Storage

First Tower Silo Designated A Historic Landmark Of  Agricultural Engineering. The First Tower Silo In America Was Erected Near This Site On The Hatch Farm, One Half-Mile East Of Spring Grove, Illinois. Fred L. Hatch And His Father, Lewis Hatch, Erected This Silo In October 1873, After Fred Graduated From The Illinois Industrial University. (Now The University Of Illinois). Textbooks On Agriculture Were Scarce, And Professor Willard F. Bliss Translated French And German Pamphlets On Silage Production Wherein The Entire Corn Plant Was Buried In Pits, And This Inspired Young Hatch.

Prior to the development of circular, corrugated, galvanized steel grain bins, prefabricated, non-corrugated steel bins were used because of cost, portability, rodent resistance and waterproof features, but bin capacity was limited.  In the 1920's, corrugated bins, which were larger in size and could support greater loads, were developed and became commercially available.  In the 1930's, research programs advanced their use, notably research by F. C. Fenton at Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science and T. E.

A Crucial Step In The Evolution Of Modern Animal Agriculture Was The Development Of Mechanical Ventilation Methods For Animal Housing. Air Inlets Are Pivotal To Good Ventilation. In 1948 William F. Millier, Working At Cornell University Under The Direction Of Professor Clesson Turner, Tested And Published The Concept Of The Slotted Inlet. Professor Turner And Others At Cornell University Subsequently Continued To Develop Slotted Inlet Systems And Systematize Design Methods.