By Ewan Pate, farming editor

Hardly a week goes past without farmers being urged to co-operate as a means of cutting costs.

Mostly everyone nods in approval, agreeing that it is a good idea if only it would work.

In reality, most farmers doggedly carry on independently and leave any thought of working with their neighbours for another day.

One group of Northumbrian arable farmers have, however, taken a different view.

The 67 members of North East Grain not only work together on the basic function of grain drying and marketing but actively look for new ways to make their co-op work for them.

Even with prices languishing at all-time low levels they are still investing at their central site at Longhirst, 15 miles north of Newcastle on the coastal arable belt.

Cereal growing only really came into its own in this traditional cattle fattening area in the early 1980s.

For a few years on-farm facilities were enough, but as yields increased it was obvious that another solution was needed .

In 1987, 12 growers got together to build a dryer and silos for their 4500-tonne crop.

Now, nearly 20 years later, their numbers have grown to 67 and the tonnage to 45,000 tonnes.

They are in the first phase of a new development which will see the original equipment dismantled from its rather exposed hilltop site and a new set of buildings erected only 200 metres distant.

This move will be expensive, but capacity will be updated and environmental and noise concerns will be addressed.

In truth, the scale of operations is not remarkable in an industry where size has become all-important.

Fewer companies or groups dominate the grain trade than ever before.

What is noteworthy is the attitude of the directors.

A group of three, David Jordan, Jim Beattie and Ian Craig, explained their thinking to a group from the Edinburgh Agricultural Society when they visited the Longhirst site this week.

Mr Craig explained, “We are quite small, but everyone has contact.

“Circumstances made the co-operative approach work, but it did take a while to take hold.

“Our aim is to be innovative and streamlined.

“Our object is to run the business under our own control for the benefit of the individual members.

“Basically, the more you use North East Grain, the more you will get out of it.”

This “farmer-friendly” approach is evident in the way the facility is run.

Handling only feed barley, wheat and oilseed rape, the intake is relatively easy to manage.

Delivery by tractor and trailer is encouraged, as it helps to cut costs for the farmers.

This is in contrast to many larger intakes, where only lorry deliveries are accepted.

Many of the North East Grain members prefer not to dump at the farm and then reload.

They would rather own an extra trailer and deliver straight off the combine into Longhirst.

The directors also have a refreshing approach to the contentious matter of deductions.

Mr Beattie, who is chairman of the marketing committee, said emphatically, “Our object is to help, not to penalise.

“If a grower is struggling to maintain quality on a particular day we will blend the grain with better-quality material.

“Of course if we have too much lower quality we may have to make separate bulks, but the important thing is that the farmer receives a price for his delivery, not a list of deductions.”

The average charge for drying and handling is around £7.50 to £8 a tonne.

Payment arrangements are again as helpful as possible.

“We operate a euro account if required and routinely stage payments throughout the marketing year,” said Mr Beattie.

“We encourage farmers to take early payment if it suits them. After all, it is cheaper to borrow through the group at 1.25% over base than from the bank.”

In recent years the activities have expanded considerably. Fuel, fertiliser and crop chemicals are all bought at keen prices and North East has an arrangement with a leading agronomy group to supply group advisory sessions and crop clinics.

It is now offering training services to members.

Mr Craig said, “It is actually such a comprehensive service that I have very few accounts with other companies.

“Most of my business is with our own group.”

The directors have brought farmer frugality to the operation. The re-sited storage facility is new but it incorporates a very large vertical flow grain dryer.

“We bought it in Norfolk for £1000,” said Mr Jordan, who chairs the site committee.

“It cost £10,000 to move and another £8000 to rebuild it here.

“In total, including electrical work and ancillaries, it came to around £35,000 when a new one would have been £140,000.”

That same down-to-earth approach has been used to develop a simple feed blending operation.

Biofuels may be one of the next developments.

“We are looking at what we can do with crushing rape,” said Mr Beattie.”

Judging by the smile on his face it might not be too long before there is action on that front.