My Thai-Farmer neighbor

[swissie]

My Thai-Neighbor gave up on farming. He walked over this morning and declared he would go back to construction work and wife would do some sewing as before. Including my 1 Rai he farmed about 40 Rai including his own 2 Rai. (I never charged him a single satang for the use of my land).

Of course, I asked him why he wants to stop farming. Him: "Much work and no good money."

This all means, that I am again stuck with fast growing weeds that I will have to subdue with chemicals.

So my dear Farangs, when Thai-Folks are exiting the Farming-Business whenever they get a chance, why is it that Farangs want to enter the Farming Business? If it's for recreational purposes, fine! But if for large-scale commercial farming the "work-permit syndrome" comes into play, sooner or later.

But then: Strict boredom is the mother of all activities (useful and productive or not).

Cheers.

[spidermike007]

If someone is creative, and grows hydroponic herbs, exotic fruits, and certain higher end vegetables, it is possible to make some money. Just stay away from rice, and the low end crops. They insure lasting poverty.

[chaiyapoon]

I doubt many go into farming in Thailand with a serious hope of a good profit.Most crops don't bring in a worth while return,though if you can keep your costs down some money can be made.

Its more about lifestyle choices and living away from town and having something to do with your life,and that can be done here a lot cheaper than back in most countries.

[cooked]

Beats me. After a few visits I decided to settle and was going to show these stupid Thais how to do it. They are the ones that are showing me how to do it and I have invested very little in the family farming business. I potter around in the veg garden, collect chicken and duck eggs and kill the occasional pig. That's it.

[farmerjo]

How did he farm Swissie?

40 rai using contractors to do all his work and therefore taking most of the profits.

All day in the sun on an iron buffalo.

Did he apply loads of fertilizer to yours and other rented land.

What did he grow.

Just some things the readers need to know why he says no good money in it.

Thanks.

[wanderer2060]

If you do "something Special", than you also will have Chance to get money. But only with rice or something like this you can´t run.

[RedBullHorn]

All the villagers involve in sweet corn farming are doing very well in my village... except for one of my neighbour. He got the same thought like the OP neighbour because he fail miserably on his yield and is deeply in debt with BAAC.

He didn't do anything WRONG... It's just what he's not doing RIGHT... (like the others)

Edited January 18, 2015 by RedBullHorn

[BSJ]

I doubt you can grow corn continuously and get high yields but if you could I would assist the wife in getting more land to grow corn, and buy a harvester for harvest time. Without a harvester there would be no economy of scale.

The problem around here is lack of farm labour to do the jobs. A lot of the kids aren't interested in taking on the family farm or working on farms so the labour pool is shrinking.

[RedBullHorn]

11.5 rai got 45 ton. Labour contract out @ 700 Thb/rai harvesting, number of labourer contractor issue... tractors and trailers village co-opt. Number of villagers involve in sweet corn plantation 35.

[Gonsalviz]

No wonder there are so many 'resorts' popping up.

[Robert24]

actually commercial farming can be very profitable. Farming has a very bad reputation in Thailand, but when you look at what returns you can get on investments, you can do fairly well in farming. It obviously depends on what you do.

[Cashboy]

Your Thai neighbour farmer doesn't see it the way farang see it..........................LOL

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=494766627300450

Edited January 25, 2015 by Cashboy

[somo]

If you exclude the cost of land, farming cassava is very profitable.

Invest money in ferilizer, labour and machinery hire and the returns are around 100%/year.

Most of the farmers here never paid for the land but were given it. Unfortunately us farang have to buy it and now at 50k/rai around here it is too expensive.

The reason many Thais give up on it is that they don't have the money to invest or the business education to make it profitable.

[chaiyapoon]

If you exclude the cost of land, farming cassava is very profitable.

Invest money in ferilizer, labour and machinery hire and the returns are around 100%/year.

Most of the farmers here never paid for the land but were given it. Unfortunately us farang have to buy it and now at 50k/rai around here it is too expensive.

The reason many Thais give up on it is that they don't have the money to invest or the business education to make it profitable.

50k a rai, I wish !

Round Prachinburi and a lot of other areas I've looked at 100k get you low level rice paddy land that no use for much else.

Built up or higher land goes for 275K TO 350K a rai.

[pigeonjake]

funny how land prices are different all over thailand,,lol

im just outside wangnamyen and im just looking bat 24 rai, with about 12 rai of it rubber, 8 rai palm, it has a small thai house small pond electric and water,

and a few verious trees,

he is asking 85k a rai, i think ill get him down to 65 with a bit of luck, i would pay the 85 as ive got plans for it,

and no im not moving my pig farm to it,,lol

im thinking of trying a fishing park come farm stay, nothing ventured nothing gained,

[pigeonjake]

funny how land prices are different all over thailand,,lol

im just outside wangnamyen and im just looking bat 24 rai, with about 12 rai of it rubber, 8 rai palm, it has a small thai house small pond electric and water,

and a few verious trees,

he is asking 85k a rai, i think ill get him down to 65 with a bit of luck, i would pay the 85 as ive got plans for it,

and no im not moving my pig farm to it,,lol

im thinking of trying a fishing park come farm stay, nothing ventured nothing gained,

[pigeonjake]

sorry double post internets slow on the rig today,,

[Cashboy]

Regarding the price of land; bit off topic; I am looking in Kumpawapi and everyone in my area is asking 100,000 bt plus per rai around the Thai girl's farm which is 500 metres from the main road Bangkok to Udonthani.

Most of the land is used for Sugar Cane but

At 100,000 bt per rai, one would not get a return on investment.

I am holding out until someone gets desperate to sell which is normally:

1) financial debts

2) parents die and the kids are in Bangkok and don't want to come back to Issan.

[wayned]

I doubt you can grow corn continuously and get high yields but if you could I would assist the wife in getting more land to grow corn, and buy a harvester for harvest time. Without a harvester there would be no economy of scale.

The problem around here is lack of farm labour to do the jobs. A lot of the kids aren't interested in taking on the family farm or working on farms so the labour pool is shrinking.

We plant corn in when rainy season starts in May and harvest it in late August. As soon as it's harvested we plant sunflowers and they are being harvested this month. The soil will then be prepared for the new planting of corn in May. Some farmers grow a quick yield crop such as seseme seeds between the corn and sunflowers but we don't. This is the first year that all of the corn was harvested using combines. We, a small farm coop, have two JD combines , a 9500 and a 6620, one which I imported from the US last May. The same combine can be used for harvesting both crops by changing the header.

We also grow sugar cane which is being harvested now until April. It is all harvested by hand. A different combine is required to harvest sugar cane an , although there are a couple around, most cane is still burnt and harvested by migrant labor and the few locals that want work. This year the migrant labor force is way down and the migrant camps are not full. I guess that it's due to the crackdown on illegals by the military.

Using a combine to harvest is the way to go, but it will take a long time to recover any investment. They are very expensive and repair parts are also outrageous. I just imported some simple chain links from China. They cost around 350 baht/ea each in the US, here at the JD dealer they are 650 baht/ea and the ones that I just imported cost122 baht/ea after paying all of the shipping and duties. I just bought a set of front tires for the 9500, 164000 baht, I can get them in the US for less than66000 baht. On and on! To recover any ROI we not only harvest the crops of the coop members but also provide our services to non-members at the cost of 600 baht/rai. We've harvested corn as far away as 125 kilos and are also planting there in reclaimed rice land since the farmers don't have the proper equipment.

At the beginning of harvest season, corn prices were up 9000 baht/ton and gradually sunk to around 7500 baht/ton. But yield was down due to the draught. Last year we were getting well over 1 ton/rai, this year around 800 kilos/rai.

All of the farmers that I know have maxed out their credit line at BAAC, but it's been that way since I moved here. They pay a little in and get as much as they can back to max it out again. I'm not sure that it's any different here than it is with small family farms in any part of the world.

[RedBullHorn]

We plant corn in when rainy season starts in May and harvest it in late August. As soon as it's harvested we plant sunflowers and they are being harvested this month. The soil will then be prepared for the new planting of corn in May. Some farmers grow a quick yield crop such as seseme seeds between the corn and sunflowers but we don't. This is the first year that all of the corn was harvested using combines. We, a small farm coop, have two JD combines , a 9500 and a 6620, one which I imported from the US last May. The same combine can be used for harvesting both crops by changing the header.

We also grow sugar cane which is being harvested now until April. It is all harvested by hand. A different combine is required to harvest sugar cane an , although there are a couple around, most cane is still burnt and harvested by migrant labor and the few locals that want work. This year the migrant labor force is way down and the migrant camps are not full. I guess that it's due to the crackdown on illegals by the military.

Using a combine to harvest is the way to go, but it will take a long time to recover any investment. They are very expensive and repair parts are also outrageous. I just imported some simple chain links from China. They cost around 350 baht/ea each in the US, here at the JD dealer they are 650 baht/ea and the ones that I just imported cost122 baht/ea after paying all of the shipping and duties. I just bought a set of front tires for the 9500, 164000 baht, I can get them in the US for less than66000 baht. On and on! To recover any ROI we not only harvest the crops of the coop members but also provide our services to non-members at the cost of 600 baht/rai. We've harvested corn as far away as 125 kilos and are also planting there in reclaimed rice land since the farmers don't have the proper equipment.

At the beginning of harvest season, corn prices were up 9000 baht/ton and gradually sunk to around 7500 baht/ton. But yield was down due to the draught. Last year we were getting well over 1 ton/rai, this year around 800 kilos/rai.

All of the farmers that I know have maxed out their credit line at BAAC, but it's been that way since I moved here. They pay a little in and get as much as they can back to max it out again. I'm not sure that it's any different here than it is with small family farms in any part of the world.

wayned... Are those sweet corn for human consumption or are they the dry hard type for animal feed ?

Edited January 26, 2015 by RedBullHorn

[wayned]

Field corn, animal feed. Some of the farmers plant small plots of sweet corn and grown it year round. They irrigate and fertilize it and pick it by hand. Usually only a couple of Rai at a time. I planted 1 rai one year just for fun and my consumption, but it wasn't worth the added cost and work. Easier to buy what I wanted from those that grew it regularly.

Sweet corn is picked by hand and usually sold on the "cob" in Thailand and not processed and canned like they do in the US and Europe.

Edited January 26, 2015 by wayned

[RedBullHorn]

Farming is profitable in commercial scale, one would need to understand what is going on in their vicinity, districts, province or even region. What are the co-opts or associations that is available and what are the advantages and impact.

For example in my village... Sweet corn.

There is a big company with about 2'000 rai of land renting it out to farmers at ฿500/rai/year in 3 villages for co-op sweet corn farming and guarantee buy back. 2 seasons per year at ฿4-5/kg (2-3 cobs), 3 brokers to groups of 87 farmers ranging from 8 rai to 76 rai.

Yields from 3-4+ ton per rai, after deduction of production cost net profit is 55-60%. The neighbour whom I mentioned only got 2+ ton per rai due to bad soil condition result from 7 years of heavy chemical fertilizer from his brother using his 12 rai rented land while he was away working in Bangkok. When he came back and took over...yield fell to the lowest and he just bought a Kubota L3608 paying through BAAC. I ate his corn, the kernels were small...half the kernel size of other farmers'.

He blamed his brother for abusing his plot when others were using chicken/cow manure with moderate use of Chemical fertilizer. He is bleeding from his eyes while others celebrate...

Edited January 27, 2015 by RedBullHorn

[somo]

Chicken manure is very expensive. For the same amount of nitrogen as 50 kilos of 46-0-0 costing about 650 Baht you need to spend about 3,000 Baht on Chicken shit. You are also not sure what you are getting as the market is unregulated. You may well end up importing a lot of unwanted stuff to your soil as well as the nitrogen. It does have the advantage of a slower release rate but that also means you need a lot more of it for immediate results. In short it is uneconomical

Nothing wrong with so called chemical fertilizer and much more economical but it should be applied correctly.

[RedBullHorn]

Depends on the scale and demand and the economic of an item and vicinity... most farmers HERE bought it at discounted price of ฿10/kg... cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg (in-demand)...

Edited January 27, 2015 by RedBullHorn

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Chicken manure is very expensive. For the same amount of nitrogen as 50 kilos of 46-0-0 costing about 650 Baht you need to spend about 3,000 Baht on Chicken shit. You are also not sure what you are getting as the market is unregulated. You may well end up importing a lot of unwanted stuff to your soil as well as the nitrogen. It does have the advantage of a slower release rate but that also means you need a lot more of it for immediate results. In short it is uneconomical

Nothing wrong with so called chemical fertilizer and much more economical but it should be applied correctly.

Farm chickens and grow your own chicken pooh!

[RedBullHorn]

Chicken manure is very expensive. For the same amount of nitrogen as 50 kilos of 46-0-0 costing about 650 Baht you need to spend about 3,000 Baht on Chicken shit. You are also not sure what you are getting as the market is unregulated. You may well end up importing a lot of unwanted stuff to your soil as well as the nitrogen. It does have the advantage of a slower release rate but that also means you need a lot more of it for immediate results. In short it is uneconomical

Nothing wrong with so called chemical fertilizer and much more economical but it should be applied correctly.

Farm chickens and grow your own chicken pooh!

฿3'000 ! I stop drinking right now, you got my attention. Wow ~ I'm going to find out more... There's a huge profit to be made... Thanks !!! RIR eggs production farms in the north... I'm your new broker~

Edited January 27, 2015 by RedBullHorn

[somo]

Depends on the scale and demand and the economic of an item and vicinity... most farmers HERE bought it at discounted price of ฿10/kg... cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg (in-demand)...

Exactly my point. It is very expensive as you need 5-10 times more manure than 46-0-0 which costs just 13B/kg.

[loong]

Depends on the scale and demand and the economic of an item and vicinity... most farmers HERE bought it at discounted price of ฿10/kg... cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg (in-demand)...

"cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg"

What does "grounded" mean?

I find it hard to imagine that anyone would pay ฿17/kg for cow manure

Normal price here is ฿20 for a sack

[wayned]

We use and buy/sell Chicken house sweepings when the chickens are sold. It's actually a mixture of sawdust and chicken manure as the chickens around here are not raised in raised pens they are raised in giant enclosures. It's bought and sold by the cubic meter and we usually sell it but the truck load. We store it in the open in one of the fields and use a commercial spreader to spread it during ploughing. It not only adds nitrogen to the soil but the sawdust also aerates it which is needed where I live. We sell a truckload, 10 wheel tandem dump with high side (sugar cane truck), for 6000 baht., I'm not sure exactly how many cubic meters are in it. Once the corn has sprouted we apply 46-0-0 just before it's too high to get the tractor in the field without damage.

[RedBullHorn]

Depends on the scale and demand and the economic of an item and vicinity... most farmers HERE bought it at discounted price of ฿10/kg... cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg (in-demand)...

"cow manure grounded at ฿17/kg"

What does "grounded" mean?

I find it hard to imagine that anyone would pay ฿17/kg for cow manure

Normal price here is ฿20 for a sack

I try to express the meaning of grounded as ground beef ... meaning that it is like ground beef... farmers collect cow dung by the pie and have tractor wheels going over it by mean of meshing and then bag it. Farmers here buy my empty feed sack at ฿3 and sell the load collected at ฿17/sack load. Your area may be selling at ฿20/sack but here they are selling the fine stuff at ฿17/sack.