Rubber Trees

[thoongfoned]

the macro is out the rubber land digging the roots out, thought the underground stuff would have been bigger, maybe more vits was needed.......... (burnt down rubber plantation 11 year old trees) slow going but looks like a different plot of land already, 3 ish day in and still a good few rai to do. tractor is pushing all the roots-weeds to the side of the land, like you do.... cost for machines would have been 3,500 baht a rai, doing it for free coz they are renting the land to do sugar, first year no rent money. all the trees had been cut to the base of the land and wood taken for fires ect..... never seen people clear the land so fast, well it was for free......... gotta laugh at all the rubber tree wood laying around the village.........eldest son says "dad have you lost much money with the rubber trees gone?" "no son................" so if you have to have roots dug out this can give you some idea of cost for the machines.

sold some cup rubber the other day 19 baht.

[cobbler]

Sheet rubber in bangsaphan 35 per kg

[Mosha]

Sheet rubber in bangsaphan 35 per kg

KY at 16 Baht down here!

[cobbler]

Yes ky not good. Hows your myanmar worker.? Is the baby still there or gone home to study?

[cobbler]

Deffinately not good. Couple of years ago it was 60 per kilo for sheet and i thought th at was bad. Now its in the low 30s. Oooooooweeeeeee. We are looking at kafir lime and other things. Rubber will come back but when.not till world economy picks up.

[Mosha]

Yes ky not good. Hows your myanmar worker.? Is the baby still there or gone home to study?

Not talking yet although it won't be long. Our tapper is doing building work to supplement his wages.

[cobbler]

Yes,you are lucky you can keep a worker.. For sure when he tap he gets good flow. Your area is always good yang

[thoongfoned]

Deffinately not good. Couple of years ago it was 60 per kilo for sheet and i thought th at was bad. Now its in the low 30s. Oooooooweeeeeee. We are looking at kafir lime and other things. Rubber will come back but when.not till world economy picks up.

have you managed to keep your work force on or have you been out with the knife? im very (happy) but surprised that the wifes tappers still go out to work the trees, she even had a different family want to come and work the trees a few months ago, in and around this village the trees only get worked from October through till end of January, people will not tap when the rains are here, can not really blame them....

such a long wait then such problems to get the money back out, I think maize farmer said years ago about rubber trees "why" now I think the same.....

having said that, that applies mainly to our situation, if you have good trees (and a lot of them) and good workers you can still even with low prices make a good return per rai, compared to other crops, but you have to forget the start up years......

[cobbler]

Deffinately not good. Couple of years ago it was 60 per kilo for sheet and i thought th at was bad. Now its in the low 30s. Oooooooweeeeeee. We are looking at kafir lime and other things. Rubber will come back but when.not till world economy picks up.

have you managed to keep your work force on or have you been out with the knife? im very (happy) but surprised that the wifes tappers still go out to work the trees, she even had a different family want to come and work the trees a few months ago, in and around this village the trees only get worked from October through till end of January, people will not tap when the rains are here, can not really blame them....

such a long wait then such problems to get the money back out, I think maize farmer said years ago about rubber trees "why" now I think the same.....

having said that, that applies mainly to our situation, if you have good trees (and a lot of them) and good workers you can still even with low prices make a good return per rai, compared to other crops, but you have to forget the start up years......

How old are the trees ? I think you are not the only 1 in your situation. I know of people closed most of the year for exactlly same reason as you just said. Sheet today here in Bangsaphan is 36 bart per kg. I really feel for the myanmar workers down here . Dont know how they survive the closed season. 40% minus pui,minus police waiting down the road,minus immigration. As my wife says" better than nothing in Myanmar" Tough life.

Cheers Cobbler

[thoongfoned]

yes very true,a little is better then nothing! that is what I say when I see the bill of sale every fortnight.555

without checking the books for the trees, 12 years old next feb time.

[cobbler]

I dont like to see our income. Whats the circumference of your trees now on average? How many rai do you have?

Our trees are just strong enough to hold a rope to hang ourselves with. Lucky im a coward 555.

Cheers Cobbler

[thoongfoned]

not a lot of rai left now due to a fire this year, the trees being tapped were min 50 plus cm at about 1 meter from ground when they were first cut, at about 8 years old, some of them are big now but some of the smaller ones produce more rubber. trees have had very little shop bought vits from year 5, lost interest in them early on I know. during the past couple of months each tree will yield just under 1 kg a month, same ish last year. when It gets colder a little more per tree..... more care and attention in the last few years would have helped with the yield, but there was a good few rai that were very small, the fire "helped" to clear these away.555

[cobbler]

Ok. Theyve come along nicely. Have you thought about growing bamboo to replace the burnt out trees.?

[thoongfoned]

no the "boss" has enough bamboo here and there already. that rubber land is now planted with sugar cane. if I were to try and grow another crop over a large area I would go for some sort of nepia grass. (which im not gonna do any time soon) have a market already established for this in our area and can cut it 3 or 4 times per year depending on how much water you have for it. min 1 baht kg. been looking into this for the past 2 years, the local government has been promoting this to my wife for some time, (she is part of a large collection of farms in our area, that go to regular meeting at the amper ect..)

[Mosha]

Just sold at 19/kg

[cobbler]

Just sold at 19/kg

not making sheet now mosha? Sheet is 36 per kilo

[cobbler]

no the "boss" has enough bamboo here and there already. that rubber land is now planted with sugar cane. if I were to try and grow another crop over a large area I would go for some sort of nepia grass. (which im not gonna do any time soon) have a market already established for this in our area and can cut it 3 or 4 times per year depending on how much water you have for it. min 1 baht kg. been looking into this for the past 2 years, the local government has been promoting this to my wife for some time, (she is part of a large collection of farms in our area, that go to regular meeting at the amper ect..)

is that napia ,kings grass? If it is its good stuff,never dies roots go about 3feet down. Breaks up rocky soil,lets the water in. I reckon it would be a great thing to grow. Plant it 1 time i think and it last for ever.

Cheers Cobbler

[Mosha]

Just sold at 19/kg

not making sheet now mosha? Sheet is 36 per kilo

Gathering the latex needs both the husband and wife, Bairns too young to leave. 2 hours with us is his limit before he starts bawling.

[thoongfoned]

no the "boss" has enough bamboo here and there already. that rubber land is now planted with sugar cane. if I were to try and grow another crop over a large area I would go for some sort of nepia grass. (which im not gonna do any time soon) have a market already established for this in our area and can cut it 3 or 4 times per year depending on how much water you have for it. min 1 baht kg. been looking into this for the past 2 years, the local government has been promoting this to my wife for some time, (she is part of a large collection of farms in our area, that go to regular meeting at the amper ect..)

is that napia ,kings grass? If it is its good stuff,never dies roots go about 3feet down. Breaks up rocky soil,lets the water in. I reckon it would be a great thing to grow. Plant it 1 time i think and it last for ever.

Cheers Cobbler

yep sounds like the stuff, looks much the same as sugar cane, but to me makes more sense to grow this as the cycle time is much shorter, one of the wifes friends is cutting every 90 ish days, he floods it with the back water from his pigs. the local amper were even offering free planting stock of this the other month, I blocked the wife picking some up as I know it would just be another job on my list of things to do once in the land.......

[thaiguzzi]

Sold at auction, cup in Udon province;

24/11 - 19.70 baht per kg,

yesterday - 20.16 baht per kg.

Big news locally is a change in the % split, recommended by the local Sor Kor Yor office whilst prices remain below 20 baht per kg, from a 60/40 to a 55/45 split. Most operations with employees went over to this yesterday at auction pay out day, we will probably follow suit the next time it goes below the 20 baht threshold, as our staff had a glum look on their faces when they got a 40% payout. But hey, it was 20.16, not 19.99 and production as per usual this time of year is way up, so wages were still nearly 10k per couple per fortnight.

But i also understand if prices were even just slightly better, ie 30 baht per kg, everyone would be on 50% better money.

Edited December 10, 2015 by thaiguzzi

[cobbler]

Sold at auction, cup in Udon province;

24/11 - 19.70 baht per kg,

yesterday - 20.16 baht per kg.

Big news locally is a change in the % split, recommended by the local Sor Kor Yor office whilst prices remain below 20 baht per kg, from a 60/40 to a 55/45 split. Most operations with employees went over to this yesterday at auction pay out day, we will probably follow suit the next time it goes below the 20 baht threshold, as our staff had a glum look on their faces when they got a 40% payout. But hey, it was 20.16, not 19.99 and production as per usual this time of year is way up, so wages were still nearly 10k per couple per fortnight.

But i also understand if prices were even just slightly better, ie 30 baht per kg, everyone would be on 50% better money.

how about pui? Is it 45 55 % ? At least you can keep the worker.

Its still 357 bart per person per day 7 days per week. Not bad. Then they can do some building or something in the closed season

Cheers Cobbler

Edited December 10, 2015 by cobbler

[Marcthomas]

HI Guys, so word from the village is that the price of rubber will go up now that the government are putting it into the highways, locals are quite excited about it, have to say I'm not, any more thoughts cheers Marc

[cobbler]

HI Guys, so word from the village is that the price of rubber will go up now that the government are putting it into the highways, locals are quite excited about it, have to say I'm not, any more thoughts cheers Marc

ill keep it simple.

Count it when its in your hand.

Cheers Cobbler

[thaiguzzi]

No. We work on a 60/40 split, and we pay for everything. Diesel for the tractor, petrol for the grass cutters, formic, and fertiliser. The staff do all the work. That's cutting grass, fertilizing (we help on this day), formic, collecting cup, delivery of cup to auction, painting the panel, and of course, the tapping.

As Jim said on the "other" forum, once % splits change, they are difficult to get back. Now, imagine going to another extreme scenario; what if cup hits 65-70 baht, sheet is 150 baht, could we turn around to staff and say "right, you're earning plenty now" and we'll go to a 65/35 split. Doubt they'd be very happy bunnies. Swings in roundabouts, take the rough with the smooth etc...

[thaiguzzi]

HI Guys, so word from the village is that the price of rubber will go up now that the government are putting it into the highways, locals are quite excited about it, have to say I'm not, any more thoughts cheers Marc

Village gossip. Would not believe a word of it. If, and a big "if", they were sticking a much higher content of rubber into tarmac, it still would'nt affect the price, certainly nothing to get excited about. Still waiting for our 1500 baht per rai payout from the govnmt which we applied for, and were accepted 6 weeks ago. And thats dealing direct with the provincial Sor Kor Yor office, completely missing out thieving village head men and Or Bor Tors.

[thaiguzzi]

Sold cup @ auction yesterday, Udon province, 18.28 baht per kg. 55-45% split.

[Mosha]

18/kg down here, Wife cooks to much. That excess goes to the tappers. They get 40%

[cobbler]

Yes mosha we r still 60% 40% in bangsaphan area also

[Dakling]

so wages were still nearly 10k per couple per fortnight.

Funny how this is seen as a poor wage. When the wife's siblings are short of money and there is no work locally, they often end up going to work in BKK or some other medium size city. They only earn at best 12k/month each and after expenses only can save 2 or 3 k baht each. These jobs are usually terrible too, both dangerous and unpleasant. If they could collectively earn 15-20 kbaht/month working locally and living in their own home they would be happy as clams. Since their cost of living in the village is nearly zero their wages would be almost 100% disposable income.

Wife's brother, sister and their spouses are eagerly waiting on our trees to be ready for production despite being well aware that the first few years will be very lean.

[cobbler]

Darkling , from what i can gather. Many people would rather go to stinking bkk and live like a dog than tat yang . Tap rubber trees. They feel liberated or some shit. When sheets were 160 to 180 per kilo and the myanmars tapping yang around here were buying rubber trees and land back in myanmar. I offered a couple of people i liked a job working on our farms. They turned ne down. My wife explained to me that they didnt want to be a banok,hillbilly. Its a pride thing. I just said, ok let them eat there pride.

Edited December 26, 2015 by cobbler