Driving west of Miles on the Warrego Highway one could hardly fail to notice the towering Ulimaroa grain storage complex just 19 kilometres east of Dulacca.
Rohan Parkinson, his wife Sarah and father Bryan, Palardo, Dulacca, went for a much closer look- so much so that they decided to vertically integrate their existing cropping and beef fattening operation by purchasing the Ulimaroa site in June.
Originally Graincorp owned, the site had laid dormant since 2013 and besides offering an ideal off-farm income opportunity, Rohan Parkinson said the business deal opened doors for his private farming enterprise.
“We only have very limited grain storage on-farm and the site far exceeds our grain producing capacity so we first of all bought it for our own use,” he said.
“Everyone needs grain storage and the capital costs of setting up your own are fairly significant. It’s exactly what we need and it’s situated no more than 15km from any of our farming properties so it’s an excellent fit.”
The family’s 1600 head on-farm accredited feedlot is currently not operating, but Mr Parkinson said the new grain site’s 47,000 tonne capacity would reopen doors for value adding.
“We will definitely look at starting up the feedlot again when the numbers are right or look at bringing in an equity partner to help with that,” he said.
“As well as that we’re providing an alternative option for local farmers- the site will be open at flexible hours so they can offload their grain quickly and efficiently when they don’t have their own grain storage.”
The Parkinson family have appointed Peter Hobday of Agri Store and Logistricts to manage the complex and will open for the 2016/17 harvest in late September.
Bryan Parkinson said the family had looked at putting in their own on-farm storage infrastructure to service their 2400 hectares of farmed country but the accessibility of the Ulimaroa site made it hard to look past.
“Right in the middle of our operation there was this giant thing sitting there so we approached the owners and after two years of negotiations we were successful,” he said.
Having previously operated at the site prior to its closure, Rohan Parkinson said the family moved to trade their grain direct to feedlots when the site ceased operations.
“We’re excited about the challenges and opportunities reopening this site presents- we’re hoping to open a number of doors for the local industry, from both farming and lotfeeding perspectives,” he said.
Mr Parkinson said the capital costs of rebuilding a structure of such enormity nowadays would be “mind boggling” and he believed he could offer a cost effective service not only to himself but the wider farming community.
“It has got an exceptionally good weigh bridge and all the internal workings are in very good condition,” he said. “With the price of wheat so low people want to store their grain and capitalise on higher prices later on and here is that opportunity. I can’t see how it couldn’t be the largest privately owned grain storage complex west of Dalby- it’s pretty thrilling to buy something of that scale.”
