Chris Dowse of Sutton Estates, Vice Chairman and a member of Woldgrain Storage Ltd speaks about his experience trying to build grain storage on his farm.
“Planners are becoming harder to please and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get planning permission. I thought it would be cheaper to run but I don’t think you can ever work out the real cost, I estimated building a storage system from scratch before running it would cost £170-£180 per tonne.”
Richard Milligan-Manby of Manby Farms, the Chairman and a member of Woldgrain Storage Ltd explains why he decided not to renovate existing buildings on his farm into grain storage facilities.
“Using central storage is buying into a vision of the next 20 years. The supply chain is changing and becoming more sophisticated and regulated and will demand that grain comes from a central store like Woldgrain Storage. Before committing to this investment we reviewed the options of converting modern cattle buildings into on floor bulk drying. This basic storage was priced at £125/t. The Woldgrain investment will be far better value and will increase our marketing opportunities as we will have access to high specification facilities which will allow us to add value to our end product.”