Grain Fabric Covered Buildings - High Volume, Flat Grain Storage Buildings

Cargill AgHorizons, Shelton, NE.

160' wide x 600' long Grain Fabric Building

Location: Shelton, NE
Building Size: 160' wide x 600' long
Application: Grain Storage Fabric Covered Building

Cargill AgHorizons, a business unit of Cargill, Incorporated, is a customer-focused organization working to bring product and service solutions to producers. With 142,000 employees in 61 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. In 2006, Cargill identified the need to store at least 1.5 million bushels of corn / grain at the AgHorizons site in Shelton, Nebraska. Considering this tremendous need, Cargill looked to the fertilizer industry to identify various products being used for high volume  purposes. This is how the relationship between Cargill and fabric buildings began.

Matt Richardson is the FSG Operations Leader for Cargill AgHorizons in south central Nebraska. "The two main reasons we chose a fabric building is because of the clearspan space and the ease of installation," says Richardson. The fact that the building offered a permanent solution and would allow operations in any environment, including wind, rain or snow, was an instant attraction. Cargill decided to purchase a 160' wide by 600' long grain fabric building with an 8' wall to store 1.5 million bushels of corn / grain.

Previously, Cargill had been using large bunkers with concrete or wood walls covered with tarps to store large volumes of grain and other commodities. "In the past we always had grain condensation issues where mold forms on the corn / grain,"� says Richardson. "The purchase of this grain storage fabric building is a permanent solution without the cost of a steel structure."

Compared to a steel building, the grain fabric building offers clear, open span space, whereas a conventional building requires additional support poles. These support poles get in the way when maneuvering large machinery around within a building. As well, installation of a fabric building is typically much faster. "It took just ten days to go up and it was simple to construct," says Richardson. "The entire project was 2.5 months and it would have been at least double the time frame for a conventional building to be part of the project."

"The two main reasons we chose a fabric covered, steel truss building is because of the clearspan space and the ease of installation." - Matt Richardson, FSG Operations Leader

Cargill is planning to install a portable conveyor to be used when filling the structure with corn / grain and will use a tractor and portable auger to reclaim the corn / grain by truck. "This was a fun project,"� says Richardson. "It is the first in our division and we are looking forward to seeing how it works out. This grain fabric building gives us big space that is affordable."

"The grain fabric building took just ten days to go

up and it was simple to construct," says Matt.

Installation of the grain storage fabric building

took just ten days.

1.5 Million Bushels of Corn / Grain will be

Stored at the Cargill AgHorizons Facility.