Guest Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Cows, pigs, same problem and that is what to do with them when they are fully grown. Can you stand to slaughter a cow? Have you ever seen a cow or pig slaughtered? If you can not do this, then expect a fair part of the profits to be lost in having this service done. Next, is marketing. Can you market the meat or are you willing to allow more profit to slip thru your hands as somebody else performs this task. Rarely do you see a small time farmer become rich. Look around and see for your self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 As KS said the price is about right. Problem with cows is you need to be constantly on the move looking for grass to eat along with all the other neighbors and their cows. In the past year or two there has been a large increase in the number of folks raising cows, strikes me as the current fad. The farmer mentality, someone in the village makes good money on watermelons one year the next year everyone grows watermelons and the price falls. Raising broiler chickens is worth looking into if enough land is available and cash for the initial investment. Contract with CP group they provide the chicks and turn up latter for the adults (chickens), they're exported. I've seen a few of these places, family run, and they continue to operate year after year so I know they are making money. I guess a minimum initial investment would be 250k baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 [color:"blue"] Cows, pigs, same problem and that is what to do with them when they are fully grown. Can you stand to slaughter a cow? Have you ever seen a cow or pig slaughtered? [/color] They go to the slaughter market, like the rest do. I doubt many BUDDHIST farmers kill their own livestock. My understanding from where I was, is that the butchers were mainly Muslims ... who have no problems with their job. It was commonplace to see 3-4 pigs squeezed into a motorcycle sidecar, weaving through traffic, headed for slaughter. The spray painted numbers on their sides identifying the owner/or sales number. I am sure there are also large slaughterhouses operated by the meat packing companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 [color:"green"] My understanding from where I was, is that the butchers were mainly Muslims ... [/color] I doubt Muslims would want a pig anywhere near them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 A couple things. The 100,000 Baht is because most Thais never really do the math to work up a plan. Somebody tells them 100,000 Baht and they pass that on with no real idea of how much that is, what it will buy, cash flow, etc. so, take the 100,000 with a large grain of salt. . As to pigs and cows. Pig farming is fairly stable. Cows are a growing market with the demand far outsizing supply (maybe 3 to 1). This is why there is such a large market in smuggling substandard and diseased cattle from India. Until recently it was difficult to get good beef in Thailand because there was not much demand, the local breeds tasted terrible unless stewed and there wasn't much activity in cross breeding local cattle that could tolerate heat and humidity with imported cattle that taste good but can't tolerate heat. However, there has been a surge in demand and there are now some viable crossbrreeds. One is a small cow that matures fast and tastes OK. It costs about 10,000 Baht. There are also some corss breeds with Angus that taste good, are very big and cost about 50,000 Baht. There are two ways to manage cattle. The first is to buy your own and graze them which is tough because as there are more and more cattle there is less and less grazing land and the Thais have not yet learned much about pasture management. They also hate to buy feed and that decreases the profitibility. The second way is to buy a cow for somebody else and it is their problem to feed it and take care of it. The cow still belongs to you. The first calf is yours, the second is theirs, the third yours and so on. I assume what you are doing will be on a small scale. If you really want to help the family give them the 100,000 or go with them to buy the cattle and give the money to the seller. Then stand back and see how they handle the situation. You'll probably never personally see any of the money and the family really won't get much wealthier but you will learn a lot about how you fit into the relationship. As to using pig shit to feed catfish. Yeah it works, but it isn't that simple. First Catfish are not that popular and the price fluctuates dramatically from 25 Baht/kilo to 40 Baht per kilo. If you use fish feed instead of pig shit then the quality and firmness of the meat will be better and you will get more per kilo for the fish. However, it is a very marginal game. It costs about 22 - 23 Baht per kilo and about 3 or 4 months to raise the fish with food and you can sell it for about 35 Baht if somebody drives around in a pick-up and sells it, but this is only low volume. If you want somebody to come in and harvest the fish for you they will give you about 20 -21 Baht for the fish. Plus, everybody in the village feels they have a right to a couple fish every now and then. And if you want bigger yileds you have to find a location where you can get the water 2 meters deep and also aereate the water some way. Not an easy business. Well, I haven't added much but, like I said, giving her 100,000 Baht might be worth it just to see where you actually fit into the relationship. And that might be a very valuable investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Hi Shygve, "I doubt Muslims would want a pig anywhere near them." In Denmark and Sweden we have kebab restaurants owned by muslims. In many restaurants the kebab meat they serve is coming from pigs. I asked one owner why and he told me that pork is cheap and they just sell it - not eat themselves. elef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Thanks for the valuble Info I hope whoever was requesting it...reads it. This old dog ain't investing in anything that needs feeding and then killing Did investigate Avocados and Coffee though. And I understand there is reasonable money in LamYai. I'll stick to homegrown Arabica, and Guacamole.....goes with your Margaritas. I let someone else 'bring home the bacon'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Yes, another LOS irony. The Muslims kill the pigs, but won't eat them, and the Buddists eat them, but won't kill them. Now that's a symbiotic relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Says LaoHuLi: Did investigate Avocados and Coffee though. And I understand there is reasonable money in LamYai. Avocados ???? plant and wait 7 full years to have a first harvest ???? no way..... Cheers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkokbutcher Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Says MightyMouse: Cows, pigs, same problem and that is what to do with them when they are fully grown. Can you stand to slaughter a cow? Have you ever seen a cow or pig slaughtered? If you can not do this, then expect a fair part of the profits to be lost in having this service done. Hey it sounds as though there may be a fantastic opportunity for me to make a few quid here. I am prepared to offer my services to all the pig and cow farmers who are not prepared to slaughter their stock, I promise that I will charge a fair price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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