Grain trading, storage and handling group Emerald Grain will triple the storage capacity of its Edenhope grain storage and receival site before harvest.
Emerald Grain will add 40,000 tonnes of storage and receival capacity to the 17,000 tonne site which it operates in partnership with Hollands in the Southern Wimmera.
“We are building two large storage sheds which will more than triple the site’s intake capacity to around 60,000 tonnes,” Emerald Grain Group General Manager – Supply Chain & Operations John Warda said.
“Through investment in additional road hoppers and by offering faster turnaround times we hope to attract more grain growers and more grain buyers to the site.”
He said the new investment was in line with Emerald Grain’s strategy to build on partnerships with local businesses to help keep profits in local communities.
“Hollands have been operating a farm in Edenhope for nearly 30 years and have operated storage facilities for 13 years. They are well known in the local area.
“This investment will help to expand the business while also providing local growers with a much higher-quality grain receival facility.”
Mr Warda said Emerald Grain’s accumulation business in Victoria, SQP Grain, would be actively buying grain at the newly-expanded site this harvest through its Horsham office.
“All our sites remain open-access and we should see some good competition for local grower’s grain at Edenhope.”
The site currently services around 80 growers in areas between Naracoorte, Casterton, Hamilton and Horsham. It is linked by road to the Portland export terminal as well as local markets throughout Victoria and South Australia.
Edenhope site manager and owner Di Holland said Emerald’s investment was welcome and would be a positive step for local growers.
“We are pleased Emerald has been able to invest in the local area and help us expand. The site will now be able to accept a wider variety of segregations and offer faster turnaround times.”
Emerald Grain has 14 up-country storage sites across New South Wales and Victoria with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. In addition, it operates the Melbourne Port Terminal which last year achieved record throughput of 1.4 million tonnes of grain.