This Years Rice Harvest

[Boxer]

Like many of us my other half has family interests in a rice farm in Isaan near Sisekat. Reports are that the harvest this year has been very poor (too wet) which they dont seem to be all that bothered about, at the moment. Until that is next year when support in many ways will be called for from the sponsors....food help, seed help etc etc.

How was it this year for you and yours?

[Nomad97]

Bumper harvest this year, thank you. Just over the border from Sisaket in Surin Province. No shortage of rain and no flooding either.

[C-sip-degree]

How was it this year for you and yours?

Boxer

Just finished the other day 50 bags of each, sticky, jasmine alittle less that normal but we cut down 25% on the cost $ wise to produce, less ten bags on each say, not a problem pretty good for the amount of rain agree.

Will need to get the tractor out next month and repair all the damaged on the paddy's.

Good Luck

Happy harvest time....

[Boxer]

How was it this year for you and yours?

Boxer

Just finished the other day 50 bags of each, sticky, jasmine alittle less that normal but we cut down 25% on the cost $ wise to produce, less ten bags on each say, not a problem pretty good for the amount of rain agree.

Will need to get the tractor out next month and repair all the damaged on the paddy's.

Good Luck

Happy harvest time....

Any idea of the price per bag?

[C-sip-degree]

How was it this year for you and yours?

Boxer

Just finished the other day 50 bags of each, sticky, jasmine alittle less that normal but we cut down 25% on the cost $ wise to produce, less ten bags on each say, not a problem pretty good for the amount of rain agree.

Will need to get the tractor out next month and repair all the damaged on the paddy's.

Good Luck

Happy harvest time....

Any idea of the price per bag?

[/quote

Yer Sure,

1) Standard bag size Roi-et area (4bht bags)

2) Rice with the husk/shell ON, (as its the only way to sell and store)

3) Weight on each bag varied between 28kg to 33kg + or - abit here.

4) Jasmine 9Bht per kilo

5) Sticky 6.5Bht per kilo

These prices will change around abit just giving you a idea.

C-sip

[mobile69]

Why is it the rice farmers burn the straw left in the fields after harvest? Some is eaten by grazing cattle, but most seems to be burnt off. The stubble is left &, I guess, ploughed back into the soil when the next crop is planted. Why don't they just plough the straw back into the soil as well? This is from my observations around Chiang Mai valley. Just curious.

[massein]

Why is it the rice farmers burn the straw left in the fields after harvest? Some is eaten by grazing cattle, but most seems to be burnt off. The stubble is left &, I guess, ploughed back into the soil when the next crop is planted. Why don't they just plough the straw back into the soil as well? This is from my observations around Chiang Mai valley. Just curious.

I think you will find most bundle and sold as cattle feed however i think by burning it as ash fertlize the soil and helps with getting rid of weeds

Here it doi tao the crop was good, but i concern about getting enough for cattle feed. My corn crop was fair, but i kept it for cattle feed,

[mobile69]

I think you will find most bundle and sold as cattle feed however i think by burning it as ash fertlize the soil and helps with getting rid of weeds

Where I live, San Kampaeng area, most is burned, even though there seems to be a lot if cows around. From my experience in the garden, burning to clear weeds seems to encourage more weeds to sprout than were there originally. And this practice seems strange in this instance as the farmers told me the next crop would only be planted in January when irrigation wolud be available from the canals - be a lot of weeds growing by then. Surely ploughing the straw into the soil would add more organic matter to it and act as a fertiliser.

[pnustedt]

Our harvest this year (near Sisaket) isn't too bad, we were expacting much worse as the rice was completely under water just a few weeks ago.

Price in Sisaket is currently Bt9.6/kilo (which is low) but we generally hold on to ours till summer when prices tend to go up.

A lot of the rice was flattened and, as we are mechanically harvesting, there are a lot of wet stalks in the straw, making much of it unsuitable for animal feed, which is a pitty as we bought a baler this year. The unsuitable straw will be ploughed into the land.

[Boxer]

Our harvest this year (near Sisaket) isn't too bad, we were expacting much worse as the rice was completely under water just a few weeks ago.

Price in Sisaket is currently Bt9.6/kilo (which is low) but we generally hold on to ours till summer when prices tend to go up.

A lot of the rice was flattened and, as we are mechanically harvesting, there are a lot of wet stalks in the straw, making much of it unsuitable for animal feed, which is a pitty as we bought a baler this year. The unsuitable straw will be ploughed into the land.

If the price is 9 baht a kilo say a bag of 28kilo is 252 baht per bag this times 40/50 or even 100 bags hardly seems worth all the effort. But i suppose its a years money for a family in Isaan.

[C-sip-degree]

Why is it the rice farmers burn the straw left in the fields after harvest? Some is eaten by grazing cattle, but most seems to be burnt off. The stubble is left &, I guess, ploughed back into the soil when the next crop is planted. Why don't they just plough the straw back into the soil as well? This is from my observations around Chiang Mai valley. Just curious.

Mobile69,

Can't say that we do this straight after harvest. Like you say normaly let the cows have a bit of a graze.

One is weed control correct, and two is after the big burn is done to clear the paddy it makes it easier to plough for the smaller tractor, if you have done some you'll know what I mean, it's a pain when your trying to get good furrows ploughing and the disc's get all wrapped up and won't clear.

Cheers

C-sip

[mobile69]

One is weed control correct, and two is after the big burn is done to clear the paddy it makes it easier to plough for the smaller tractor, if you have done some you'll know what I mean, it's a pain when your trying to get good furrows ploughing and the disc's get all wrapped up and won't clear.

Cheers

C-sip

That probably explains it around here where most use the smaller tractors rather than the bigger Fords. Did notice one field yesterday where all the straw was bundled up to be taken away for feed. The wife explained that they'd cut the rice by hand.

[chownah]

Plowing the straw back into the ground is good soil management practice but as C-sip-degree pointed out it is not the easiest thing to do. The worst thing to do is to burn it because that destroys some of its value as a fertilizer and also pollutes the air.....but it is the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to deal with it. Using it as fodder is a good compromise since you are converting some of it into weight gain in the cows and the rest is returned to the soil with thier manure.

Chownah

[bdenner]

A bit too wet at the end of the season but still a lot of happy faces - until this morning, it's pissing down. Family's harvest is still 3 days from completion.

Ofcoarse they are pointing the finger at me as it always rains after I clean the car and I did that yesterday.

Oh one more thing. - Big problem here with rice theft this year, I believe it is related to the higher prices.

Edited November 21, 2006 by bdenner

[Pond Life]

A lot of the rice was flattened and, as we are mechanically harvesting, there are a lot of wet stalks in the straw, making much of it unsuitable for animal feed, which is a pitty as we bought a baler this year. The unsuitable straw will be ploughed into the land.

What sort of baler do you have & what size/shape bales does it produce ?

I've always liked the idea of straw bale houses but in my area ive never seen a baler.

[macb]

WEll the wife and I have 13 Rai this is our first year growing and with the baby due in the new year I think will rent the land out next year.

10 Rai is white rice and 3 Rai brown rice We got rained off the other day and so far have brought in 31 sacks, now waiting for the cutter to return.

Have a look at Topic I started I been updating on here with pics.

Price wise 1 sack 80 kilo was fetching in our area 500 bht but in Surin 615 bht

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=90061

[Issangeorge]

My family finnished baging the rice this morning. The harvest was about 4% less than last year, we used a new seed that I guess was not as good as the old one, although at first the family thought there was going to be a big drop off so 4% is not to bad. We still have lots of rice left from last year so we'll manage to get through to the next harvest and won't starve. Issangeorge.

[Loom]

In Kamphaeng Phet area harvest was wet from flooding/heavy rain and I heard this pushed the selling price down a little. Based on back of envelope figures, rental income (from the sale of rice) is down meaningfully compared to last year.

[macb]

WEll my 10 Rai is finished today I have put an up-date in my Issan Daily Diary Topic

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...id=999199

Will let you know hopw much we get per sack tomorrow although the rice wil be por quality cos of rain damage but its only 6 sacks the rest is okay

[macb]

Well this morning took the six sacks that were subject to the thunder strom making the husks black into Huairat near the Railway Station and we got 546 bht per sack, so pretty pleased with that. but next year we are thinking wwe will let sister-in -law grow it and give us a percentage, becuase the new born will be here.

[Issangeorge]

Well this morning took the six sacks that were subject to the thunder strom making the husks black into Huairat near the Railway Station and we got 546 bht per sack, so pretty pleased with that. but next year we are thinking wwe will let sister-in -law grow it and give us a percentage, becuase the new born will be here.

546 Baht per sack, how heavy was each sack. Our sacks average about 30kgs. so 546 per sack works out to about 18.2 baht per kilo, that is a really good price for dammaged rice. PS two nights ago we had 135mm of rain, but we got all our rice in the day before, we were very lucky. Issangeorge.

[macb]

Well this morning took the six sacks that were subject to the thunder strom making the husks black into Huairat near the Railway Station and we got 546 bht per sack, so pretty pleased with that. but next year we are thinking wwe will let sister-in -law grow it and give us a percentage, becuase the new born will be here.

546 Baht per sack, how heavy was each sack. Our sacks average about 30kgs. so 546 per sack works out to about 18.2 baht per kilo, that is a really good price for dammaged rice. PS two nights ago we had 135mm of rain, but we got all our rice in the day before, we were very lucky. Issangeorge.

They were 80 kilo sacks so total 480 kilo...Another rice store in Huairat was paying more but the guy had not turned up for work.

That price is based on weighbridge weight and rice tested for quality

Edited November 25, 2006 by macb

[Naam]

question from one who is totally ignorant. a farang friend of mine bought recently 23 rai of (supposedly) good land for rice growing for his lady. neither he or myself have any idea whether this size of area can support a family of three (which the lady claims).

any answers appreciated.

[chownah]

Dr. Naam,

Depending on what is meant by "support" the answer could be anywhere from "yes indeed without a doubt" to "possible but not likely". If you mean can it provide the food then the answer is yes indeed without a doubt assuming there is adequate water. If you mean pay for all the expenses to raise the family and with the expectations that some farangs might bring which would increase the necessary income then it possibly could be done but it is not likely even if enough water is available.

Chownah

Edited November 25, 2006 by chownah

[lannarebirth]

Just finished sacking today. Only 4 rai this year, but we'll increase next year(may even do a second season). Got 42 bags (45kg) sticky rice, and 56 bags of jasmine rice.

[pnustedt]

What sort of baler do you have & what size/shape bales does it produce ?

I've always liked the idea of straw bale houses but in my area ive never seen a baler.

I've sent you a pm in reply to yours. We bought the baler from http://www.siambaler.com in Saraburi.

[chownah]

Just finished sacking today. Only 4 rai this year, but we'll increase next year(may even do a second season). Got 42 bags (45kg) sticky rice, and 56 bags of jasmine rice.

That's 1,100 kg per rai if the bags actually weighed 45 kg and you actually only grew 4 rai.....that's pretty impressive.....especially considering that it seems that over half of your land was in jasmine rice. Around here you would be a star for getting such good results. Around here 600 kg per rai is considered par for kou gniew and kou chow yields less. 1,100 kg per rai would be considered phenomenal.

What varieties did you grow and how much of what kind of fertilizers did you use per rai? Did you transplant once or twice? How old were the seedilngs when you transplanted. Are you sure that the area planted is correct and the weight of the harvest?

Good work lannarebirth!!!!

Chownah

[Macx]

Oh one more thing. - Big problem here with rice theft this year, I believe it is related to the higher prices.

Theft directly from the field or from the barn? How do they go about it?

I'm not a farmer, but I find this forum absolutely fascinating. Hope you all don't mind the newbie questions.

I love the organic jasmine rice they sell in the vacuum packs (2.5kg for around 80bhats). Wonderful aroma. How much do top quality organic rice fetch directly from the farm?

[Issangeorge]

Just finished sacking today. Only 4 rai this year, but we'll increase next year(may even do a second season). Got 42 bags (45kg) sticky rice, and 56 bags of jasmine rice.

That works out to 1102.5 kilos per rai, that is an exceptionaly high yield for Thailand. What kind of seed and fertilizers are you using? Issangeorge.

[lannarebirth]

Just finished sacking today. Only 4 rai this year, but we'll increase next year(may even do a second season). Got 42 bags (45kg) sticky rice, and 56 bags of jasmine rice.

That's 1,100 kg per rai if the bags actually weighed 45 kg and you actually only grew 4 rai.....that's pretty impressive.....especially considering that it seems that over half of your land was in jasmine rice. Around here you would be a star for getting such good results. Around here 600 kg per rai is considered par for kou gniew and kou chow yields less. 1,100 kg per rai would be considered phenomenal.

What varieties did you grow and how much of what kind of fertilizers did you use per rai? Did you transplant once or twice? How old were the seedilngs when you transplanted. Are you sure that the area planted is correct and the weight of the harvest?

Good work lannarebirth!!!!

Chownah

Well. ity's a 17 rai piece and I'm kind of eyeballing the paddy size. It might be 4 1/2 -5 1/2 rai. I weighed a couple of the 45kg (going from what my worker told me) sacks today. They averaged about 36kg apiece. Still it's a good bit more than we got from the adjacent paddies last year and our experiment of hill farming rice. We used no fertilizer save for the cow manure that had been accumulating in the fields for the 2 prior years these paddies lay fallow and about 1 1/2 meters of grass we cut and plowed under.

Edited November 26, 2006 by lannarebirth