Harvest 2013
Despite the late start to harvest 2013, it was all over by mid September. The new plant worked extremely well apart from a few “teething troubles”. The winter barleys were mostly cut dry in late July and left the store almost immediately on their way to Tunisia which was just as well since the new intake pits were not ready until early August which coincided with the early deliveries of both wheat and oil seed rape. Fortunately, the OSR was blended in store which was good since deliveries of OSR continued late into the month, which left the driers free to work on the wheat. The new intake pits worked really well resulting in very little delay for tractor drivers in store. Our best day’s intake was 2500 Tonnes with around 6000 Tonnes being tipped over a 3 day period.
The works to the plant have cost £500,000 but, after an RDPE grant of 33%, the nett cost to the store will be in the region of £340,000. I think that we have done extraordinarily well in the circumstances to end up with the new plant as it is at such an economic cost. Robert Wilson and his staff worked tirelessly to get the plant up and running for the 1st August and I do not think that there were any real holdups through the harvest period that could be attributed to the new kit.
Total intake from members was 17905 Tonnes of which 7200 Tonnes was spring barley. Frontier Agriculture are also storing 7500 Tonnes of OSR and spring barley with us. We have also handled grain on a contract basis for Philip White and Paul Pickvance and I hope that they will consider joining up in the future. The store is always looking for new members and we welcome contract work throughout the year and over the harvest period. This is often a good way for a potential new member to try out the facilities before investing in the store. Any enquires can be directed either to me, on 07831 433976 or by e mail to bentall.jonathan@googlemail.com. Robert Wilson is also available from the contacts page on this website.
I think that most farmers in the area have had a pretty easy autumn and crops are already planted up for harvest 2014. Please could members log in to their pages and submit their planting intentions as soon as possible so that our marketing agents, Frontier Agriculture, can get some idea of the prospects for next year. Looking forward to a kinder season, I hope you have a restful winter and prosperous new year.
Jonathan Bentall 4th November 2013
