Top Five Uses for Agricultural Steel Buildings

Steel buildings have a long history of use in agriculture. While pop culture celebrates the old wooden red barn as an icon of the family farm, steel buildings of many kinds have actually been the most popular type of construction on farms for decades. It’s been a very long time since neighbors gathered together to raise a wooden barn in a weekend.

These days, the sounds of a barn-raising are more likely to be the sounds of power drills and rivet guns securing steel to steel than the pounding of hammers, and the old red barns have given way to long-lasting and virtually indestructible steel buildings. From animal shelter to grain storage to barracks, there are many uses for steel buildings on the modern farm.

Equipment Storage

The most common use for a metal building on the modern farm is to store and garage equipment. Tractors, balers, wagons, rakes and mows all need somewhere to “live” when they’re not out in the field earning their keep. Steel Quonset buildings are a time-honored solution to providing garages for farm equipment. They provide high roofs, plenty of maneuvering space to park equipment and lots of space for both motorized and manual farming equipment.

Barns

The old-fashioned barn hasn’t faded away. It’s just been updated to use more durable materials. Steel barns are more structurally sound and weatherproof than traditional wood structures. Built to code, they’ll withstand hurricane force winds, shed feet of snow without crumpling and stand even through earthquakes. Steel is fire resistant, making them safer for livestock, and weather-tight, making them easier to insulate. There’s no need for a dug foundation, and can be easily built with a dirt floor.

Animal Shelter

Aside from barns, farmers with herd animals need to provide shelter in the paddock or pasture – a place where animals can get out of the sun, rain or snow. You’ll still see lean-to wood sheds built over feed stations and water troughs here and there throughout the farmlands, but it’s much more common to see an open-ended steel building, similar to a carport, stand out in the middle of the field.

Grain Storage

Steel buildings provide ideal grain storage facilities. They include steel silos and Quonset buildings, which provide ease of maneuvering and access for harvest equipment. A large steel building with double doors provides easy access for equipment to drive right in and unload.

Spring Houses

Steel buildings also provide an excellent alternative to the old-fashioned spring house, once used to store perishables and serve as a butter and cheese house. Instead of building a wooden structure over a spring these days, farmers can build a weather-tight, climate controlled steel building that provides the ideal temperature and humidity for storage, as well as for butter churning and cheese making.

If you’re replacing an old wooden structure on your farm or agricultural property, take the time to explore how steel buildings can do what you need more affordably and efficiently than other types of construction.