Where's the rain?

[farmerjo]

Well the weeds are dead and i'm ready to plant corn.

Just need 12mm and i'm away.

Only problem is no rain forecast here near chumphae till at least after next tuesday.

Historically we get about 75mm over songkran,this year only 5mm at the start.

Looking like a late start this year.

[kickstart]

Here in central Lopburi,we had some unusual heavy rain in the middle of March for 3 days ,so I put some urea fert on my napier grass, and one guy near me drilled 20 rai of maize then no rain ,until last week, we had a shower one morning.Last day of Songkran,like you we normally get some rain ,not this year.

A lot of cane and cassava being planted, this year a lot of drip irrigation systems being used to help water it all in..

Guy near me just harvested his dry season sesame seed, looked a good crop ,but what corn merchant will buy about 1 1/2 ton of sesame seed ,this time of year,when no one else is growing it .

Then over the past 2 days we have had a strong northerly wind,normally the cool season wind,not middle of April,to day,no wind and hot no sign of any rain,my grass that grew well for 7-10 days is now wilting a bit.The Leucaena or 'Gratin' in Thai has picked up a bit .a bit more to cut for the cattle.

Did read on TV last year that this year will/could be a El nemo year,less rain than last year ,'Will the last person leaving central Lopburi please turn the lights out'.

When we grew maize,my records show we never drilled before 24th May,even the sesame seed did not get drilled before mid May.

Ps. Something I have not seen for a lot of years ,drag chains on a corn drill.A Lot of years ago my old boss used mount drag chains on a plough ,help knock down long grass etc, helps to bury the rubbish ,I think it would work here in LOS.

[farmerjo]

Hi KS,

Thanks for the reply,.

I generally look to have the corn in by middle of april.

The reason for this is the corns maturity is about 90 days and this coinsides with 2-3week dry spell we have in july to harvest it then replant a second crop.I have sub soil moisture now but on the heavier land i have to penetrate a hard crust so will wait to be on the safe side to get a consistent seed depth.

The seeding machine you will notice i've modified the rear to close over the seed better,the dual motorbike wheels is my idea as to hard to get the real deal here.The wheels are spring loaded and have 33kilo's of down pressure to pack dirt around the seed and the drag chains follow just to kick abit more dirt around to level the seed bed up.Have trialed it and works alot better than the original concept which was more designed for tilled land.The other thing i had to do was adjust the angle of the discs so the 2 discs met as it cut thru the surface to form the v slot,before it cut a slot with a ridge between the v.The other change this season is with the dryer start i will spread the fertilizer,some next to the seed and some to the side.

The knockdown of the weeds caught me out abit as they were a fair size and alot of varities.I used 400ml of gylsophate and 150ml of 2-4d with a small amount of wetter as the 1st knockdown.That only had about a 50 percent success rate so followed up 10 days later with 400ml of paraquat which finished them off nicely.

Cant wait to get it in.

Edited April 16, 2015 by farmerjo

[Fullstop]

The Rain Spirits have had enough of the disgusting bastardisation of Songkran ... so they've turned the taps off.

[farmerjo]

The Rain Spirits have had enough of the disgusting bastardisation of Songkran ... so they've turned the taps off.

Hope they turn them back on

[asdecas]

The Rain Spirits have had enough of the disgusting bastardisation of Songkran ... so they've turned the taps off.

Hope they turn them back on

Glad to see you have your seeder well chained down; nothing worse than a seeder-tractor rampaging with the local kwais during Songkran.

[sawadee1947]

WHERE IS THE RAIN?

Don't worry. Somebody sent 3 planes up to CM's sky as RAIN MAKERS. Probably they forgot to go to the temple before.......

I thought those tales belong to the past, but....Thainess first...!

[how241]

WHERE IS THE RAIN?

Don't worry. Somebody sent 3 planes up to CM's sky as RAIN MAKERS. Probably they forgot to go to the temple before.......

I thought those tales belong to the past, but....Thainess first...!

ha ha ha ...but true story.

[ableguy]

Hi KS,

Thanks for the reply,.

I generally look to have the corn in by middle of april.

The reason for this is the corns maturity is about 90 days and this coinsides with 2-3week dry spell we have in july to harvest it then replant a second crop.I have sub soil moisture now but on the heavier land i have to penetrate a hard crust so will wait to be on the safe side to get a consistent seed depth.

The seeding machine you will notice i've modified the rear to close over the seed better,the dual motorbike wheels is my idea as to hard to get the real deal here.The wheels are spring loaded and have 33kilo's of down pressure to pack dirt around the seed and the drag chains follow just to kick abit more dirt around to level the seed bed up.Have trialed it and works alot better than the original concept which was more designed for tilled land.The other thing i had to do was adjust the angle of the discs so the 2 discs met as it cut thru the surface to form the v slot,before it cut a slot with a ridge between the v.The other change this season is with the dryer start i will spread the fertilizer,some next to the seed and some to the side.

The knockdown of the weeds caught me out abit as they were a fair size and alot of varities.I used 400ml of gylsophate and 150ml of 2-4d with a small amount of wetter as the 1st knockdown.That only had about a 50 percent success rate so followed up 10 days later with 400ml of paraquat which finished them off nicely.

Cant wait to get it in.

Jesus did you just swallow the farmers manual, seems to me your pretty smart , wish you good luck.

[farmerjo]

Hi KS,

Thanks for the reply,.

I generally look to have the corn in by middle of april.

The reason for this is the corns maturity is about 90 days and this coinsides with 2-3week dry spell we have in july to harvest it then replant a second crop.I have sub soil moisture now but on the heavier land i have to penetrate a hard crust so will wait to be on the safe side to get a consistent seed depth.

The seeding machine you will notice i've modified the rear to close over the seed better,the dual motorbike wheels is my idea as to hard to get the real deal here.The wheels are spring loaded and have 33kilo's of down pressure to pack dirt around the seed and the drag chains follow just to kick abit more dirt around to level the seed bed up.Have trialed it and works alot better than the original concept which was more designed for tilled land.The other thing i had to do was adjust the angle of the discs so the 2 discs met as it cut thru the surface to form the v slot,before it cut a slot with a ridge between the v.The other change this season is with the dryer start i will spread the fertilizer,some next to the seed and some to the side.

The knockdown of the weeds caught me out abit as they were a fair size and alot of varities.I used 400ml of gylsophate and 150ml of 2-4d with a small amount of wetter as the 1st knockdown.That only had about a 50 percent success rate so followed up 10 days later with 400ml of paraquat which finished them off nicely.

Cant wait to get it in.

Jesus did you just swallow the farmers manual, seems to me your pretty smart , wish you good luck.

Its just normal farming practises with the latter technology i guess to give you the best possible outcome.

When you spend 150,000 to make 350,000 you want to get it right otherwise you dont get to many go's at it.

The newer seeding ideas(been around for 35 years) like this one enable you to potentially grow the same yeilds with less rainfall.

The manual comes from previous farming experience back home and countless hours on the internet(youtube) here.

Nearly fell over the other day when i got a quote to turn over a bit of land with a 3 disc plough,he wanted 500 baht a rai.

Edited April 17, 2015 by farmerjo