Cornerstone for new grain silo laid in Mäo

The cornerstone for a grain elevator operated by Kevili, a cooperative owned by 182 Estonian capital-based agricultural companies, has been laid in Mäo, Järva County, ETV news show "Aktuaalne kamera" (AK) reported.
The silo will be able to accommodate 50,000 tonnes of rapeseed, wheat, barley, and/or peas and beans and costs €13.5 million to construct, financed via the cooperative's earned income, plus a bank loan and 10 percent support from the state Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA).
Kevili, which deals with the export of grain surplus to Estonia's domestic consumption, also owns the Roodevälja terminal in Lääne-Viru County, and the Rõngu grain silo, in Tartu County.
However, the Mäo grain elevator's establishment was prompted by Kevili' cooperative's rapidly growing membership´, and its good location in relation to ports.
Hannes Prits, the manager of Kevili, said: "Estonian farmers feed the world. For example, in recent years, we have primarily been selling wheat to African nations – Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, and others. At the same time, we have sold barley to Spain, Portugal, while the peas mostly go to Norway. We sell where the demand is, and where the price is deemed to be right."
Koit Teder, a grain farmer from Järva County and the owner of Ale talu (Ale farm), also in Järva County, told AK that: "All the profits earned here go into our own farmers' pockets. And drying-out facilities like these were not previously available in central Estonia, not to mention the possibilities for peas and beans, which we will now have at this facility. This had been quite a problematic and somewhat monopolistic area facing farmers across Estonia, up to now."
The storage of large quantities of grain also has a strategic dimension to it.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporter Olev Kenk.