Murrumbidgee Grain Services (MGS) directors John Carroll and Peter Hassall are grain storage and warehousing agents for growers and buyers.

Between them they have 45 years’ experience in the grain game.

“It is something I have known and done for a long time. While we have other business interests in Wagga, this our area of expertise,” Mr Carroll said.

They had worked together previously on other grain receival sites in the area.

The grain storage facility features two 1500t silos and four 1700t silos which are all aerated and have an intake capacity of 120 tonnes an hour.

The site, which has eight segregation areas, also has a 9000t capacity grain shed. It also has a 120t weight bridge and fully equipped sample stand.

MGS is welcome news for growers around Wagga, as the closest grain receival depots are the sub terminal at Junee and The Rock.

“There are a lot of grain growers with a lot of acreage in this area that have to travel long distances to deliver their grain,” Mr Hassall said.

“Being close to Wagga we can help the farmers and buyers save on freight costs.”

To ensure grower confidence they have taken on a five-year lease with Peter Rodney, Rodney’s Transport, Wagga, with the option to extend for another five years.

Mr Carroll and Mr Hassall will both work on-site at the Bomen Business Park facility, with more staff to be employed in the busy harvest period.

Mr Hassall expects most of the grain coming to the facility in this harvest would be wheat and barley.

MGS services stretch well beyond the hectic harvest period, with year-round grain throughput.

Mr Carroll said being on site at the Rodney Transport Complex allowed growers to access trucks for on-farm pick-up from the depot.

Trucks were also available to cart grain to ports and capital cities.

MGS held a grower information session at Wagga last week, with Mr Hassall reporting most growers were happy with the season’s progression.

Broadacre grower Andrew Dumaresq, “Gregadoo Park”, Forest Hill, on the eastern outskirts of Wagga, said he was pleased there was a local option for grain storage available.

Mr Dumaresq said it would make a significant difference to his freight costs and travel turnaround time for grain delivery.

“We would have had to deliver the grain to Junee or Coolamon if this didn’t open for harvest,” he said.

The Wagga site is only 12 kilometres from his property – just an hour round trip – whereas his other nearest options would take upwards of two hours.

He will soon harvest 1600 hectares of crop, comprising 1200ha of wheat, 240ha of canola and 160ha of lupins.

He is in the midst of windrowing his canola, and said unfortunately the wheat fell one rain short of a good year.

– Cara Jeffery, The Land

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Make hay while the sun shines, protect it

GRAIN growers everywhere are keeping a watchful eye on the weather, with a very large harvest looming coupled with the possibility of unsettled weather and storage systems still holding last year’s crop.

The main focus is getting the crop off and into storage as soon as possible.

Polytex tarpaulins are a major supplier of Grain Storage Bunker Covers and they are strongly recommending for grain growers to look ahead and be ready with the covers they require for the on-farm storage of their grain, avoiding both the potential for delayed receivable and the possibility of delay in securing bunker covers at the peak of harvest.

Polytex is known for promptly supplying covers when you need them, especially when rain is predicted, but, as always it pays to be prepared.

Also from Polytex is a new innovation for hay producers. The Ratch-e-tarp which proved itself as a great time-saver in the last cotton harvest.

The Ratch-e-tarp is fitted securely to a stack of hay bales using webbing ratchets and over a 40-foot stack it only needs centre tie downs to fasten it against wind.

The Ratch-e-tarp. like the larger-sleeved hay tarps, does not rely on eyelets for securing down.

Polytex maintains through long experience that eyelets are not sufficient to secure a hay tarp again constant winds. With ropes and tarps coming loose it always results in wind flap damage to your tarp.

The lesson to be learnt with any covers, tarps or shelters is keep it tight to protect it from damage, thus protecting the product that it is covering.

Polytex is always available to discuss your requirements, and subscribes to the motto of “keeping you covered – rain, hail or shine”.

Phone 1300 059 003

Fax 1300 858 626

Email info@polytex.net.au

Website www.polytex.net.au

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Ventilation made easy

FUMIGATE sealed silos from the safety of ground level – no more climbing ladders, no more chemical residue falling into the silo – and allow fresh air to be drawn into the silo from ground level with equipment from Silo Ventilation Systems.

Insert tablets and remove the chemical residue from the tablets and safely dispose of the residue at ground level.

The new air intake vents (AIV BB) model is now available. This unit is manufactured from poly ethylene with stainless steel being plastic fusion welded on to end of the unit for greater protection. There is no contact between the stored commodity and the chemical applied in the air intake vent canister.

The AIVs have a dual role – when not being used for silo fumigation by leaving the outside sealed lid undone, fresh air is drawn into the silo at ground level and with the aid of a Silo Ventilation Systems damper unit located on top of the silo, this creates a passive air movement through the silo, heat, humidity and condensation are drawn upwards and exhausted out the top of the silo.

The AIV can be retro-fitted to any sized silo and there are no running costs with the air intake vents.

The number of air intake vents required per silo depends on the silos storage capacity.

Silos up to 50 tonnes require one AIV?BB, silos between 51t and 200t require two AIV?BBs and silos from 201t to 300t require three AIV?BBs.

For larger sealed silos there is another product available. AIV BBs cost $186 plus GST per unit.

For further information on the products available, please contact Silo Ventilation Systems.

Go to 1 Stuart Rd, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650

Post to P.O. Box 79, Quambatook, Vic, 3540

Phone 1300 784 904

Visit www.silovent.com

Email john@silovent.com