Identity-preserved milling
Identity-preserved milling is scoped through the lot ticket, with protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
Regenerative grain milling / farmer cooperative
A mill that keeps the field attached to the flour.
Grainline is a fictional farmer-owned mill in the eastern Free State. It buys identity-preserved wheat, rye and heritage maize on published quality terms, mills in small lots and returns traceable bran and by-products into local feed and soil programmes.
About
The operating idea
Grainline is a fictional farmer-owned mill in the eastern Free State. It buys identity-preserved wheat, rye and heritage maize on published quality terms, mills in small lots and returns traceable bran and by-products into local feed and soil programmes.
This identity is organised around the lot ticket, because the organisation becomes credible when the public can follow the same unit practitioners use internally.
The record is not decorative: protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin. That evidence changes how work is scoped, handed over and remembered.
Services / offerings
What the practice actually does
Baker contract grists
Baker contract grists is scoped through the lot ticket, with protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
Farm-gate grain intake
Farm-gate grain intake is scoped through the lot ticket, with protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
Bran and by-product return
Bran and by-product return is scoped through the lot ticket, with protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
How work moves
Four verbs, one accountable handoff
1/4
Sample & grade
Sample & grade is the entry control point for a lot ticket. The team records protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
2/4
Book the bin
Book the bin is the next control point for a lot ticket. The team records protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
3/4
Mill by lot
Mill by lot is the next control point for a lot ticket. The team records protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
4/4
Release with certificate
Release with certificate is the next control point for a lot ticket. The team records protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Project evidence
Not a gallery. A decision record.
1
Project / lot ticket
Mahlatsi rye / lot 24-118
Three farms combined one compatible rye specification without losing farm-level traceability; 17.8 tonnes milled across two baker releases.
2
Project / lot ticket
Stoneground maize reset
A restaurant group moved from anonymous meal to two named dryland maize cultivars with fixed granulation and weekly call-off.
3
Project / lot ticket
Winter wheat pilot
Six growers trialled reduced-nitrogen wheat under a protein floor agreed with two independent bakeries before planting.
96%
grain sourced within 240 km
18 h
average intake-to-grade decision
0
anonymous blend substitutions
14
grower members in the 2026 pool
Team / responsibility map
Naledi Molefe
Mill manager
Naledi Molefe leads mill manager and owns the decisions that touch each lot ticket. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Johan Smit
Grain buyer & grader
Johan Smit leads grain buyer & grader and owns the decisions that touch each lot ticket. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Amahle Dube
Cooperative agronomist
Amahle Dube leads cooperative agronomist and owns the decisions that touch each lot ticket. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Detail / field notes
Three arguments worth slowing down for
Why falling number matters more after a wet harvest
01Why falling number matters more after a wet harvest. A working note from Grainline Milling Cooperative on the decisions hidden inside regenerative grain milling / farmer cooperative. It connects the claim back to lot ticket and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
A flour specification is a farming agreement
02A flour specification is a farming agreement. A working note from Grainline Milling Cooperative on the decisions hidden inside regenerative grain milling / farmer cooperative. It connects the claim back to protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
What extraction rate changes in a baker's day
03What extraction rate changes in a baker's day. A working note from Grainline Milling Cooperative on the decisions hidden inside regenerative grain milling / farmer cooperative. It connects the claim back to protein, falling number, moisture, extraction rate and farm origin and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
FAQ
Before you say yes.
Q01
Can a small farm deliver directly?
Yes. Intake begins at 2 tonnes when the grain can be sampled safely and the lot remains identifiable. Smaller growers can pool only under an agreed common specification.
Q02
Do you add improvers?
No improvers are added at the mill. Flour leaves with its grain analysis and milling specification so bakeries can make deliberate formulation decisions.
Q03
Is this organic flour?
Some member farms are certified organic and others are not. Certification follows the specific lot; regenerative practice is not presented as a substitute for organic certification.
Contact / conversion