01

Results at a Glance

• Up to 190-200 tonnes of hay pressed and container-ready per day

• 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of fodder processed annually

• 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes of onsite storage capacity

• Victoria's only operational export fodder production site with an on-site train freight terminal
  
  

02

Client Overview

Pentarch Agricultural is one of Australia's leading exporters of oaten hay, straw, cottonseed and grains, supplying Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. The business operates two hay processing sites: Narrogin Hay in Western Australia (a joint venture with Wilson Stockfeeds) and Mallee Hay at Ultima in Victoria.

Growing international demand for Pentarch's products drove the need for a second production base. Pentarch required a site in a major hay-growing region with the logistics infrastructure to move large volumes of fodder to the Port of Melbourne efficiently. Ultima offered both. The site sits in the Mallee grain-growing region of north-west Victoria, with an active rail siding and road access for incoming bales from local growers.

03

Key Outcomes

Pentarch's Mallee Hay facility at Ultima now processes 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of fodder annually, filling 55 to 60 export containers a week. The 17,900m² site holds 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes of on-site storage and is Victoria's only operational export fodder production facility that is also a train freight terminal.

Around 90% of production leaves Ultima by rail across two services a week, removing roughly 100,000 tonnes of freight from Victorian roads annually and giving Pentarch the cost and safety advantages of rail over road haulage to the Port of Melbourne.

The facility presses up to eight containers of hay a day, between 190 and 200 tonnes. Compression is what makes the export economics work: an unpressed container holds 14 to 16 tonnes of fodder, a pressed container holds 24 to 26. Hay processes at 10 to 12 tonnes per hour and straw at 8 to 10, with feed analysis, fumigation and export certification all handled on site.