Pictured above: (l-r) John Denton (Woldgrain), Richard Milligan-Manby (Woldgrain), Jeff Moore (EMDA), John Stables (Openfield) and Allan Wilkinson (HSBC)

On Wednesday 30th June 2010, Woldgrain Storage Ltd in Lincolnshire used its annual event for grain growers to celebrate the completion of phase one of its integrated combined crop storage facility.  

The not-for-profit farming cooperative, based in Hemswell Cliff near Gainsborough, received a £1.5m grant award in May 2009 from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). This is managed in the region by East Midlands Development Agency (emda). 

Woldgrain is using the RDPE grant to fund a £4m expansion to its crop storage facility and install value adding processing equipment. So far, space for an additional 18,000 tonnes of combinable crops - including wheat, oilseed rape and malting barley - has been created. Once the project is complete early next year, the total capacity at the site will be over 50,000 tonnes, making this one of the largest central crop storage facilities of its kind in the East Midlands.

emda invested in the project because research showed that existing farm storage units were becoming increasingly outdated, making it harder for arable farmers to meet the increasingly strict product quality controls set by purchasers for their crops. 

As Jeff Moore, emda's Chief Executive, explained: "Food production and processing accounts for 5.5% of our economic output and 4.8% of regional employment - both significantly higher than the national average. This is why we need to build a resilient and competitive food system that will help to encourage producers to adopt new skills and techniques to increase production and profits. Woldgrain is a perfect illustration of this, helping to maximise returns for growers and raise quality standards far beyond what can be achieved by most individual farmers."

During the event, grain growers toured the site, and were able to see a live demonstration of how the storage process works from start to finish. This involved viewing an intake of crops as it went through the quality control checks before being moved into the holding bins. Growers were also given a demonstration of the innovative new technology that is being used to control the drying, cleaning, sorting and grading of the crops.

Richard Milligan-Manby, Chairman of Woldgrain, said: "It's been challenging to reach this milestone in the project but we're delighted that we've been able to create the additional storage capacity prior to this year's harvest. Our farmer members realise that they can save money by using Woldgrain because we can ensure lower energy costs in drying the grain and better technology in reducing waste and meeting the specifications and quality standards expected by processors. 

"With the support of Openfield, we have been able to position Woldgrain within a wider national network of grain stores that meet consumer needs. We believe this partnership is bringing real benefits to farmers in the region, helping them add significant value to their crops and improve their bottom line."