Silo closures increasing pressure on larger sites

PIRSA's latest Crop & Pasture Report estimated the 2020-21 SA harvest at 8.8 million tonnes - the fourth biggest on record - but after the permanent closure of 16 SA Viterra sites in June last year, and 12 more in March, the Viterra network has been reduced to 55 sites.

Viterra operations manager Michael Hill said Viterra's larger sites were "more efficient on receival and outturn", and provided a "higher level of service and greater flexibility". Lock, Port Lincoln, Roseworthy, and Tailem Bend - four of Viterra's largest sites - have all broken their respective daily receival records this harvest.

But Roberstown mixed farmer Aaron Niemz, who was disappointed following the permanent closure of the Robertstown silo last year, said the concentration on the larger sites had left many farmers in his area feeling "disgruntled".

"The frustrating part is driving past a perfectly good facility (at Robertstown) which has been abandoned, to wait in line for nearly four hours at Eudunda," he said.

"It's not the people's fault that work at the site, it's slow capacity of the intake of the silos there, which we always knew was going to be the case seeing as the bunkers at Eudunda have closed.

With the Robertstown silos closed, Mr Niemz carts to both Saddleworth and Eudunda, but said a number of farmers in his area were carting to Roseworthy instead.

"There are a few farmers who run multiple trucks, they cart as much to Roseworthy as they do to Eudunda, even though Roseworthy is further away, just because of the better turnaround time there," he said.

With 2020 being a better season than last year, Mr Niemz said the subsequent need to deliver more grain meant the effects of the closure were being felt more so this year than in 2019.

"There is so much pressure being put on the smaller sites, and with all this extra grain being delivered, wait times are certainly longer this year," he said.

Further north, Grains Producers SA director and Appila farmer James Heaslip said croppers in the area were "well-serviced" and had multiple grain delivery options, despite Melrose, Gulnare, Orroroo and Redhill Viterra sites all now closed.

"Viterra's Gladstone site has been upgraded in the past few years, and ADM Grain at Port Pirie and GrainFlow at Crystal Brook have been really competitive price-wise and have given growers multiple options," he said.

FOUR Viterra sites on the northern Eyre Peninsula were permanently closed in March, in addition to six closed last year, but locals said the closures had been "handled well".

Minnipa farmer Matt Cook - who now delivers to Wudinna after his local Minnipa silo was closed last year - said the four sites touted by Viterra as "strategic sites" were keeping up with deliveries.

"Those sites (Wirrulla, Streaky Bay, Poochera and Wudinna) have been able to keep up, there are good personel running these shows who are managing to cope with the increased amount of grain being delivered this year, compared to last," he said.

"Wudinna have stackers that are outdated and secondhand, that is holding up some truckies pretty badly, but overall, I don't have a lot of complaints."

Koongawa farmer and Wudinna and Lock silo committee chairman Aaron Grocke said a lot of farmers in the area had invested in bigger trucks or carriers, now that they had to travel further to deliver grain.

Mr Grocke used to deliver grain to Kyancutta before the site closed, but has now bought a road train to deliver about three-quarters of his grain to Lock.

"When you're travelling longer distances, you need decent machines, and with good crops you don't want to pull the header up because you're waiting for trucks, all of a sudden you have to employ contract carriers as well," he said.

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"With the T-Ports base at Lock, there are two opportunities to deliver there, having that competition is really important."

Viterra operations manager Michael Hill said while individual sites would be assessed on a case-by case basis, no further site closures were imminent.

"We will continue to monitor grower needs and delivery patterns, the changing environment, the capital investment required at these sites and how we best operate our business to meet customers' needs," he said.

"Each year we invest around $40 million on capital expenditure into our sites where it will create the greatest value for our grower customers.

"In the last five years, we have added more than one million tonnes of storage capacity to our network including 50,000t at Cummins, 42,000t at Snowtown and 15,000t this harvest at Frances."

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