Six new silos at Naracoorte are increasing the viability of malt barley as a crop for Limestone Coast farmers.
TE Storage and Logistics owner and director Tom Hage said the six large, flat-bottomed, fully sealed silos provide local producers storage for high-return crops such as malt barley, which is needed for domestic and international beer production.
The barley is stored at the silos before being transported to Cargill Malt Asia Pacific at Port Adelaide.
There, it is malted before being delivered to brewers.
The six silos, with combined capacity of 9390 tonnes, were built after TE Storage and Logistics received a $250,000 Regional Development Fund grant from the South Australian Government towards the $2.5 million project in November 2015.
“The grant gave us much-needed capital that allowed us to expand and provide a foundation for the growth of the malt barley industry in this region,” Mr Hage said.
“Farmers can grow more and deliver more. Their grain is stored in better conditions, leading to a better product.”
Mr Hage said the Naracoorte expansion supported local producers in a region where efficient storage and transport of produce is critical to meeting the demands of customers further along the supply chain.
“We’re the only storage facility for malt barley between Millicent and Keith,” Mr Hage said.
“Our presence here allows local growers to deliver increased volumes of specialised, higher-returning crops.”
As the storage capacity has grown, so has the workforce. Three years ago, Mr Hage was one of two people working fulltime for the company; now, he has six full-time and three part-time staff members supporting him.
TE Storage also stores edible beans in an 8,000-tonne shed. In addition, it has 10 126-tonne upright silos in which it stores a CSIRO-developed gluten-free barley, released in 2016, that is exported to Germany.