CHEHALIS, Wash. — Ceremonial shovels dug into dirt April 3 to celebrate the fact that a $5 million project to reinvigorate farming in Southwest Washington is underway.

Later this summer, if the project proceeds on schedule, farmers will be able to store grains in four bins at the Port of Chehalis, about 75 miles north of Portland and 90 miles south of Seattle.

From the port, grain — such as barely, wheat and canola — will be able to move by rail, connecting farmers to customers beyond the immediate area. The bins also are expected to receive grain grown elsewhere to supply local dairies with feed.

The facility will be able to store about 12,600 bushels of grain and load about 7,500 bushels per hour, according to the port.

Farmers conceived the project eight years ago when a local vegetable processor stopped issuing contracts for crops such as peas, corn and beans.

Farmers were forced to look for new markets outside the region. Grains are promising, particularly barley for malting, but without storage bins transportation logistics have been difficult.

“The grains will go from truck to storage to rail,” Grays Harbor farmer Jay Gordon said. “This will be the only public grain facility in Western Washington.

“On behalf of the farmers, I can’t say how much we appreciate the port,” he said.

About 40 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony. The contractor, Tappani Inc. of Battle Ground, started construction three weeks earlier, port operations manager Bill Teitzel said. “We expect in June to have pretty much everything up,” he said.

The money for the project came from many sources — “classic potluck,” Gordon called it. The federal government, state government, Lewis County and the port kicked in. A flier distributed at the event thanked taxpayers.

The Washington Farm Bureau contributed to a portable conveyor belt to load grain directly from trucks to rail cars. For the past several years, farmers have used it in lieu of a permanent facility.

Without a place to store grain, the harvest must be timed with when Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail cars were available.

Last year, barley was ready to harvest, but rail cars weren’t in place. The barley stayed in the field and was rained on. The barley sprouted and was ruined for malting. The barley was sold for animal feed.

“If the bins had been there, it would have caused a considerable difference in the price of the barely,” said Lewis County farmer Dave Fenn, a main proponent for the project over the years.

Lewis County farmer Zach Zucati said he’s been trucking wheat to a Portland terminal that closed on the weekends. Delivering to the port will save time and storing grain there will help him wait for a better price, he said. “That definitely will be a benefit.”

Farmers growing barley got bad news last year. Their best customer, a malter in Vancouver, closed. At the invitation of farmers, Skagit Valley Malting owner Evan Turner came down from northwest Washington to the groundbreaking ceremony.

He said he was interested in learning more about whether farmers could supply barley. “That’s why I’m here,” he said.

Fenn said he planted barley last fall hoping to find a customer and that Turner was just the man he wanted to meet.