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"When you are moving these quantities of grain over the distances we operate you need lorries, not trailers, and it wouldn't be the first time someone had tipped an artic trailer and punched a hole straight through the roof,"
Kevin chuckled. That simply won't be a problem in the new Attwood store, an impressive facility for an on-farm unit.
The total cost of the scheme, including the concrete work by Torran Construction, the electrics by BMS Electrical and the Parkerfarm weighbridge came to around£300,000 – a considerable investment on top of the £80,000 dryer a year earlier.
Kevin said the contractors had all worked well, but pointed out that after the past few years of rock-bottom grain prices, good work should not come as a surprise.
"There really shouldn't be any poor performers out there by now," he commented. "With the industry being hit as hard as cereal farming has been, only the best have come through it."
For those who have "come through it", the future is looking bright, with forward wheat prices edging above £150 a tonne and oilseed above £310 for autumn 2008.
"Hopefully this is a permanent shift in values rather than a short-term blip, as the other side of the equation is a rapid rise in some input prices," Kevin commented.
What the new store has given him is control over how and when he markets the crop. He estimates that he sells an average of 1,000 tonnes of grain a month - "but exactly how much and when I sell is a matter of judgment, and that's where being able to dry it efficiently and store as much as I like makes all the difference by removing any pressure for harvest movement."
With the United States steadily switching more and more land into maize production for bio-fuel, a succession of droughts hitting the Australian crop and the Chinese demand for a new diet continuing to increase demand for cereal, investing in marketing flexibility looks like a good move.
And for Kevin, the investment is not yet complete. Phase three of his ambitious plan involves connecting the new continuous flow dryer, which currently serves the original 2,000 tonne grain store, to the new store. Conditioning the grain is another important consideration for the Attwood concern. The new building is supplied with Lishman low volume grain pedestals to ensure that once dry – or if it has simply been harvested on a hot day - the grain can quickly be brought down to a cool enough temperature for storing.
"It's not just about being able to store larger quantities of the crop but about keeping it in the best possible condition."
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