Harvest comes in fast, and it does not wait for you to find space. One strong year, or one more field brought into production, and suddenly you are storing more grain than your setup can hold, for longer than you planned. Grain that sits too long in the wrong conditions loses quality and value. When capacity is the constraint and the crop needs protecting for months, a flat bottom grain silo is built for exactly that job.
What Is a Flat Bottom Grain Silo?
A flat bottom grain silo is a large storage silo that sits directly on a concrete base and is built for high-volume, long-term storage. Because the base is flat, grain does not discharge under its own weight. A sweep auger moves it across the floor to a central discharge point instead.
That flat base is the whole point. It lets the silo hold the maximum possible volume for its footprint, which is why flat bottom silos are the standard choice wherever storing a lot of grain for a long time is the priority.
Why Flat Bottom Silos Suit High-Capacity, Long-Term Storage
Flat bottom silos give you the most storage volume for the ground they occupy. Nothing is lost to a raised frame or a sloping base, so the full diameter of the silo works for you from the floor up. That makes them the natural fit for operations where capacity is the deciding factor.
They are built to hold a harvest in good condition over months, not weeks. Farms, co-operatives and large grain handling facilities use them precisely because they can take a full season’s crop and protect it until it is needed. Our Brice-Baker silos are made from hot-dip galvanised steel to handle that duty year after year, in harsh conditions and heavy use.
How Big Can a Flat Bottom Silo Go?
Flat bottom silos scale a long way. Franklin Hodge flat bottom silos run from 3 metres to 25 metres in diameter, so the same design covers a single-farm store and a large commercial facility.
At the upper end of that range, a single silo can hold a working volume of up to 11,888m³, which is serious capacity for a growing operation. Every silo is built to order, so the silo size you choose is matched to your site layout, your storage volume and the material you are storing rather than pulled off a shelf.
How Grain Loads, Stores and Unloads in a Flat Bottom Silo
A flat bottom silo works in three stages, and each one matters to keep grain in good condition.
- Loading: grain is filled from the top, usually by conveyor or elevator as part of the wider handling system.
- Storing: aeration moves air through the grain to control temperature and moisture, which is what keeps a crop in condition through long storage.
- Unloading: a sweep auger clears grain across the flat floor towards a central discharge point. An internal silo hopper can be fitted to direct grain towards that outlet, speeding up discharge and leaving less residual grain behind. The hopper and the sweep auger work together rather than one replacing the other.
It is worth being clear on what these silos are for. Flat bottom silos store grains, oilseeds, wood pellets, feed pellets and other free-flowing granulated agricultural products. They are not built for cement, chemicals, or bulk liquid feed.
The scale of what needs storing keeps growing. Defra’s Agriculture in the United Kingdom figures put total UK cereal production for 2025 at just over 19.5 million tonnes. Every tonne of that has to be stored somewhere, in condition, until it moves on.
Is a Flat Bottom Silo Right for Your Operation?
A flat bottom silo is the right call when high-volume; long-term storage is what you need, and when you either have grain handling equipment in place or are installing it as part of the project.
It is not the only option. Where fast, clean gravity discharge matters more, or where you are holding wet grain before it goes into a dryer, a hopper bottom silo may suit you better. If you are weighing the two, our guide to flat bottom and hopper bottom silos sets out the differences so you can match the design to how you work.
Store More Grain with a Brice-Baker Flat Bottom Silo
The right silo protects your harvest and pays you back every season you run it. Franklin Hodge is the exclusive manufacturer of Brice-Baker galvanised steel silos, designing and supplying high-capacity flat bottom silos with structural design advice for farms and mills across the UK and internationally. Tell us how much you need to store and request a quote, and our team will help you specify the right silo for your site.
