CBH in the Merredin District

There are twenty four receival points in the Merredin district, with a combine storage capacity of more than 1.5 million tonnes. The largest of these facilities is the Merredin transfer depot, originally built in 1966 to facilitate the transfer of grain from narrow gauge rail wagons on to the main standard gauge system. It is now a strategic receival point receiving more than 100,000 tonnes of grain directly from growers every season.

The storage capacity of the depot was originally 8,800 tonnes, but this has been increased over the years so that the total storage capacity is now more than 420,000 tonnes. There are more than 500 growers in the Merredin district and grain deliveries to the depot arrive directly from the growers or by road and rail transport from the other receival point. Two rail ‘track shed’ service the transfer depot. In one, grain is unloaded into the concrete silos from narrow gauge rail wagons. The other is for moving the grain from the silos into standard gauge rail wagons to go to the CBH Kwinana grain terminal for export. Grain can also be loaded or unloaded for road transport.

During annual harvests, the depot receives over 1,500 tonnes of grain per day, with the daily tonnage peaking as high as 4,500 tonnes. The grain is weighed, then sampled to determine the quality and appropriate storage location. The entire operation of receiving grain, handling, storage and loading is computerised and information from grower deliveries can be transferred direct to the CBH head office to expedite same day payment to growers from the grain marketing authorities.