Agricultural cooperative Vysočina, Želiv, Czech Republic
Not far from the Želivka River lies the agricultural cooperative Vysočina in Želiv. Since 2012, a grain processing system from Bühler has proven its worth there.
In the rural area of the Czech Republic, about 100 km southeast of Prague in Želiv, agriculture has traditionally played a central role. The sparsely populated region of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands has a cool climate and therefore offers ideal conditions for growing grain and oil crops. Here, not far from the Želivka River, lies the agricultural cooperative Vysočina in Želiv. Since 2012, a grain processing system from Bühler has proven its worth there. During the harvest season, trucks and tractor-trailers deliver around 60 tons of grain per hour, i.e. around 1000 to 1200 tons per day.
The demand for domestically-produced agricultural raw materials is high in the Czech Republic, mainly among customers in the processing industry – barley for malting plants, wheat for mills. This is also true for the agricultural cooperative Vysočina, since large-scale exports are not on the agenda. Therefore, the cooperative decided to invest in a central grain processing facility, despite its limited resources: “We've been looking for the right site for years, because we need a storage capacity of 7000 tons and a hall for drying and cleaning the grain. But we were limited both in terms of the available area and our financial resources,” says Mr. Vlastimil Karafiat, manager of the agricultural cooperative Vysočina. The construction of industrial facilities and grain processing systems was made more challenging by the geographical characteristics of a low mountain range – the site is located on a hill above a river.
Established in 1976, the “Vysočina” agricultural cooperative is today a diverse operation that not only offers agricultural production, but also a wide range of services for this region. In 1992, two agricultural cooperatives joined together to form the “Vysočina” agricultural cooperative, Želiv. With around 3,060 hectares of arable land and pastures, it is one of the largest producing companies in the Czech Republic and plays a central role in the purchase, processing, storage and sale of grain for the region’s farmers.
Prior to the start of construction in 2011, the cooperative did not have a central grain storage. Although several warehouses were available at different locations, they lacked modern conveying equipment or processing systems.
This meant that consistently high quality could not be guaranteed. It was therefore a big decision for the customer – as well as a major step forward and a considerable investment – to have a new silo plant built on a green field at the site. The focus was on reliability and economy.
Thanks to our central plant, we now need far fewer transport routes. Now we can clean, dry and store our products in the same place. This allows us to wait for higher sale prices, a real added value for us
Vlastimil Karafiat, Manager, Vysočina
Having decided to go ahead with the investment and finally found a suitable site, the “Vysočina”agricultural cooperative scoured the market and evaluated suitable suppliers of cleaning machines, dryers and conveyors, as well as silo plants. In addition to simple operation, they werelooking for reliable machinery that could handle the required volumes. The cooperative had notused a dryer before and so could not draw on prior experience here.
Our Bühler system has been running smoothly for seven years and is in very good condition. We are very satisfied with our partnership with Bühler.
Vlastimil Karafiat, Manager – Vysočina, Želiv
Gupfenstrasse 5
Uzwil
9240
Switzerland
