IN a year when many are predicting a large grain surplus, Dalgety Kenneth Wilson has negotiated exclusive use of a deep-water loader at Teesport, Middlesbrough.

The exportable wheat surplus from this year's harvest is estimated to be approaching five million tonnes.

According to Mark Smith, regional grain manager at Dalgety Kenneth Wilson, a significant proportion of the surplus is likely to be in Yorkshire and Durham and a successful export campaign is vital to growers.

Teesport is one of only five ports in England capable of loading the 50,000-tonne vessels needed for worldwide distribution.

"This initiative will give our local farmer customers an opportunity to access markets in the EU and in the wider world," said Mr Smith.

"This action represents a change of focus for us.

"In the 2001/2 season local production of feed grain matched demand from local domestic markets - but against the background of the expected surplus we needed to exploit other opportunities for our customers," he said.

Farmers participating in the Dalgety Premier Growers scheme are likely to benefit directly from the initiative.

This low-cost grain marketing scheme was first launched in the region for the 1998/99 season and has consistently performed well, with growers achieving net prices of £79.65 for feed wheat ex-farm for January to March 2002 delivery. The annual scheme has no joining costs and is run by an established trading team at Thorp Arch.