Viterra has invested $4 million in infrastructure at its Cummins site, the largest upgrade in the company’s upcountry network this season, providing local growers with an even higher level of service for the 2020/21 harvest.
The new facilities include two modern classification centres, automatic grain probes and three fully automated weighbridges which have been unveiled onsite today to local growers and the community.
Viterra Operations Manager Western region Nick Pratt says the upgrade will improve the safety and efficiency of the site.
“Our new classification centres are on ground-level which no longer requires the use of stairs. This has enabled us to remove the manual probing aspect of the classification process,” Nick says.
“The automatic probes run the length of a truck on rails overhead and are operated by employees with a joystick who can visually inspect the truck via video cameras on the probes.
“We will also achieve greater efficiencies by having three weighbridges instead of the previous two, along with the added advantage that they now support high productivity vehicles.”
The project is the third and largest multi-million dollar major upgrade of its kind for Viterra’s network following the successful rollout of the new infrastructure at Tumby Bay and Gladstone in the upper north.
Viterra has long-standing business relationships with local suppliers who were utilised wherever possible during the works. The company has injected more than $70 million into the Lower Eyre Peninsula council’s economy over the past eight years.
“We continue to invest in the key areas where it provides the greatest value for our grower customers and this project is focused on meeting their needs now and well into the future,” Nick says.
“Prior to last harvest, we built an additional 50,000 tonnes of storage and installed new equipment to efficiently load grain from silos to trucks at the Cummins site.”
Growers delivering into a Viterra site will also benefit from the new warehouse to cash service released ahead of this harvest. Available in Ezigrain through the Viterra app or website, growers can instantly sell and transfer warehoused grain to a cash price.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our grower customers throughout the harvest season to ensure we are meeting their needs and providing a valuable and efficient service to them.”
