are obviously weary following James advice, especially as we cant see how much they are capable of producing.

We have a few other people to see so will keep you posted.

Cheers

[jamescollister]

Hi all,

We went to see the trees today. They are younger than we were led to believe, 6-7 year old trees that will be ready for tapping next year. The trees all look quite healthy and are growing on the reddish clay type soil that is typical of the area. A family member who has some experince of growing tress advised us they are type 51. The average diameter 1m off the ground of the ones we checked was 405mm. At a guess the lowest branches of the canopy are about 3.5m off the ground.

The chinese lady selling the site was pretty bold, and has set her inital price at 5M THB for 20rai Chanot. Although i am sure this we could get a better deal than this as she seems keen to sell.

We are obviously weary following James advice, especially as we cant see how much they are capable of producing.

We have a few other people to see so will keep you posted.

Cheers

Make sure you check the title, around here people got land with the previso that if in 10 years they had a producing plantation then the Charnot is issued. Good luck you will have a headache by the time you listen to all the B/S they tell you, and don't believe a word. Jim