Bulk Animal Feed Storage

G'day all,

We're planning our second year of farming projects right now, and since raising pigs for the first time last year was a success, we want to build on that and buy more pigs this year.  I'd eventually like to be able to grow all the food I will need for them, but realistically, we're probably a couple years from working all the bugs out of that process.  In the meantime, I want to be able to save money on commercial organic feed by buying in bulk.

It was easy to feed 3 pigs last year by picking up 25kg bags in the Jetta once a week, but that won't work with 20 pigs, and at about $1 per kilo, the price is just too high.  So... what does everyone use for bulk storage of feed?  Should I just get a bulk feed tank that will hold a couple tons?  The feed store can fill a tank off their blower truck, and it will keep the feed nice and dry, but I'm sure they aren't cheap to buy and install.

We bought a 40x8x8 storage container, and buy feed to store at a discount by the volume price. But our stock consists of 2-5 head steers and 3-400 chickens. If we need extra forage (besides the pasture) we have a local organic hay supplier. Since we have an agricultural license, the container is tax deductible. You may check your tax laws to see what will benefit you for a long term investment in a silo as you described.