Maize and Rotational Crops

[farmerjo]

Hi Guys,

I got this phosphate fertilizer off my local land department agent.

My thai reading skills are none,could someone tell me if this is normal phosphate or rock phosphate,

as you can see in the picture its more of a powder form than prills.200 baht a bag.

[loong]

The very top line, which is crinkled and difficult to read appears to say "Raae fotfayt"

"Raae" means "mineral" or "ore" so I would assume that it is rock phosphate

[farmerjo]

The very top line, which is crinkled and difficult to read appears to say "Raae fotfayt"

"Raae" means "mineral" or "ore" so I would assume that it is rock phosphate

Thanks loong,

Just checking as i've already applied gypsum so with the rock phosphate should make single superphosphate.

[farmerjo]

My pump setup i will have to get by with until i do a bit more research on turning this old planetary into a reverse direction for the pto on tractor.

[kickstart]

Hi FJ

I think I know what you mean ,if you put another shaft on that frame ,with gears or sprockets meshed in to main pto driven shaft with a pulley at the end ,for belts ,that would revers the drive .

Where did that sun and planet come from, an old tractor

[farmerjo]

Hi FJ

I think I know what you mean ,if you put another shaft on that frame ,with gears or sprockets meshed in to main pto driven shaft with a pulley at the end ,for belts ,that would revers the drive .

Where did that sun and planet come from, an old tractor

Hi KS,

That planetary came out of my beloved ford 6610 when we gave it heart surgeory and converted the clutch to thai style tears ago.

I've done some reading and they say if if you can keep the carrier bearing frame fixed it will make the two shafts turn in opposite directions.

Pto shaft stubs are easy to obtain in local parts shops

As i said in an earlier post its a shame tractors weren;t considered when the longtail pipe was designed.Now half the length of the pipe is lost

due to the length of tractor and output frame on the back.

If the planetary gets to complicated with gear reductions and speeds i think an impellor designed on the opposite angle and a left hand thread

might be in order for the longtail pipe.That flow in the picture above is from the 1st speed of 4 on the kubota pto gearbox at 1200 rpm but i don;t have enough horsepower to go up gears.

Been hand mixing fertilizer this afternoon after spraying this morning so all going well seeding tomorrow then run some water down the rows.

Edited December 8, 2015 by farmerjo

[kickstart]

Hi FJ.

I vaguely remember ,from times past, if you get a longer belt ,put it on the drive shaft ,then twist the belt ,so it crosses over that should reverse the drive ,

on the driven pulley .

Now if it would work with V belts ,i.e. ,would they jump the pulleys ,or wear the belt out where it rubs in the middle , use to do it with barn machinery ,but then they used flat belts ,I see you are using twin belts ,have seen a lot of set ups using a single belt ,this way would only work with a single belt , if it works .

If not ,I will not give up my day job .

KS.

[farmerjo]

Hi KS,

You are correct,it does work with a single twisted belt.

The only reason i don't like that way is you need somebody watching it all the time in case the belt jumps off.(and restricted flow)

At least that's what people around here do.

Pto is the best solution for me,direct drive and walk away.

Finished mixing my fert but seeding on hold today as a result of being summonsed to the puyai barns for my dogs acused of eating the neighbours chickens and him trying to extract money again.I went and looked at his nightime coop and he has gapping holes at the top so any dog can run around the bottom and the chickens fly out the top.I didn't have to pay as the puyai knows i've stayed there a long time with no trouble until

this guy introduced his free range chickens about 6 months ago.It was funny my wife refused to go so the neighbours try to drum up a posey of people on their side at the meeting but none could understand my broken thai/laos speaking,they pretty much gave up in the end with my wife not being there as an easy target.

The sad part is my wife just got rid of my 2 young dogs so only have 1 left and they were just getting good at keeping rats and snakes away.

Will get back on schedule tomorrow .

[farmerjo]

Seeding is complete for 15 rai of sunn hemp.

I will find out more about the rates when(if) i get a germination.

Seed rate was 1.2 kilo/rai(was recommended 2.5 for seed recovery)

Fertilizer rate was 16kg/rai,in furrow with a mixture of rock phosphate,humate and gypsum.

Don't think i will use a powder mix again as it tended to compact in the fertilizer box.

Now for the tedious task of running water down the rows.

[farmerjo]

Still plugging away watering,should finish tomorrow or before lunch the next day.

A couple of pics of the longlongtail in action.

[wayned]

I was so exhausted after looking at the pictures that you posted over the past few days that I had to go back to bed! My Wheaties in the morning just doesn't work any more!

[farmerjo]

How's your harvest going wayned?

You still got the beasts working away or back locally.

I cant complain to much about my watering arrangement,have had a couple of pulleys move and keys fall out but that's it.

I have 160 metres of that 6" layflat hose which works well except for when shifting it,you have to walk all along it lifting it up to drain it

otherwise its to heavy to shift.

[farmerjo]

The watering is done

Note to myself,get the water on in 3 days as the field is uneven and where water was running already had seed sprouted.

Bit more practice with the box scraper is in order for next year

Actually one thing i'd like to mention is back in november we had lots of pidgeons around,but since turning december haven't seen any.

Not sure if its lack of food for them,cold change in the weather or the smoke from sugar burning,anyway its a good thing.

[kickstart]

The watering is done

Note to myself,get the water on in 3 days as the field is uneven and where water was running already had seed sprouted.

Bit more practice with the box scraper is in order for next year

Actually one thing i'd like to mention is back in november we had lots of pidgeons around,but since turning december haven't seen any.

Not sure if its lack of food for them,cold change in the weather or the smoke from sugar burning,anyway its a good thing.

Looking at that field uneven, an understatement ,some of those lumps looked a bit big for the small seed ,I would be worried about mounds drying out ,seeds germinating and growing stunted ,I am certain I have seen it with maize seed that has had the 3 disc,7 disc, drill, treatment with big lumps in the seedbed seeds do not have enough moisture to get going .I would leave the box scraper in the shed ,as you know not my favourite bit of kit.

Next year ? direct drill seed into old crop ,use a pump and sprinkler system uses less water and ,less water evaporation, land not being disturbed to much.

When we grew some sweet corn we used a sprinkler system ,and flood irrigation ,the flood system used a lot more water ,we were lucky water was pumped, for us from our local dam ,Pasack dam ,into a concrete canal system ,we just pumped the water from the canal ,we had to pay for the water ,if we had our own small reservoir we would soon have emptied it ,in a dry year we would have been struggling to grow another crop .

Where does your water come from ,natural supply ?

Re Maize harvest ,I am eating my words ,when I said last month most farmers sell their crop, with the corn on the cob ,but this time more has been combined ,the pickers are asking for 55 Bart sack of picked corn ,then another 10 Bart to lift the sacks onto a trailer ,then transport costs ,farmers are thinking combining is looking like a better deal

Than it has spawned a new industry ,people going into a combined field and picking the cobs that come out the back of the combine ,what they do with the cobs I am not certain ,but a few years ago my misses and her family did it ,took the corn off the cobs and sold the grain to local farmers ,for chicken feed ,I would say ,most would keep it and when they get a fair bit sell it to a local buyer .

Not seen many pidgins round here lately, quite few a sunflowers crops growing now , late rain 2 weeks ago helped to get them going ,some now in flower ,going to be a staggered crop this year pidgins will have plenty to choose from ,might ,re might, not be too much of a problem this year , famous last words.

.

[wayned]

The corn harvest is just about finished except for the few fields that the owners want to take advantage of the sunny/low humidity weather to get as much moisture out before they cut it. The big beast is parked in Uthai Thanni Province awaiting transport back here, but the low boy that we use is currently having major engine repairs. The storm that we had about 6 weeks ago did more damage than was visible. Most of the fields had areas, about 2-3 rai, that were levelled and had to be harvested by hand as the stalks were flat to the ground and thrown every which way. There must have been a lot of small twisters embedded in the storm.

The sugar harvest has been put off until after the new year. I think that the mill is open, but nobody is harvesting here yet and the migrants are now due to arrive after the 1st of January so no black cloud yet!

[farmerjo]

The watering is done

Note to myself,get the water on in 3 days as the field is uneven and where water was running already had seed sprouted.

Bit more practice with the box scraper is in order for next year

Actually one thing i'd like to mention is back in november we had lots of pidgeons around,but since turning december haven't seen any.

Not sure if its lack of food for them,cold change in the weather or the smoke from sugar burning,anyway its a good thing.

Looking at that field uneven, an understatement ,some of those lumps looked a bit big for the small seed ,I would be worried about mounds drying out ,seeds germinating and growing stunted ,I am certain I have seen it with maize seed that has had the 3 disc,7 disc, drill, treatment with big lumps in the seedbed seeds do not have enough moisture to get going .I would leave the box scraper in the shed ,as you know not my favourite bit of kit.

Next year ? direct drill seed into old crop ,use a pump and sprinkler system uses less water and ,less water evaporation, land not being disturbed to much.

When we grew some sweet corn we used a sprinkler system ,and flood irrigation ,the flood system used a lot more water ,we were lucky water was pumped, for us from our local dam ,Pasack dam ,into a concrete canal system ,we just pumped the water from the canal ,we had to pay for the water ,if we had our own small reservoir we would soon have emptied it ,in a dry year we would have been struggling to grow another crop .

Where does your water come from ,natural supply ?

Re Maize harvest ,I am eating my words ,when I said last month most farmers sell their crop, with the corn on the cob ,but this time more has been combined ,the pickers are asking for 55 Bart sack of picked corn ,then another 10 Bart to lift the sacks onto a trailer ,then transport costs ,farmers are thinking combining is looking like a better deal

Than it has spawned a new industry ,people going into a combined field and picking the cobs that come out the back of the combine ,what they do with the cobs I am not certain ,but a few years ago my misses and her family did it ,took the corn off the cobs and sold the grain to local farmers ,for chicken feed ,I would say ,most would keep it and when they get a fair bit sell it to a local buyer .

Not seen many pidgins round here lately, quite few a sunflowers crops growing now , late rain 2 weeks ago helped to get them going ,some now in flower ,going to be a staggered crop this year pidgins will have plenty to choose from ,might ,re might, not be too much of a problem this year , famous last words.

.

Hi KS,

All the water is my own on farm storage,no canals around here.

Yes it took a lot of water flooding it especially with 15" rip marks every 30 inches but i expected that and hopefully the next watering will be a light one.

You mention about the high seed furrows,wasn't really sure what to do there as i couldn't really seed in the rip lines because of getting an even seed depth so was the only place it could go.

I like your sprinkler idea and one day i will get set up for it,these things get easy to achieve when the mrs see's something growing that's not a weed and puts a couple of baht in her pocket.

[kickstart]

The corn harvest is just about finished except for the few fields that the owners want to take advantage of the sunny/low humidity weather to get as much moisture out before they cut it. The big beast is parked in Uthai Thanni Province awaiting transport back here, but the low boy that we use is currently having major engine repairs. The storm that we had about 6 weeks ago did more damage than was visible. Most of the fields had areas, about 2-3 rai, that were levelled and had to be harvested by hand as the stalks were flat to the ground and thrown every which way. There must have been a lot of small twisters embedded in the storm.

The sugar harvest has been put off until after the new year. I think that the mill is open, but nobody is harvesting here yet and the migrants are now due to arrive after the 1st of January so no black cloud yet!

You could be my next door neighbour ,a few farmers round here had the same problem ,I think it was the same storm ,that flattened 3-4 rie of corn in a lot of fields the combine could not get at , with the cost of hand picking,haulage .and the moisture would be high ,it would need leving a while to dry out, would almost be better keep it back and feed the chickens.

Our sugar mill opened a few days ago ,what I have seen it is the big growers that are cutting ,need to start early,get it all in ,then a lot cut the small farmers crops with they 20 rie

.Drove past 3 big truck and trailer outfits parked up this evening loaded with cane ,waiting for a while before driving to the mill ,hoping the BIB have gone home ,take it in at night time , less chance of getting stopped and fined for overloading .

Like you a lot are waiting for the new year before cutting ,but that is not far away now .

[farmerjo]

Wayned,may i ask do you charge,by the rai or per tonne when harvesting with your machines.

I'd guess there would be a minimum cutoff either way.

[farmerjo]

Feeling a little easier now

Was a little stressed about the furrows drying out to quick after KS brought it to my attention.

The shower gods have come to the rescue,raining here now at the moment.

The only other time i've had rain in december was back in 2010,15th and got 55mm.

Will be happy with 5mm out of this lot,very unseasonal for here.

[wayned]

Our normal charge is 600 baht/rai. , negotiable (as everything is in Thailand), especially for very large fields. The cheapest we went this year was 550 baht/rai.

The sunflowers that were planted in the few small irrigated fields that were harvested in September are already up and in bloom. Some of the farmers that had already bought the seed and have just finished the corn harvest have planted sunflowers. They just raked and burnt the stalks that remain in the field after harvest and planted the sunflowers between the corn rows with no further work of the land. Some have already sprouted. I didn't plant any as I hadn't bought the seed yet and told my supplier to put a hold on my account to keep BIL from charging and planting on his own.

He got his pay thrice over for planting the corn behind my back. He took all of the corn that was harvested by hand and sold it to a middleman down the road and pocketed the money - most likely SIL's plan. When I realized what he was doing it was too late and when confronted it was all smiles and "Thainess".

[farmerjo]

Hi FJ

I think I know what you mean ,if you put another shaft on that frame ,with gears or sprockets meshed in to main pto driven shaft with a pulley at the end ,for belts ,that would revers the drive .

Where did that sun and planet come from, an old tractor

Stumbled across this while looking for other things,not sure of the cost.

http://www.talaythong.co.th/EN/bounce2way_series.html

[RedBullHorn]

Harvest started... Now to February next year.

.

[farmerjo]

Sunn hemp nearly fully germinated.

[farmerjo]

Harvest started... Now to February next year.

20151218_132725.jpg

20151218_132921.jpg

20151218_132848.jpg

20151218_133009.jpg

.

Can you tell us a little more RBH.

Where does it go from there ?

[kickstart]

Hi FJ

I think I know what you mean ,if you put another shaft on that frame ,with gears or sprockets meshed in to main pto driven shaft with a pulley at the end ,for belts ,that would revers the drive .

Where did that sun and planet come from, an old tractor

Stumbled across this while looking for other things,not sure of the cost.

http://www.talaythong.co.th/EN/bounce2way_series.html

Hi FJ

Had a look at that 2 way gear box ,phoned the company up ,that gear box is 2500 Bart ,made in China, at that price .I would have thought it a bit light ,tractor pto ,then on to the long tail ,lot of stress on the bearings ,maybe replace them with something like SKF bearings ,may be ok ,but a lot of hassle ,but at that price ,add another 1000 for sending it ,may be worth a go.

Could not see any key ways on the shaft not going to be easy to fix a pulley .

The sun hemp is germinating , the distance between plants in the row ,is it about right ,or to close/to wide , was 24 holes in the disc about right ,you said seed used , to seed rate you used a lot less than the book said .

@RBH

Is that sweet corn ,they are loading, still got husks on ,must be bound to a canning factory ,Guy near me buys the husks ,from a canning factory ,puts them in large plastic bags ,and sell it to dairy farmers ,as maize husks silage, ,low dry matter ,lot of water in it ,but at about 45 Bart /25Kg sack , not a bad price , for what it is

[RedBullHorn]

Harvest started... Now to February next year.

20151218_132725.jpg

20151218_132921.jpg

20151218_132848.jpg

20151218_133009.jpg

.

Can you tell us a little more RBH.

Where does it go from there ?

Canned factory... Villagers are contract growers. About 600 rai rented land altogether at 1000 Thb/rai Use to be 500 Thb/rai then increase and increase to 700, 850...1000, recent rumours going to be 1300 Thb/rai...

.

[farmerjo]

Hi KS,

Re seed rate,its times like now you wish you bought graded seed.

I bought seed from 2 people,the lld agent and his sister,my seeder is 4 row so i put his seed in boxes 1&3 and hers in 2&4.

Boxes 1,2&4 went out at just over 3 kg and box 3 went out at just over 8kg for the 15 rai.Why i'm not actually sure,clean seed,light seed,heavy seed,small seed,big seed and trash in the seed are possibilities.

It seems the germination rate was high.To me the lower seed rates look about right(spacings) and the higher one to thick(for seed harvesting).

I guess time will tell as its my first attempt at growing it.I also had problems trying to get the fertilizer even out of the 2 boxes with the powder compacting.During seeding i would go up and back the field then get out and turn the meter wheel over by hand(view plates to see no seeds blocked in holes) to make sure seed and fertilizer was coming out which at the time i could see more seed coming out of box 3 just putting it down to cleaner,smaller seed.

The metering systems are not the best by western standards but i must say its the best seeder i've owned here and sure graded seed would have made a big difference.It's a trial so pretty happy that it germinated at all dry seeding it then flooding down the rows.

Will keep posting a few pics along the way.

[Allgeier]

This sun hemp is the ปรเทือง. Or not? Crotalaria juncea L.

http://www.qsbg.org/database/botanic_book%20full%20option/search_detail.asp?botanic_id=2355

[farmerjo]

This sun hemp is the ปรเทือง. Or not? Crotalaria juncea L.

http://www.qsbg.org/database/botanic_book%20full%20option/search_detail.asp?botanic_id=2355

Yes mate,same stuff.

[farmerjo]

Pretty quiet at the moment,fil putting a bit of water on his soya beans but that's about it.

I'm a bit soft these days when the cold weather comes out.(anything under 20 degrees) tracky pants and beanie required.

Would like to give a decent report on the sunn hemp but when your office(sala)looks at it all day you don't see much change.

Observations to date are-

It doesn't establish as quick as i thought it would.(this time of year)

Seems to grow better in thicker stands so it can support each others stems.

A few leaves eaten but minimal and a few stalks chopped off at ground level

Lot of spider webs on the ground.

Will post a pic in a couple of days when at 2 weeks.