Wessex Grain invests £2.4m in time for harvest

Wessex Grain has invested £2.4m in improved grain stores for this season, boosting its total capacity by almost 50%, to 73,000t.

The new stores, opened earlier this month, will halve grain intake times, the co-operative said.

Upgrades include two new 2,000t silos, two 1,000t silos and a 17,000t flat store with 7m high grain walling. With the help of a 35% Rural Development Programme grant, Wessex Grain has also installed new electronics and computers, with faster elevators and conveyors, to improve levels of monitoring and control. “This new storage offers us great flexibility,” said managing director Simon Wilcox. “We will now be able to segregate different commodities and grades better, so we can enhance value for our farmers and offer our customers a better service.”

The co-op would be able to take 23,000t more grain at harvest, and could now load a 2,000t ship at Poole in just one day, he added.