L F Pearce & Son has been operating its business at Moorleys Farm in Oakley, near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire since 1938. Over that time the business has become a specialist in arable crop production.

In 2007/8 a new grain storage facility was constructed at the farm and subsequently extended to provide an increase in storage capacity of more than 10,000 tonnes. Processing of cereals, including the drying, cleaning and dressing of crops, is then carried out on site at up to 60tph.

The latest investment enabled the cleaning process at Mooleys Farm to be enhanced by the addition of a 30tph colour sorter, a contract being awarded to T H WHITE Projects for the design of the new system and incorporation of it into the existing arrangement on site.

With the backing of EARD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development), together with LEADER, the scheme qualified for a grant funding which made it possible for the project to proceed .

The project encompassed the process design and installation of a Satake Colour Sorter, together with associated chain conveying and bucket elevating systems to ensure a functional connection to the existing equipment and interface with the on-site control system. Additionally, the steelwork, operating platform and access walkways around the new plant and machinery were installed.

Once operational, the colour sorter will make it possible to remove vomitoxin, fusarium, ergot, discoloured, damaged or bug infested grain. This will improve the quality of the plant’s output, enhancing the crop value as well as avoiding costly crop penalties and additional haulage charges.

The new colour sorter also has the ability to ensure accurate admixture removal, species separation, plus bushel weight and Hagberg falling number improvement across the nine operating channels on the Satake machine.

Because the system facilitates a greater percentage of growers’ crops entering the higher value food chain, it also reduces waste and increases the premiums paid to growers.
Installation and commissioning of the new colour sorter was successfully completed by T H WHITE Projects in December 2017 and handed over, ready for operation, to the delighted owner Derek Pearce who is looking forward to increasing business thanks to this latest investment.
T H WHITE Projects specialises in cereal processing and storage solutions of all sizes, from farm and estate installations to large commercial or industrial bulk facilities, taking each project from conception to completion.

Do visit our new Projects website (www.thwhiteprojects.co.uk) to gain an overview of our capabilities. If you have a scheme you would like to talk about, please do contact us on 01380 723040, or email projects@thwhite.co.uk.