THE UK’s second largest co-operative grain store has unveiled the first phase of a £2.5m state-of-the-art upgrade ready for this year’s harvest.

The upgrade will kick start this year’s harvest on a positive note for more than 100 farm members of Coastal Grains, in Northumberland, where the new facilities, at Belford will have significantly boosted the site’s grain drying, testing and handling abilities.

This first phase of site improvements has doubled Coastal’s grain handling capacity on its first drier, a Svegma 6m drier rated at 80 tonnes per hour removing 5% moisture at 100ºC, nominally 100tph on feed wheat.

Once the total of three new dryers have all been installed, Coastal will be able to dry up to 240 tonnes of grain per hour whihc, together with the introduction of top laboratory testing equipment, means that the co-operative’s facilities are as good – if not better – than those used by anyone in the country, according to the company. Chief executive Terence Pardoe said: “The upgraded facility is all about quality control – it co-ordinates Coastal’s testing and specs with that of its buyers.

“Users are looking to procure product from homogenous grains storage which cooperative central stores are capable of providing. Grain standard is similar time after time. They’re getting a known specification and a product they can set their equipment to and know they are getting consistently the same product.

“We test produce that comes straight from the farm prior to tipping so that the grain ends up in the right bin and with the right quality. We test grain as it comes in from the farm as well as before it goes out to be processed.”

The co-operative, which was set up in 1982, is mainly made up of members from within a 30-mile radius of Belford but is also used by farmers from the Scottish Borders and as far south as Hexham in the south east Northumberland. Initially able to store 10,000 tonnes of grain, Coastal’s capacity currently stands at 100,000 tonnes. The site can handle and segregate up to 60 different types of conventional and organic grain at any one time.

The first phase has created one new job, boosting numbers to nine full time and nine part time staff, with plans for a further position in the future.