PARKSIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA — Viterra has invested A$4 million in infrastructure at its Cummins site, the largest upgrade in the company’s upcountry network this 2020-21 harvest season.

The new facilities include two modern classification centers, automatic grain probes and three fully automated weighbridges.

Nick Pratt, operations manager Western region for Viterra, said 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,” Pratt said. “This has enabled us to remove the manual probing aspect of the classification process. 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 Cummins upgrade is the third and largest multi-million-dollar upgrade for Viterra’s network following the rollout of new infrastructure at Tumby Bay and Gladstone.

“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,” Pratt said. “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 can also utilize 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.