CBH grain receival points (also known as ''the bins'' or ''wheat bins'' in local popular usage) are grain

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

s spread around

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, primarily in the wheatbelt region. Historically they have been linked with the wheatbelt railway lines, and the transport of grain to ports for export.

Public art

The range of available bins or grain silos have taken on identity as large public art works in the 2010s in the Public Silo Trail, with three sections to the trail identified: : The Northern Trail :: Northam :: Merredin : The "Central Heart" Trail – involving :: Katanning :: Pingrup :: Newdegate : The "Wave to wave" Trail – involving :: Ravensthorpe :: Albany

Beginnings

The earlier bins were made at the time of the change from wheat transport in bags, to bulk operations – and at the time of the creation of the

CBH Group The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym for Co-operative Bulk Handling), is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia. History CBH was formed on 5 April 1933, at ...

in 1933. The first five bins or grain receival points were located at

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

sidings at: * Benjaberring * Korrelocking * Nembudding * Trayning * Yelbeni Due to their size, many of the storage bins were significant landmarks on the landscape in the agricultural communities of Western Australia.

Deregulation and competition

In 2012, the Australian federal government deregulated the

grain market The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

in Australia. In 2013, after 80 years of operation without competition, grain storage and transport in the Great Southern region has another operator due to a separate grain operation at Albany.

Hierarchy

In earlier years the districts in the CBH system were known as "Directors" Districts. By 2011, the Western Australian wheatbelt operations of CBH was split up into 12 management zone areas, with a set of locations in each zone with management offices, port terminals, and transfer depots identified.

Geraldton Port zone

The Geraldton Port zone is served by two areas – one based in Geraldton, and the second based in Morawa.

Area 1

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

as the main office, and Port Terminal The primary receival sites for this zone are: *

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

* Mullewa * Mingenew The secondary receival sites for this zone are: *

Binnu Binnu is a town on the North West Coastal Highway in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The name derives from a well on the outskirts of town that was first in use in 1909. The name is Indigenous Australian in origin and is thought to mea ...

* Canna * Moonyoonooka * Wongoondy The closed receival sites for this zone are:- *

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

– east of Mullewa * Sullivan – south of Mullewa Historically, in this area there were also 1933 installation receival points at: * Balla * Ogilvie * Naraling * Wilroy * Tardun

Area 2

* Morawa

Kwinana Port zone

* Kwinana

Area 3

Wongan Hills Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu. History The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Jo ...

Area 4

* Koorda

Area 5

* Merredin

Area 6

* Avon ( Northam )

Area 7

* Corrigin

Albany Port zone

* Albany

Area 8

Lake Grace A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

Area 9

* Katanning

Area 10

* Albany office

Esperance Port zone

* Esperance

Area 11

* Esperance office

Area 12

* Esperance office

Grain storage types

Most grain receival points in the wheatbelt have combinations of historic structures that are still utilised, and new structures. Where the older structures tend to be next to, or aligned with the railway lines where they were built, many sites have extended grounds. As a consequence, identifying the types of silo/containers at some sites may uncover up to three or four different structures at the one location. Brookton for example has at least three different types present on the CBH property.

Grain receival points

Total numbers of receival points in the system from the founding in 1932 to 1999 – the peak number occurring in 1965-1967:page 175 * 1932/33 5 * 1933/34 53 * 1936/37 103 * 1937/38 136 * 1938/39 174 * 1953/54 267 * 1954/55 271 * 1955/56 273 * 1956/57 278 * 1957/58 276 * 1965/66 305 * 1966/67 305 * 1967/68 305 * 1968/69 300 * 1969/70 300 * 1978/79 214 * 1979/80 212 * 1980/81 210 * 1981/82 206 * 1982/83 196 * 1994/95 196 * 1995/96 196 * 1996/97 197 * 1997/98 198 * 1998/99 198

Notes

{{reflist Grain receival points of Western Australia CBH Group