- Location
- Lincolnshire
Most of the big players here have bought central storage. It’s a good well run facility though. Can’t speak for other areas.
I think you are right. If we stop using our old system it will be central storage for us. Storage standards will only get tighter so we will leave it to the experts. Load it once and it’s gone.
From what I understand, and somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but when you buy a share in central storage you can actually sell it again for example when you retire so it’s not actually dead money as such and probably better than a deteriorating grain store in your own yard with all the associated running and maintenance costs. No way we could justify the outlay for a state of the art system here on our own premises.
please don’t assume cash spent on CS will ever be seen again or depend on it for your retirement
ask you bank manager if they will lend for it secured just against the storage ! and read a few of the numerous threads on tff about it, that should tell you all you need to know
You would think it was an appreciating asset the way it’s portrayed on some firms websites, but if it’s unrecoverable that’s purely academic.
I haven’t looked into it in detail as I value my own independence to move dry and store grain entirely under my own control.
If my facilities fail inspection and can’t be bodged up economically then I will probably go opico and pedestals. Not sure I want to commit non recoverable sums to a central store at this stage in my farming career.
Can sympathise with the OP. A dilemma for many of us up and down the country with old equipment and not much in the job to reinvest.
Not going to get into an argument with you on this but how it spending £x per tonne on storage at home + yearly runnings costs any different to spending £x per tonne on central store + running costs? It’s just in a different place and you share it?please don’t assume cash spent on CS will ever be seen again or depend on it for your retirement
ask you bank manager if they will lend for it secured just against the storage ! and read a few of the numerous threads on tff about it, that should tell you all you need to know
we ran opico’s for years and they are a good solution with good resale value vs other types of installed dryer systems
well thought out set up and you can cope with a lot of grain really for the cost
Latest wheeze on here is to not use N, and cut back on chems ( what we old duffers called being organic back in the day )
Less yield, less pressure on 1960's gear.
Thank me later.
Not going to get into an argument with you on this but how it spending £x per tonne on storage at home + yearly runnings costs any different to spending £x per tonne on central store + running costs? It’s just in a different place and you share it?
Common misconception between commercial and central storage handling charge is that the central store includes haulage. Around here the commercial store is more expensive per ton.Without opening a can of worms I can (and have) built top quality grain storage for less £ than a CS buy in, I run it for way less than the annual fee of a CS and have a truly appreciating assets that's already worth many times what it cost to build, I could sell it tomorrow if I wanted .......... frankly other than the £99 i once spent on a senior licence in 2012 its quite possibly the best investment I ever made !
One of my more remote contact farm customers who has no storage is renting commercial space this year for way less than the annual fee of CS and they dot have to buy in
Common misconception between commercial and central storage handling charge is that the central store includes haulage. Around here the commercial store is more expensive per ton.
If I went down the opico route I’d need at least a 20 ton model to achieve any improvement over my antiquated 3 tph continuous flow Almet system as cooling is the limiting factor, not drying.
Depends if you want skin in the game and how it is all going to evolve over the next however many years. I take your point though. It’s not right for everyone but don’t dismiss it. Central stores do vary wildly in their value and professionalism, some I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. For this area, growing quality it works well for many.sorry you replied as I edited my post, how can CS compete with this ? what posible reason is there for the CS vs the comerecial store option they have taken ? This real example is a farm with no storage
One of my more remote contact farm customers who has no storage is renting commercial space this year for way less than the annual fee of CS and they don't have to buy in - its going to cost them £8/t plus drying if required and another £4 to get it there ......... how would you convince them they really should put up over £200k to buy into CS instead and then still pay a annual fee similar what this year will cost them ?
Depends if you want skin in the game and how it is all going to evolve over the next however many years. I take your point though. It’s not right for everyone but don’t dismiss it. Central stores do vary wildly in their value and professionalism, some I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. For this area, growing quality it works well for many.
Remember we aren’t all based on the M6 and not everyone can have a big commercial grain store! I think my CS is very good value for money because of the level of facilities it has but I’m not sure what some of the others are like. The cost to do the same on farm would be astronomical. You have to make the most of them though, no point sticking in varieties that value can’t be added to.I can see how it would and how convenient and simple it is logistically and finacially - from that point of view I see the attraction especially for contract and tenant farmers
However the cost is mind-blowing though IMO vs alternatives and despite what's always claimed about being about to sell you tonnage etc Ive heard too many stories to the contrary
Building grain stores has made me richer than I expect farming ever will !
Remember we aren’t all based on the M6 and not everyone can have a big commercial grain store! I think my CS is very good value for money because of the level of facilities it has but I’m not sure what some of the others are like. The cost to do the same on farm would be astronomical. You have to make the most of them though, no point sticking in varieties that value can’t be added to.
That’s fair enough. You do have to structure business around it in terms of staffing to get the best value. There’s no point having the staffing levels to run a big grain store and out load all winter when you’ve paid a CS to do it.the cost of building modern stores and installing drying etc is comparable or lower than CS buy in and that's all you need - I know some CS do a lot of additional stuff with colour sorters etc but does that really provide ROI ? and is it really needed ?
suits some I guess and if you have no where to build a store and no commercial stores available then you have no choice but its really not a cheap option despite no doubt being a high quality option
The logistics beyond the combine spout of it all being someone else problem sound great though I will admit !