Since the 1960’s the Gall family, led by Jack Gall, has been committed to working in harmony with the land. Starting with sheep farming, they transitioned into the cropping industry, positioning themselves as a staple in the local agriculture sector as a key grain grower. Over time, Gall Farming has expanded to cover around 4000 hectares of fertile land near Goorambat in Northern Victoria, producing hearty, high-quality wheat and canola crops.
Initially, they stored all their grain on-farm in grain bags, accumulating upwards of 20,000T, but quickly encountered the challenges that came with this method. As their yields increased, they found a number of challenges with using bags. “A lot of hard work during the winter time, the constant work of maintaining them, checking them, making sure that they’re not getting invaded by pests, birds or foxes running on top of them.” Out-loading in wet conditions presented difficulties. “Once you got into those winter months and trying to get bags out, the water getting into the bags was a real headache trying to pick up grain. A lot of daytime out-loading was actually taking a lot of our work time away from us.”
This method of grain storage was shifting focus away from farming practice. Gall needed a solution that would consolidate their storage on-farm and make it easier to manage and look after.
From Jack’s research online, Polytex showed up as a leading provider of grain tarps and bunker storage solutions and decided to give them a call. “From the initial phone call through to two years down the track their support has been amazing” For Jack, the team at Polytex was more than just helpful, they were instrumental in helping the Gall Farming team revolutionise their storage process. “Being really green on the whole bunker thing we weren’t sure what we wanted”. The team at Polytex provided expert guidance on how Jack could set up and lay out his site for optimal storage as a grain grower.
With the use of Polytex’s bunker calculator, they were able to determine the ideal size and capacity for their grain bunkers. Starting with 2 x 2000T bunkers, they expanded their capacity to match their increasing yield. “Filling the bunkers was really simple. We have large augers with swing aways. We get 3-4 loads in before we just nurse the tractor and auger along and keep going.”
Polytex provided the ground sheets, and bunker top tarps along with concrete-filled tyres to secure the top tarp. A battery sewing machine and global tarp seal were also supplied to join and seal the two tarps together to make a larger bunker.
Gall recounted their experience in bunkering grain for the first year. “They [tarps] were never lifted until early September, so it sat here from Christmas to September, and it had absolute minimal waste, no weevils and really clean grain coming out of it, we were really impressed.”
Covering the bunkers proved easier than Jack predicted. “It’s quite easy, it doesn’t need a heap or work, if I’m smart enough I can nearly pull the smaller bunkers over myself with a couple of tractors.”
Jack spread some lime around the perimeter of the bunker on the edge of the tarp to ensure complete sealing so they can fumigate the bunkers and help pin the tarp down. They’ve found lime is great for this purpose as nothing really grows in it and its easy to keep clean and maintain.
Today, Jack and his team at Gall Farming can effectively gas the bunkers and maintain them to ensure the grain’s high quality is preserved.
With grain stored on-farm, they had the control to sell it at their convenience, rather than all at once, taking advantage of higher prices post-harvest.
By significantly reducing waste of single-use grain bags, the result is a cleaner, more sustainable farming practice that’s scalable. Switching to grain bunkers was more than just a sound financial decision. It was a step towards a more sustainable future, reducing plastic waste and mitigating environmental impact.
How Polytex can help
Polytex has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to produce standard and custom-size bunker tarps in very fast turnaround times. We deliver Australia wide. Protect your produce and utilise our specialised accessories to help with speed and ease of operations at harvest time.
Contact the team on 1300 059 003
