A bid to establish Pembrokeshires first central grain store is seeking the support of farmers on Monday.

A meeting to discuss the proposed development at the Port of Pembroke will be held at the offices of the Milford Haven Port Authority that evening. All cereal producers are urged to attend because the project could add around 7% to their net returns, says the Home Grown Cereals Authority, which recently published its feasibility study into this development.

These producers could benefit from increased opportunities to grow and store premium malting barley, said HGCA economist, Julian Bell.

As a grain deficit region Pembrokeshire, he says, offers potentially higher grain storage revenues than the UK average. Exporting grain directly from the region may offer local growers potentially attractive markets particularly for malting barley, he suggests. The development would have facilities to dry, process and store in excess of 5,000 tonnes of locally-grown, quality grain annually. The surplus could be exported to Ireland and the Continent.

Local arable producers expressed a high level of willingness to commit a significant tonnage of grain to the proposed store by harvest 2002, said Julian Bell.

A further increase in commitment has been pledged by 2005. The store, which would be housed in a converted hangar at the Port of Pembroke, Pembroke Dock, has the support of Clynderwen and Cardiganshire Farmers Ltd, Milford Haven Port Authority, Welsh Development Agency, the farming unions and local MPs. Mondays open meeting will begin at 8 pm.