Storage of grain secures their sale

Subject
  • Case studie
  • Agriculture

The climate affects the prices in world markets for grains. A facility in Säffle shows that the vulnerability which price variations entails for producers can be turned around to profitability. The solution involves an increased capacity for drying and the storage of grain.

Climate change means that extreme weather events are becoming more and more common. The weather affects how the results from the harvesting of grain and cereals throughout the world become, and thus also the prices. If significant portions of a particular grain are destroyed in a particular part of the world, then the prices of the remaining grain in the rest of the world will thus be higher.

One way to respond to these weather and price fluctuations is to dry and store the grain. Under the proper conditions, the grain can be stored for a very long period of time. The farmer can then choose to sell at a time that is beneficial for him. The vulnerability to sudden changes in weather during harvesting times. or long periods of rain at undesired times or drought is reduced via one having their own stocks of grain. The farmer can also avoid the price levels that are sometimes unfavourable, which may occur around harvesting time.

Silos, Lantbruk Säffle.
Storage of grain secures their sale.

In addition to benefiting the individual producer, the overall supply of gains is also secured.

A grain management plan for the future

2008 a farmer in Säffle installed a new facility for grain management with drying and storage. During the construction itself, even other climate adaptation measures were carried out. Foremost attention has been paid to that the facility and its availability have been secured against torrential rains, which previously has been a problem and is expected to become even worse in the future. Hence, the operations have taken into account, on several levels, the increasingly harsh and quickly-changing weather that comes with climate change.

In 2009 they doubled their storage capacity and during 2018 they expanded their receiver unit to triple the intake rate.

The realisation of the project

The facility replaced five separate facilities that had become obsolete and ineffective. The new facility has been operationally reliable and appropriate for its purposes. However, one desire would be to install several smaller silos, in order to be better able to take advantage of the different grades (qualities) of gain that arise in abruptly changing weather conditions.

The cost itself was some SEK 6 million, which was financed in part by a subsidy from the Landsbygdsprogrammet/Rural Development Programme. The grant was provided as it was considered to strengthen the business, that it benefited the general neighbourhood, the logistics were improved, and so that the impact on the environment would be reduced.

More examples of climate adaptation

This is one of many examples of climate adaptation. There are more in the collection of ideas being built up by the Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The collection of examples has the aim of sharing experiences and providing ideas to everyone who works with climate adaptation. Examples describe concrete measures and challenges in several subject areas. They show how different actors have worked to adapt their activities to the climate changes that are already being noticed today and those that we cannot prevent in the future.