2012 Rice Yields - How Did You Go?

[IsaanAussie]

We have just sold most of the harvest at 15.5 baht but the yield was much lower than we have had in the past. Only a little over 300 (oops,) 450 kg per rai. How have others gone this year?

Edited November 18, 2012 by IsaanAussie

[cooked]

฿13.0 being offered at the local rice storage (Buriram), Chinese guy offered ฿15.0 but we reckon on getting ฿15.5 or ฿16.0. Yield over 450Kg I think, we haven't weighed it yet. We were lucky, it rained, a lot, two days after we got it in. Some people still have it out on the road to dry, and that after 4 -5 days raking it over and sleeping next to it to stop theft. The rain has flattened it in some places and they are harvesting by hand, people that didn't order a harvester well in advance are also having to cut by hand. No way am I going to help anyone outside the family to do that!

Whoops, quick edit, more like 350Kg/Rai.

Edited November 18, 2012 by cooked

[kwonitoy]

I don't know about Kg/rai, but judging by the bags in the storage area that get delivered from land that is let out to the landless peasants (AKA the wife's cousins) this year's harvest is normal to a little above average. I don't even pretend to know the % we receive, it varies from plot to plot, every so often a tractor show up with bags of rice that go in.

We had good rainfall untill mid Sept and then the spigot got turned off and has stayed off. Northeast of Udon Thani about 120kms

None of this gets sold, just for our own use and at xmas/new years a lot of bags get exchanged with family from other areas of the country when they come for a visit. There own little rice trading plan without any government involvment. Works just fine.

Ken

[oldestswinger]

Harvested last Weds. About one-third down on last year.

[Gary A]

My wife raises enough rice for us and her family. The way it looks, there will not be enough this year because of the very dry weather. The sugar cane looks a little thin too but she sold it standing, so the lack of rain has not affected that crop financially at least for her.

If she had not flooded the paddies from the pond, she would have gotten even less rice. The pond is still low.

[patongphil]

Harvested a sh**t load of grass and weeds. As for the rice about 200kg per rai - no rain to speak of.

[cooked]

Harvested a sh**t load of grass and weeds. As for the rice about 200kg per rai - no rain to speak of.

We could irrigate, many could not, but this again involved sleeping out to prevent the pump being nicked, had to buy new conduit for ฿1500.-, parts for the pump ฿600.-. MInd you thi BIL came home with fish, frogs and birds every morning, not that I would eat the latter.

[revar]

Almost no rain here this year. In total 3 days with rains. The first less then a month ago. Strangely enough 7 km away it rained regularly.Of our 15 rai only 2 rai is worth harvesting, the rest is just weeds. The ponds were empty as well so irrigation was no option.

Just hoping we don't have to buy rice.

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[Gary A]

So much for the wannabe farmers depending on the harvest to have an income. This has been one of those years that poor farmers are used to. Once again I will say that NO way would I want to depend on any farming income for my existence.

[TPI]

Here in Phrae we harvested about 500 kg per rai of fragrant rice and buggar all corn, all of our rice goes to the family.

[IsaanAussie]

I will have to revisit my numbers again. We got caught as the rice sheaves were being collected and stacked for thrashing. It rained for 24 hours after which we thrashed what had been stacked and there is still about 4 rai to wait to dry before it can be thrashed.

I thought we had less left to cart and clean, so my estimate was low.

[track61]

No rain and little water for irrigation meant the normal yield of about 350-400 kgs/rai went to about 200 on 1st 2 farms harvested. Managed to get enough for extended family use for this year and seed for next year. One 22 rai farm left and expect about the same. Currently undried is going for 14 if good quality and not much grass. 17-18 dried. Frustrating especially since we had to delay planting about 2 weeks because it was too wet. It then rained one more time all season. Rained all around us so close you could smell it but just made it hotter here. Such is life, glad I have other ways to buy my beer.

[IsaanAussie]

After reading the other posts, I am beginning to realise how lucky we have been this year. For the first time we had water in the paddies that was ankle rather than knee deep at harvest. I havent looked for accumulated rain fall numbers here but we seemed to get just the right amount at the right times. Definitely a lot less that usual. Also no cyclonic winds which usually give big lodging problems.

We cut by hand and that cost has risen about 20% over last year. Fertiliser costs were down about the same amount as I used more mineral fertilisers in combination rather than commercial "balanced" grades. We also used less fertiliser. Grain fill was as good if not better. Still more work to do on this next year. Always learning...

[IsaanAussie]

I have had several people come in since we thrashed the first lot wanting to know what ferts I had used. Must have done something right?

[revar]

On the possitive side: I wont have to buy fertiliser next year since I haven't used any. Have a shitload of bought and natural left. And the pigs keep producing more.

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[IsaanAussie]

Hey Revar, Good to hear you have fertiliser for next year, but I am a little confused over the quantity. Is that more or less than a truckload?

[IsaanAussie]

Latest update. The remainder of the rice was picked up and thrashed yesterday. We will see the actual numbers this morning but I have to say I was amazed when I saw the new stack of sheaves. Instead of being way down I think we will be only a little lower than normal at around 520kg/rai.

[IsaanAussie]

For those interested the end figure was 510kg per rai

[cooked]

For those interested the end figure was 510kg per rai

wow!

neighbour sold for 14.5 this morning, we saw prices between 12 and 13.2 at the storage places. Still holding on.

[IsaanAussie]

For those interested the end figure was 510kg per rai

wow!

neighbour sold for 14.5 this morning, we saw prices between 12 and 13.2 at the storage places. Still holding on.

We sold at 15.5 pre rain. The last batch was damp and went for 14.9.

Edited November 21, 2012 by IsaanAussie

[Pormax]

The family still waiting for machine to come to finish off the rice. Had one machine charged 600B for a Rai but the machine was not good. Did 12 Rai, A lot of stalks/rubbish etc so family had to pick this all out before putting in to bags. Rang other people to come but the answer was 'too busy'. One was supposed to turn up yesterday but didn't. Have more than 120 Rai to harvest. Hope can get done soon. This problem happens every year. No one seems to keep Tel. No's so it's a matter of a drive on a motorbike to see if can they find a machine working in nearby fields and try to get him to do ours when he has finished, same as last year, but no luck so far. Typical Thai lack of organisation as usual. Looks like the yield will be down this year due to lack of rain.

[IsaanAussie]

I ddn't even look for a harvester this year. The wait was so long last year, and in the end we hand cut anyway. By the time we were done the rice was far too dry and the price for "broken rice" was much lower. We had had the same team cut ours for the last three years and will use them again despite the cost being higher than machine cutting.

[wolfmanjack]

My neighbor claims he gets 700 KG per rai. Only 3 rai though and all of the work is done by hand. Plenty of water in the canals for the last 4 months I have had the land and my neighbor claims it is that way all year round so he gets 3 harvests a year.

[IsaanAussie]

WMJ,

I believe him, I want to get close to Australian yields of a tonne per rai. Got have a goal! Not so far out of reach with the right soil preparation, rainfall, fertilisers and rice strains.

I have achieved close to 650 but never 700. That was a year after we had levelled the paddies and disturbed lots of old stumps, humps, bumps and hollows. It will be compost for next year with a bit of luck.

In Australia and other countries farmers grow heavy yields of rice for a living. Here most people grow rice to live.

[Gary A]

Early this year the Thais accused the US of stealing their patented fragrant rice. The US response was quick to come;

In the US we average 6,735 pounds per acre. That's over 1,200 KG per rai. That ended the squabble but of course the Thai rice is better quality.

[cooked]

I hear now that hand cut rice gets a premium price, is this true?

Anyway many people haven't still found a machine and are still cutting by hand.It has been raining on and off for three days now, which according to my wife never happens, and many people had to dash off and find plastic to cover. Not the ideal solution if it is already wet when you cover it. We saw some quantities of ruined rice put to the side yesterday, looked like about a quarter of the harvest of some people had become chicken feed.

[Gary A]

Rice paddies in our area tend to be very small. I'd guess that most are less than a rai in area. That makes it difficult for the rice harvesters to maneuver and too much time is lost turning. The second problem is that local farmers refuse to harvest when the rice is too wet. Drying rice is a lot of extra work. The third and maybe the most serious problem is that if the rice is dry enough to suit the farmer, a lot of loss occurs because the rice falls out of the heads before it even goes into the harvester. The way the machine is setup can be a major problem also. If the air is not adjusted properly, a lot of trash gets through and you have dirty rice. Too much air and a lot of rice gets blown out the back with the trash. Rice is very light weight and difficult to harvest. It is nearly impossible to get a custom harvester in when the conditions are perfect.

[Gary A]

My wife and I were on holiday at my Jomtien condo and while we were gone, her family harvested her little paddies of rice. Since the family helps eat that rice, I told my wife that she really didn't have to help harvest it.

She knew the yield would be low and she says that it was about half of what she got last year. I have no idea how many KG per rai because the first thing you have to know is how many rai is involved. She plants the same area every year and only knows how many bags of paddy rice that she gets.

[hopdafru]

Outside Vientiane in Laos:

High quality organic rice, yielded about 350-400kg per rai, less than last year; all work done by hand, no irrigation so only one time a year.

Sokh Dee

[IsaanAussie]

Rice paddies in our area tend to be very small. I'd guess that most are less than a rai in area. That makes it difficult for the rice harvesters to maneuver and too much time is lost turning. The second problem is that local farmers refuse to harvest when the rice is too wet. Drying rice is a lot of extra work. The third and maybe the most serious problem is that if the rice is dry enough to suit the farmer, a lot of loss occurs because the rice falls out of the heads before it even goes into the harvester. The way the machine is setup can be a major problem also. If the air is not adjusted properly, a lot of trash gets through and you have dirty rice. Too much air and a lot of rice gets blown out the back with the trash. Rice is very light weight and difficult to harvest. It is nearly impossible to get a custom harvester in when the conditions are perfect.

Gary you have hit a major issue on the nail. Thai people go and buy a car, which they learn how to drive on the way home. The same has been true with the "new harvester owners", the bagging equipped DC60 boys. If family rice farming is to survive education is desperately needed. The alternative is large machines, semi trailers in the fields, corporate farming and rice dryers in the depots.