Rubber Trees

[Mosha]

My wife has decided to learn how to tap, I've told her she can have 40%. She just gave me the finger. 555

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[cobbler]

Was that garlic they were growing in your yang mosha?

[Mosha]

No that leaf they chew to keep them awake, and illegal. I told Sopha if it's found I could be in trouble, even though its her land. They are leaving next month. I may turn his garden into a chicken run.

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[jayceenik]

Couple weeks ago my TGF bought an 8.2 rai rubber tree plantation some 100 km NE of Ubon.

Paid 1 Mi B (my money, of course )

​

[Mosha]

Couple weeks ago my TGF bought an 8.2 rai rubber tree plantation some 100 km NE of Ubon.

Paid 1 Mi B (my money, of course )

​

Who will be tapping when they are ready? If you will be relying on someone other than your girlfriend 8.2 rai will not be enough.

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Edited June 23, 2016 by Mosha

[cobbler]

Hey mosha i kno the leaves u r talking about .we have 1 tree also.never had a problem

[Mosha]

Hey mosha i kno the leaves u r talking about .we have 1 tree also.never had a problem

People have been arrested for selling it.

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[jayceenik]

Couple weeks ago my TGF bought an 8.2 rai rubber tree plantation some 100 km NE of Ubon.

Paid 1 Mi B (my money, of course )

​

Who will be tapping when they are ready? If you will be relying on someone other than your girlfriend 8.2 rai will not be enough.

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She hopes to buy more adjoining land in the future if possible.

That piece of land is very well located, near a temple, and water and electricity can be brought in if wanted

Investment rather than income was considered (income is me !!)

Papa and some family member will do the work. It's only 10 km from her village.

Anyway it's a nice "toy" for her to play with !!

We're moving from Pattaya to Ubon soon so she'll be nearby.

She'll build a small "bungalow" in it and we'll go "camping" sometimes ...

[thaiguzzi]

That's over 120k per rai. For that price it better be Chanot. Preferably with tarmac running past one border.

120 k around here will buy 10-12 year old trees, good output, tapping team in place, but Sor Por Kor/Nor Sor Sam rather than Chanot paperwork.

8.2 rai = not enough work for 1 tapper, let alone 2.

At today's prices, staff, or a husband/wife team want to be tapping a minimum of 25-30 rai between them, just for a bare minimum wage. And at 60/40 it's pretty depressing. Nobody's bothering with sheet.

This year i lost my longest husband/wife tapping team after 5 years of working for us. Cleared off to South Korea for a 5 year stint working on farms. They are earning in a week more than they earned in a good month (ie Nov-Dec-Jan) here last year. Who can blame them?

My missus used to tap 10 rai of big trees in 2.5 hrs, and later another 10, but smaller, younger trees (ie not all tapped) in about 4 hrs flat.

"Toy" sounds about right. Sorry.

[cobbler]

That's over 120k per rai. For that price it better be Chanot. Preferably with tarmac running past one border.

120 k around here will buy 10-12 year old trees, good output, tapping team in place, but Sor Por Kor/Nor Sor Sam rather than Chanot paperwork.

8.2 rai = not enough work for 1 tapper, let alone 2.

At today's prices, staff, or a husband/wife team want to be tapping a minimum of 25-30 rai between them, just for a bare minimum wage. And at 60/40 it's pretty depressing. Nobody's bothering with sheet.

This year i lost my longest husband/wife tapping team after 5 years of working for us. Cleared off to South Korea for a 5 year stint working on farms. They are earning in a week more than they earned in a good month (ie Nov-Dec-Jan) here last year. Who can blame them?

My missus used to tap 10 rai of big trees in 2.5 hrs, and later another 10, but smaller, younger trees (ie not all tapped) in about 4 hrs flat.

"Toy" sounds about right. Sorry.

think hes got the other head doin the thinking 555

[cobbler]

From pataya. Hmmm say no more

[Dakling]

I am planning on starting to open some trees in a year BIL wants to do the cutting for us. It is a 13 rai plot and over the next 3-4 years should go from a start of 500 trees to around 1,100 trees big enough for harvest. Two quick questions, the land is nice and flat and easy to walk, will he be able to do that many trees alone? The second question, at a 50-50 split on RM600 trees, with current prices, what is the likely hood that he would make a reasonable living once all the trees come into production? I think he would be ok with 10k baht/month any less and he might try something else.

[Mosha]

Bear in mind how many tapping days he'll have. 2 out 3 or 3 out of 4. About 6 to 8 weeks at leaf change lost. How many wet days in the wet season? Trees won't be at full production until age 10. 10000 baht a month? I doubt it.

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[cobbler]

Yes he can tap all the trees on his own.

Impossible he can make a living untill maybe 4th year at current prices. Just expect he will walk away. When he does ,dont blame him.

[cobbler]

To live off that alone as mosha said ,maybe could make a living when trees are 10 years old. But even with a second job he still couldnt make it worth his while untill 4th year of tapping. That is providing you put the best pui u can buy on the trees. No offence.its the prices.

Cheers Cobbler

Edited June 23, 2016 by cobbler

[Dakling]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess we will have to see how it goes. My thinking is that for the first couple of years we will likely only go with a one on, one off rotation and he can try to find other work on the days off (generally he can find work in the area as day labour without much problem). If prices rebound we will try to go to a 2 of 3 rotation.

My big concern with him is that he often gets offers for a week or two of construction work and will want to take those jobs when they come up. With the prices so low and the trees so young it is had to say no but it means no production for a week or two. Anyhow we will sort it out over time, he is a nice guy with a wife and kids he is trying to support, and has a good reputation as a worker (hence the regular short term job offers).

I was thinking of offering him a guaranteed minimum daily rate of 300 baht/cutting day but I figure I will play it by ear before introducing ideas like that. We have another 13 rai section with another 1,100 trees coming into production the next year, maybe we can devise some sort of a rotation schedule so he can cut them all. Not sure what would be best.

[Dakling]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess we will have to see how it goes. My thinking is that for the first couple of years we will likely only go with a one on, one off rotation and he can try to find other work on the days off (generally he can find work in the area as day labour without much problem). If prices rebound we will try to go to a 2 of 3 rotation.

My big concern with him is that he often gets offers for a week or two of construction work and will want to take those jobs when they come up. With the prices so low and the trees so young it is had to say no but it means no production for a week or two. Anyhow we will sort it out over time, he is a nice guy with a wife and kids he is trying to support, and has a good reputation as a worker (hence the regular short term job offers).

I was thinking of offering him a guaranteed minimum daily rate of 300 baht/cutting day but I figure I will play it by ear before introducing ideas like that. We have another 13 rai section with another 1,100 trees coming into production the next year, maybe we can devise some sort of a rotation schedule so he can cut them all. Not sure what would be best.

[thaiguzzi]

1. Yes, he'll be able to tap 1100 trees. But that is about the maximum. If he's good, 5-6 hrs tapping, plus 2-3 hrs to do the formic in the morning.

2. No, money won't be enough initially, current prices i reckon he may be on not more than 5k @ month. More in the good months (Nov-Jan), less in a bad month of constant rains.

3. i agree with the above posts, it's just the goddam prices... Get it back to 40 baht per kg for cup and everything changes. Happier bunnies all round.

[thaiguzzi]

Sold at auction yesterday, 25.71 baht per kg. Last year prices were around 28ish. Lots more punters (and output) than last time round.

Our tappers struggle from fortnight to fortnight financially during the rainy season, and make up for it (make hay when the sun shines...) during the high output season of Nov-Dec-Jan. Mid Feb to mid April is zero rubber activity.

[Funkybillyfish]

Hi rubber tree chaps, a guy asked a question on how to rid yourself of weeds around young trees but didn't get a decent answer. Ours are 3 years now and I'm wondering the same.

It's mostly long grass around ours and is being kept down by the locals coming and taking it for feed for their cattle. Past 3 years we kept it weed free but I don't want to send the tractor in this year without knowing for sure.

Thanks Bill.

[thaiguzzi]

Small tractor with grass cutter, followed by hand held petrol grass strimmer/weed wacker whatever you wish to call them in the areas the tractor can't go.

NO WEEDKILLER spraying.

[thaiguzzi]

Oh, and keep up the good work. Local taking the long grass for cattle feed is also jolly good.

[cobbler]

Funkydude. Thats a good move. I wouldnt recomend disturbing the roots as most of them ,or a lot of them are surface roots. If the locals are keeping it down enough leave it at that. If not ,get into it with a hand held cutter. We dont use poisons. Some do but its up to you. If you pay somebody to cut the grass it may pay u to trim round the trees 1st. Much better than having your trees ringbarked due to carelessness.

Cheers Cobbler

[geuda]

About the weed, Makita is your friend or spray herbicide, glyphosate is not an option according to my wife. I can't remember what we were using, two different products in fact.

But now it's raining too often so I told her to stop tapping. I'm working at the university for my last year and will help later. I told her to focus on pineapple now.

Rice is the next topic. water is too short though.

[thaiguzzi]

Sold cup at auction today, 25.01 baht per kg. Pitiful output, possibly the worst June we've had for production.

[geuda]

The trees are always wet, so this month won't be brilliant anyway (Loei-Nam Man)

[thaiguzzi]

Not if you can get some regular sunshine...

Our trees are 13 years old.

This is our 6th year tapping.

I'm pretty hands on on our plantations. That's 13 years of overseeing planting and fertilizing and upkeep. 13 years of driving tractors.

I keep pretty good informative books.

THIS is our WORST June, production wise in 6 years. That included years ago when we were tapping far fewer and less mature trees.

[geuda]

I confirm...

Did you say

Thank You Globalisation?

because that's the point

The finance bubble does not care about us

[thaiguzzi]

?

[geuda]

your ? ...answer = global warming and seasons deregulation

sorry, frankly speaking I'd rather like to skip that topic, because I can't change things

Edited July 10, 2016 by geuda