A Lincolnshire farmer is offering grain processing services to other growers and grain merchants – helping to add value to their crops. Harry Strawson, who farms at Waterton Hall Farm, near Scunthorpe, upgraded his on-farm processing plant following problems with ergot. Now he is cleaning and sorting grain for other farmers too.
Mr Strawson initially approached grain handling and storage experts McArthur BDC about installing a colour sorter to handle just his own crop. But he soon realised that a larger sorter and a new fine cleaner would create wider benefits.
Bigger investment
Although it meant a bigger investment, Mr Strawson knew a bigger facility would let him leverage the investment in his existing drying and storage facilities – by offering contract drying, cleaning, separating and grain sorting services.
Rather than a basic processing system, Mr Strawson opted to install a JK Machinery VibroMAX vibrating sieve cleaner alongside the biggest available 10 chute Bühler Spark Pro colour sorter.
“The McArthur BDC team immediately understood the need to integrate the new equipment with that already installed in the existing plant, so that I was able to maximise the return on my original investment.”
Grain is sent straight to store or transported to the previously installed Aagaard pre-cleaner and Svegma 40tph continuous flow dryer. If the Svegma is full, grain is taken to the existing storage bins until it can be fed into the dryer.
Colour sorter
Grain stored for other farmers or grain merchants goes from the intake through the Aagaard pre-cleaner into storage bins. From there, it goes to the VibroMAX vibrating sieve cleaner for fine cleaning, before being fed through the Spark Pro colour sorter.
Grain is passed through the VibroMAX before being colour sorted. This enables the Spark Pro to handle up to 50 tonnes per hour – with each of its 10 chutes able to cope with up to 5tph.
“The capacity of the Spark Pro means that we can sort grain which arrives by lorry in around 40 minutes,” explained Mr Strawson. “The driver tips into the intake and then reverses into the bay and can then take a break. Once his load has been cleaned and sorted it is discharged directly into the lorry and is ready to go.”
The existing Skandia Elevator grain handling equipment has been extended to include two belt and bucket elevators and one chain and flight conveyor to transport grain to and from the VibroMAX and the spark Pro.
“We can remotely access the plant’s control panel from the office and see exactly what is happening, control the route we want the grain to take and make any necessary tweaks,” said Mr Strawson.
Expertise
“Drawing on the expertise of the McArthur BDC team means we can add real value to our own crop by fine cleaning, separating and colour sorting on farm.”
With the capacity of processing grain at up to 50tph, and having obtained TASCC assurance, Waterton Hall Farm now offers contract grain processing services to both farmers and grain merchants, through its new enterprise WHF Clean Grain.
“I can’t overestimate the importance of working with a supplier of grain processing solutions, which is much more than just a supplier,” said Mr Strawson. “The knowledge of the McArthur BDC team and their experience was invaluable in ensuring we were able to install the equipment that met our individual requirements.”
For full details about the grain processing service, please visit www.whfcleangrain.co.uk