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Testimonials

Dear John & all at Woldgrain,

“Thanks to you and your team and your excellent hauliers. You’ve made harvest easy and probably kept us viable as smaller farmers. Yes the service comes at a cost, as does everything, but it’s paid for itself several times over in quality uplift and in not having our hands forced as partial early sellers to clear our own inadequate storage space. 115 tonnes of wheat consigned from here today and within an hour I have a statement of exact tonnage available for me to market at a time of my choosing with no further effort required from ourselves other than picking up the phone. Brilliant. Wish we’d joined years ago.”

J.P

Thank you...

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Dear John,

Thank you very much for your kind invite to share in your post harvest celebration, it was a great night and good to see all those involved with Woldgrain in a less formal environment.

My main reason for emailing is to pass on my thanks for the season, I am slightly disappointed that I did not say anything on the night but thought that is was maybe not my place to interfere with proceedings.

The whole experience of dealing with Woldgrain this year has been a very positive one. As you well know we are not the most straight forward of businesses having 10 farms running through one office but all keeping their own identities. Despite all this there has been very few complications and this is down to the staff at Woldgrain who have gone out of their way to make it work. From the pre harvest visits from Dan to get an idea of all the loading points to the work Nikki put in to getting the Blackcat system working so as we could view all our samples from one log in. Whenever I have visited the lab during harvest (usually on the scrounge for a moisture check) the lab staff have been excellent and the atmosphere was of extremely busy but very enjoyable. The text system letting us know what loads had been sampled kept us informed of the quality of what we were combining and we could then decide to change variety or continue as planned. By keeping you informed of what our plans were in advance it allowed you to keep crop moving off farm which logistically was a must for us to keep combines rolling. All the drivers I met were polite and helpful and were integral to system working.

Once again could you please pass our thanks on to all the Woldgrain team and congratulate them on making what could have been a very difficult harvest for both parties who have gone through significant change, into a rather smooth one as far as crop movements go.

flagleaf-logoMany Thanks

Jim and James Beeden – Flagleaf Farming – Welton

£1 spent on drying and cleaning the grain added at least £2...

We started cutting an 80ac block of milling wheat on the 12th of August. We finished it on the 23rd September at an appalling moisture, but at least we got it in. The grain “looked” fairly nice, and tests in the lab at Woldgrain showed that it would make full milling spec……if it wasn’t 25.1% moisture and 66kg bushel weight. I spoke with Lindsay and we agreed to have it go through their drying setup. Woldgrain removed almost 10t of water from my grain, but turned corn that wouldn’t come out of the back of our trailer without help (let alone flow through our on-farm drier) into grain that tested at 76+kg, 14% protein & moisture and high hagbergs. I would estimate that every £1 we spent on drying and cleaning the grain has added at least £2 of value,and turned a heap of unsalable mush into a much sought after pile of UK milling wheat.

Initially I was very sceptical of sending grain to Woldgrain, despite it being on my doorstep. Now I wouldn’t consider storing milling wheat on my own farm. Every year things just get that bit better.  All things considered, I don’t think I can cart, dry, condition, store and handle any premium crops on-farm for the money we pay for Woldgrain to do it.

Woldgrain provided a very good collection service

Woldgrain this year provided a very good collection service for my grain.  In the difficulties of the 2012 harvest knowing that lorries where ready to collect the grain as soon as it was harvested was a great reassurance.  The fact that they where willing and able to send enough lorries to keep up with the output of my two big combines meant we could keep cutting and not have to compromise harvest output.

Terry Metson – Farm Manager Leverton Farms Ltd.

Woldgrain service is second to none

Lingrain Storage has been a member of Woldgrain since 2009.
The service Woldgrain Storage gives us at harvest is second to none, we have members’ with no covered storage and they require field to store movement when harvesting, in three seasons Woldgrain have never let us down.We  also send milling wheat  varieties to Woldgrain for the value added opportunities the store and the marketing agent create, in a year like this one using Woldgrain Storage has given us many benefits.

Adrian Morrell – Head of Stores Services

Tenant farmer increases yield

I write in support of the application for grant to Woldgrain Storage Ltd. I am a founder member of the company and have gradually increased our tonnage share to 1000 tonnes as yields of crops have improved and acreage farmed has increased.I think the greatest advantage Woldgrain gives me is that, being a tenant farmer my landlord is unwilling to financially aid the building of a store on farm. When I built a grain drier on farm 30 years ago my landlord agent would only offer ‘’verbal encouragement’’. I believe there will be increased membership of tenant farmers as their existing stores become unusable.
Also I hope to purchase more tonnage in the future as I wish to phase out the use of a low store on the farm. It is inconvenient as trailers cannot be tipped to the full height, it is labour intensive and quite unhealthy because of dust and too slow to fill and cannot keep up with output of modern combine. It is also in the village and close to houses giving noise annoyance.
I do not have any livestock on the farm at the moment but believe that because of the need for traceability it will become unacceptable to store grain temporarily in a livestock building or use equipment which is also used for livestock management thus more livestock farmers will need to buy into Woldgrain.
In our farm stores blending of the grain is impossible whereas at Woldgrain it is easy and future facilities will give many more opportunities for adding value and opening up greater possibilities of contracts with end users for grain of a certain known specification.
This gives me a definite advantage over other farmers on farm storage as does the ability to reduce costs with economy of scale and increase the ability to employ good and efficient staff which is vital to any successful business.
To summarise we hope to increase our tonnage share as we expect to expand acreages and yields of crops. Woldgrain can give us so many benefits and efficiencies that we cannot achieve on the farm or with ex farm sales and as tenants my son and I will be able to sell our tonnage on retirement for a fair market price rather than have the value revert to the landlord. The expansion of Woldgrain and building of facilities for a further 26,000 tonnes is very important for the future of our farm business and equally important for many farmers in the area. I do not hesitate to support the grant application.

Yours sincerely
Michael Anyan – Springthorpe

Tascc registered store

In terms of why do we need to support the expansion of the Woldgrain Storage Facicility is as follows:
The supply chain is highly efficient on the down stream side of agriculture and that will be driven further back up the supply chain. So we need to be able to have a facility that can operate 24/7, blend to a spec that the processors require if we in North Lincolnshire are going to be able to carry on supplying to them in the future.
In terms of sustainability it is key that we can process a large amount of grain through one facility, have a state of the art sampling facility to match the requirements of a modern food supply chain.
Investment in Woldgrain has allowed us to extend our marketing period from 3 to 10 months, as we can now store grain to maximize the marketing opportunity that occurs during the course of a trading season. (eg a 50 pound movement per 100 tons=5,000.00) Growing quality grains one requires high quality storage,  which is not economical in on farm storage facility  for an average farmer.
Benefits to working with other members in terms of storage is very beneficial as it reduces the cost per ton, it allows your grain to be sold at the correct specific quality consistently through your contracts of sales, allows me to as a member to focus on marketing and allows my grain to be stored in a Tasc registered store rather than an assured store which is lower quality scheme.
By investing in a flag ship store you are assured of continual investment in a modern store that meets the demands of a modern food supply chain.
Yours sincerely

Richard Milligan-Manby

Economies of scale really do add up!

For years I had very little tonnage at Woldgrain and I believe many members used the store for their over spill and smaller commodities they couldn’t easily accommodate on their own farms.  However, over the years this has changed.

From around 18,000 Tonnes in a very small space time Woldgrain is now capable of handling over 60,000.  Not only does it manage this but it does it much better than before, with far quicker intake times.  This is essential at harvest when time is at a premium.  Large amounts of corn can be removed from the farm in a very short space of time.  On top of this the hauliers are a lot happier which again helps how the store is seen from the outside.

The economics of this can already be seen in that the store charges per tonne are now only a fraction of previous levels.  These savings will increase further if the store expands to its current vision of over 80,000 Tonnes.

With increased tonnage also comes improvements in infrastructure such as dryers and cleaners.   In a year such as this it has made big improvements to the bushel weights of the wheat and in so doing reduces enormously the deductions made on specific weights.  This money is collected by the store and of course is then effectively the member’s money, either distributed or helping to build up the balance sheet.

Further improvements needed will be the laboratory and weigh bridges.  As with all successful operations, it is difficult to get everything to grow at the same pace and in Woldgrains’ case it is now these items that are the weak link and need upgrading.

Grant aid was one of the main drivers in the original expansion and this has been used extremely well.  Further grant aiding would be helpful to carry on the vision to help complete Woldgrains’ existing plans and so aid all its existing and hopefully new members.

Fred H Myers – Company Director – Leverton Farms Ltd

Central Storage Proves Beneficial

We are pleased to learn of your ongoing plans for the continued development of Woldgrain Storage Limited (WSL) that will be essential to enable members to capture the true value of their produce and to meet the needs of our cereal supply chains.
The introduction of the RDPE programme in 2008 has proved to be the catalyst required to develop collaborative facilities such as proposed by WSL. Through our own strategic partnership with 13 similar businesses throughout the UK we have witnessed not only significant growth but as importantly collated robust evidence demonstrating how, as a result of investment in modern technology and through more collaborative working, benefits have accrued to individual farmers, store employees and consumers.  This has been made possible because central storage, when compared to farm based storage, delivers more efficient and responsive food supply chains. Furthermore it benefits our wider society through the provision of public goods such as reduced carbon emissions and less food waste.
Without doubt the harvest of 2012 has proved to be one of the most challenging that all of us have experienced. It was a year of extremes that tested the robustness of our store network not just on behalf of the 1,780 farmer members who own it but as importantly the ability to out-load product to customers to meet their requirement both in terms of quantity & quality.  Strategic investments such as your proposal are crucial, not just in storage that is essential to aid efficient year round delivery but more importantly the load by load analysis to segregate crops accordingly.  This is where the true value lies combined with the economies of scale and the strategic partnership not just with Openfield but the horizontal collaboration between the other stores in the network.
This harvest over a million tonnes has been delivered into our store network having to deal with specific weights ranging from 78kg to 52kg, intake moistures in some cases over 30%, some high mycotoxin wheat crops particularly after maize and all manner of malting barley qualities. Prompt uplift of product from farms in ex combine condition or direct delivery to stores such as WSL is vital in order to segregate the crops appropriately. The experience of the on-site staff in this respect is also key.
With some 20% of UK farm facilities now approaching the end of their useful life this harvest season has exposed the lack of processing infrastructure on many arable farms and the inability to meet the requirements of the processors & subsequently the consumer. Reinvestment is necessary although a piece meal approach across individual farm units, whilst partially addressing the need of the grower, will not address the needs of other parties in the chain.
Reinvestment in your ongoing development from new & existing members in North Lincolnshire and your wider catchment is therefore wholly appropriate. However whilst it is important for your members to retain the local identity with WSL further increase in scale is essential to secure the marketing leverage required by growers in our food supply chains. With Openfield also owned by British farmers and now marketing some 20% of the UK crop our structure allows your members to access markets that WSL as a standalone business would not be able to. As growers, the closer we can get to the end consumer and to understand their real requirements the greater the value we are likely to capture. In order to do so it is essential to secure the trust and confidence of all parties involved.
However without the local ongoing investment in infrastructure such as you now propose the efficient delivery of raw material through our cereal supply chains will be compromised. In such a competitive environment we must continue to reduce the waste and inefficiency of some of our current practices and we therefore wholeheartedly support your project and your application for assistance to ensure that it can be delivered.

R J Sanderson – Head of Central Store Development OPENFIELD

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