For Andy Tucker, his 5500-tonne farm storage infrastructure supports his flexible approach to his 100 per cent broadacre cropping business, while helping to maximise returns.
Farming at Maroona, “on the doorstep” of the dairy industry in south-west Victoria, his cone-based silo and shed storage system enables him to sell grain directly to the feed and export markets at a time and price that best suits him.
“We’ve got five highly competitive bulk handling sites in our area and they’re good operators, but holding grain on-farm means we have access to hundreds of buyers 24 hours a day,” Andy says.
It is not only at the point of sale where the storage system shows its worth. During the season, it provides Andy with the flexibility to manage his operations to extract optimum value from his crops.
His 3000 hectare farming system is spread over 30 kilometres east to west and involves an “opportunistic” rotation of red wheat, white wheat and canola, as well as faba beans and barley, depending on the season.
Generally filled and emptied twice a year, his 2500t gas-tight silos provide critical surge capacity and enable harvesting to occur when the grain is at its optimum. Meanwhile, the 3000t-capacity shed adds another layer of versatility with its ability to hold grain, fertiliser or machinery as required.
“We tend to be early harvesters for our area and if we didn’t have storage, we couldn’t have headers rolling,” Andy says.
For example, in 2023, a lack of on-farm storage would have led to significant losses. “About 2000t of canola came through the silos, which allowed the headers to keep operating outside of receival site opening hours,” he says. “If I was relying on these sites alone, then last year we would have struggled to finish harvest.”
On-site storage capacity also ensures grain can be harvested in peak condition.
We test all day and if we get to 6pm and the moisture level is right we can harvest until 2am because we have somewhere to put the grain.
This year, knowing he would have harvest flexibility and storage capacity – and with the added benefit of new long-season varieties – he took advantage of the rain in early April and planted a greater proportion of long-season red wheat (RGT Cesario) in the rotation.
“We wanted to maximise the moisture when it was available and we are rapt that we did because it meant that we got all our crop in and up,” he says. “In our cropping system, it pays to sow early because input costs are always the same, but our production capacity can be pruned enormously.”
Given the rising cost of inputs as well as grain storage infrastructure and associated labour costs, maximising production and subsequent returns is critical.
While it has been beneficial and profitable for him, Andy observes that any investment in grain storage needs to be weighed against the costs of financing and operating the facility.
“I’m very pro-grain storage but the costs to finance it are massive,” he says. He notes that for him it was the right decision in 2019, but he is less sure that the numbers would stack up quite as well today, highlighting the pivotal role that timing plays in decision-making.
Read also: