The Newt Estate in Somerset, home to The Newt boutique hotel, has worked with McArthur BDC to install a grain processing unit, enabling the Estate to add heritage wheat flour to its homegrown list of ingredients.
“As well as Einkorn and Emmer heritage wheat, we grow feed wheat and barley for our 400 pedigree British White cows, of which we are very proud as it is the biggest pedigree British White herd in the world, our 350 pedigree Dorset Down ewes and our herds of Red and Fallow Deer,” explained Cameron Knee, the Newt Estate’s farm manager.
Project manager Ed White looked for a dehulling plant to process the heritage wheat, and was already in talks with a supplier when a neighbour suggested that he reached out to McArthur BDC. He was so impressed with the company’s range of JK Machinery products that he arranged a follow-up meeting between the company and Cameron.
Installation included a JCC05 VibroCompact sieve cleaner with a maximum six tonnes per hour capacity, or a 1.5-tonne detailed clean capacity, which cleans the wheat ahead of a JHC03 Compact Dehuller, which can process up to one tonne of grain per hour.
“As we are dehulling wheat, The JHC03 was our preferred machine as it uses impact to dehull rather than grinding. This is important when dehulling pointed-shaped crops, such as wheat and barley,” explained Cameron.
Grain is transported between the machines using two Asthull augers and both the sieve cleaner and dehuller are fitted with aspirators and use the same fan and cyclone. After dehulling, the grain is processed through the cleaner again and is discharged into one-tonne bags.
“Our local miller operates a stone mill which means he has exacting standards around the quality of the grain he is happy to mill. The McArthur BDC cleaning and dehulling system has meant that we have been able to not only meet his standards but exceed them, and he can’t wait to get his hands on some more!” continued Cameron.
In around 18 months, the business plans to move the processing plant into a bespoke building and will begin the process of increasing its capacity.
“Working with McArthur BDC, which has designed a plant that meets our existing requirements with a cost-effective solution that is simple to operate, we will be looking at potentially installing JK Machinery equipment with a larger capacity and the features and functionality to further reduce impurities within the grain,” added Knee.
“For any farming business looking at installing a grain processing plant, I cannot overestimate the importance of getting your preferred supplier to carry out a site visit to make sure that the design works within the available space.”
For more information go to www.mcarthurbdc.co.uk