Beyond the farm
From a harvest-time glut to a drying and storage service
Poor storage forces early sales at low prices; a storage service helps farmers wait.
Example
- Farmer
- The problem
- The business
- The service
- The customer
- How money flows
- Start small
- Scale
Farmer
Maize farmers who sell at harvest because they have nowhere safe to keep their grain.
The problem
Damp, pests and mould cause losses, and selling all at once pushes prices down.
The business
A drying and storage service close to farming communities.
The service
Drying, moisture testing, clean storage, pest management and clear records of whose grain is whose.
The customer
Smallholders, traders, cooperatives and processors.
How money flows
Customers pay a fee per bag or per tonne for the time stored. A reputation for safe handling drives repeat business.
Start small
Offer drying and storage in a rented or shared building for a small number of customers.
Scale
Add capacity, quality testing and services built on stored grain once trust is established and the law allows.
What this teaches
- Storage is value creation: it lets sellers choose their moment instead of being forced to sell.
- Trust and good records are the heart of a storage business.
- Sharing or renting space lets you start before you can afford to build.
What could go wrong
- Pests, mould and theft
- Liability for customers' grain
- Seasonal use
- Cost and power for drying
Explore further
- Maize
- Grain storage and drying
- Warehouses and aggregation centres
- Produce aggregation and market access
Illustrative example, not a real business. No prices, volumes or profits are claimed.