The Cyclone Silos brand will be relaunched as SilOz after a Riverina agribusiness bought out the Infrabuild facility at Jindera, north of Albury, where Cyclone Silos have been manufactured since the the mid-1980s.
Optimum Silos, which has branches at Young and Wagga Wagga, has been a distributor of Cyclone products for over 30 years, now directors of Optimum Silos Joel and Peter Murphy have made the decision to step in and invest in the Jindera manufacturing business.
Bucking the trend of pushing manufacturing offshore, the Optimum investment in the Jindera facility is a vote of confidence in regional Australia's manufacturing capacity.
Joel Murphy said Cyclone Silos had been manufacturing at Jindera since 1984.
He said while the range of silos would be rebranded to the SilOz name the 20 workers at the former Infrabuild facility would all retain their jobs.
When offered the chance to purchase the facility he said the company had jumped at the opportunity.
"We are passionate about the brand, it's quality and servicing farmers with the utmost integrity."
"SilOz will continue to be committed to providing a trusted product to deliver
sealed silos to the Australian grain industry."
Using Australian raw materials is a key focus for the new owners of the facility.
"We know we can produce the highest quality product in Australia for Australian grain growers," Joel said.
"The products we manufacture in Australia are made from a high level of Australian made steel products, we remain committed to supporting the Australian manufacturing industry through our supply chains, which includes sourcing from Bluescope Steel, which is considered one of the highest quality steels in the world."
He said modern farmers, committed to improving both stored grain quality and safety would be happy with the package offered with the new SilOz range.
"The structural integrity of the SilOz silo meets Australian and European structural engineering standards focusing on sealed silos, safe access and safe mechanical equipment."
The Cyclone Silo team were busy in recent years upgrading their designs to meet the changing requirements of Australian grain growers and their production systems.
This has included improvements to the ability to load in high wind situations, better structural integrity and an increased focus on sealed storage.
Joel said the SilOz range would fit in with the specialist grain handling equipment offered by Optimum, including augers, aeration and fumigation gear.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
