GRAIN which was produced by Herefordshire farmers has formed part of the biggest ever wheat shipment to America.

Due to a surplus of feed wheat in the county and favourable trading conditions across the Atlantic Ocean some £7 million worth of produce was sent from Craven Grain Storage in Shobdon to South Carolina.

It took 172 articulated lorries over six working days to carry the 5,000 tonnes of wheat from the store near Leominster to Bristol where it was loaded onto the 63,000t ship called SBI Lambada.

The Craven Grain Co-operative site situated over two acres allows its 100 members from across Herefordshire and surrounding counties to store their produce before being sold as part of larger shipments abroad.

"All the farmers own the store and are on the board which runs the co-operative," said Alex Rumsey, Farm Business Manager at Openfield.

"It's quite a successful store for the area and allows farms to come together and make it work. They put their produce into the store and I inform them which boats are coming in and help them get a better price for their grain which benefits the store in the long term."

Over the last five years the UK has exported grain to 22 different countries outside the EU including North Africa and Japan.

Craven Grain has been storing farmer's grain since 1980 and work has nearly finished on their new 8,000t new flat store bringing the total storage capacity at the site to 40,000t.

Mr Rumsey added: "Having the store allowed us to do the America shipment as if we didn't have the quantity of grain then we wouldn't have been able to load the ship within six days.

"This store opens the door to the rest of the world and a huge number of customers to sell the grain to which will help our members.

"It's been difficult this year as there is too much grain in the UK and we can only consume so much. Our store can alleviate the pressure and we can export it abroad."