As on-farm storage, and the associated aeration, cooling and drying, become increasingly popular across the Australian grains industry, many growers wonder whether such a system suits their particular farm enterprise.

Backed by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPI&F) economists Jim Page and Rod Strahan have developed a decision-support package that will help them do it.

According to Rod Strahan, the “Storing Dollars” computer program will do more than allow growers and their  to work out the financial costs and benefits of drying grain and using aerated storage on-farm.

Rod says “Storing Dollars” can also analyse risk, showing the chances of the storage and drying activities being financially successfully for a particular farm.

Grain storage might be of little benefit during dry harvests but could pay for itself quite quickly if wet harvest conditions are experienced.

The financial benefits of storing and drying grain come from reducing yield and quality losses, the ability to blend grain to achieve a higher price and the opportunity to store grain to take advantage of rising market prices.

Rod says grain drying and storage capacity can be particularly beneficial in higher rainfall cropping areas like the eastern Darling Downs of Queensland and the Liverpool Plains of NSW, where there is a higher risk of weather damage and where winter and summer cropping allow greater use of storage capacity.

However some farmers might be surprised by the effects of small price and yield changes on the profitability of a farm storage system.

“Storing Dollars” lets growers incorporate their own estimates of yield, yield reliability and market prices, rather than generic numbers, with the information then used to calculate the probability of a profitable result for a particular farm.

Once the data is entered into the computer model, the grower or consultant can determine the impact of management decisions simply by changing any of the variables, like the impact of holding grain and selling sometime in the future.

The program considers capital and operating costs, yield, seasonal variation and market prices to provide a 10-year profitability estimate for an appropriately sized storage and drying system.

In the end, though, Rod stresses that again it is the case of “the nut behind the wheel” for grain storage to be profitable. Changes in harvest management and marketing practices are needed to achieve the benefits to make storage a viable investment.

Rod says that. while the team that produced “Storing Dollars” is confident the program is grower friendly, team members will liaise with early purchasers to check that it really is so.  

The “Storing Dollars” CD costs $220, plus postage of $10.30, from the QDPI&F Bookshop at www.dpi.qld.gov.au/shop or the Call Centre on 132523 or 1800 816 541.