The way of the grain from the district
Created: 08/16/2022, 09:34
By: Tobias Gehre
The lord of the grains: Jakob Gerstacker is the managing director of the Raiffeisen warehouse in Moorenweis and makes sure that the grain ends up with its customers.
© Gehre
The grain harvest is almost complete.
The farmers have fetched thousands of tons from their fields so far.
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, something that has previously received little attention has taken on a whole new meaning.
But what happens to wheat, oats and co. from the district?
A search for clues.
District – The combine harvesters are back in their halls, only stubble on the fields testifies to the harvest.
But the Raiffeisen warehouse in Moorenweis is still very busy.
A large part of the harvest from the district ends up there – before the grains start their journey.
The huge area on Türkenfelder Straße is a world of its own.
Mounds of grain pile up in halls the size of soccer fields, conveyor belts transport the grains to their storage location.
A gigantic vibrator removes dirt and dust from the grain.
Almost every minute, tractors with trailers rumble onto the site and empty their cargo into large grates in the ground.
The manager
Jakob Gerstacker is the master of this microcosm.
The 27-year-old is the managing director of the warehouse and ensures that everything runs smoothly.
It begins with the fact that the teams and freight are weighed.
At the same time, Gerstacker controls an extraction arm that takes a sample.
A few seconds later it ends up in the boss's office and then in the so-called sample machine.
The device measures moisture, protein content and other parameters - important indicators for the price that the farmer later receives for his grain.
"The samples are kept for three years," explains Gerstacker.
(
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular
FFB newsletter.)
Then the teams go to a large metal grid in the ground.
The ship's side is opened and the grains fall in.
Conveyor belts then transport the grain to its storage location.
A total of around 12,000 tons fit into the various warehouses.
"During the harvest we are busy," says Gerstacker.
The warehouse is supplied by around 2,000 farmers, mainly from the districts of Fürstenfeldbruck, Landsberg, Starnberg and Dachau.
They would earn more than usual this year.
Good quality wheat brings in around 100 euros more per ton than in 2021. But the farmers didn’t make the big bucks.
Because fertilizer, diesel and other means of production are a lot more expensive this year.
The harvest doesn't stay in Moorenweis for long.
Because the buyers - mills, concentrated feed manufacturers and malt houses - always need supplies.
The groceries don't have to travel long distances, explains Managing Director Gerstacker.
80 percent of the customers are within a radius of 100 kilometers.
"It is important to us that the added value remains in the region," says Gerstacker.
A part – about 20 percent – is also exported to Italy.
"Then it comes back to us as pasta," says the boss with a smile.
The way is too long
The fact that the grain from the district does not go on the long journey is also due to its location.
"The way to rivers and ports is just too long," says Robert Mathias Fenis, product manager at Baywa, which operates a collection point for grain in Mammendorf.
The group has various such warehouses and thus also the comparison with other regions.
"The district is one of the few where there was still enough rain and the yields are positive," says Fenis.
In addition, the harvest started early this year and then took place very quickly.
"A challenge for everyone."
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The new farmers' chairman Matthias Heitmayr from Dünzelbach also confirms that the yields are quite good this year.
"The plants coped with the drought relatively well," says the farmer.
The good yields would cover the immensely high costs.
"All in all, the colleagues are satisfied in the end."
You can find more current news from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.
