A deep dive into Grain Shed ROI: what influences return and how to maximise it.
Australian grain growers are reaping the benefits of on-farm grain sheds.
Grain sheds are helping to keep the headers moving at harvest time – trucks aren’t sitting in line at receival sites and logistics aren’t jamming up – saving time and money!
This infrastructure is also proving beneficial post-harvest, by opening new market opportunities.
The ability to store grain in bulk on-farm is enabling strategic grain sales, and the sheds are adding flexibility to on-farm storage.
These are the reasons why growers are continuing to invest in new grain sheds – 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the grain shed!
Adding a new grain shed to your storage mix is a smart move, and you can influence the ROI through design, project planning and strategic decision making.
This article discusses the top 5 ways you can maximise your grain shed ROI through:
- Planning and design choices that address efficiency, capacity and versatility
- Capitalising on market opportunities
- Understanding your storage mix
First up, we cover the back-to-basics of ROI.
How To Calculate Grain Shed ROI
ROI (Return On Investment) is simply defined as the ratio (often expressed as a percentage) between the profit an investment generates and the cost of the investment, as shown in the formula below.
Profit of Investment / Cost of Investment x 100% = ROI
This is used to measure the profitability of an investment.
When calculating your grain shed ROI, you will need to consider all the factors contributing to the cost of the grain shed and the factors influencing the return received (revenue and savings).
Calculating the cost of a grain shed?
Consider:
- Cost of shed kit, concrete panels, concrete slab and installation (find a handy price guide here)
- Cost of site preparation (find a handy price guide here)
- Cost of council permit approvals and fire design requirements (find a handy price here)
- Cost of any ongoing maintenance (likely to be minimal) or operating costs, such as fumigation
Calculating the profit of a grain shed?
Consider:
- Harvest conditions, such as the volume of grain produced
- Market conditions, such as the price of grain at harvest and post-harvest
- Time and money saved by storing on-farm (Remember, time is money, particularly at busy times of the year like harvest!)
- Profit made by taking advantage of market opportunities (This could be waiting to sell grain until prices peak, or buying in grain when prices are lower and holding until prices rise)
- Any additional uses for the shed in the off-season, such as fertiliser storage
(You can also use these same figures to calculate the expected payback period of your grain shed, using the formula below.)
Cost of Investment / Profit of Investment = Payback Period (Years)
While we have no control over harvest conditions, such as the weather and market conditions or prices, we can influence grain shed ROI through smart planning and design choices.
This puts you in the best position to capitalise on any market opportunities that arise.
Read on to learn how.
5 Ways To Increase Grain Shed ROI
1
Improve Handling Efficiencies
Preventing bottlenecks at peak harvest periods by reducing delays in getting crops off and into storage is one of the largest drivers behind new grain shed builds.
A well-planned site layout and a smart grain shed design reduces turnaround time at harvest and provides efficient storage and grain handling year-round.
This provides you with more control over both the timing and cost of storage rather than being dictated by grain receival sites, and ultimately maximises grain shed ROI.
Here’s how to ensure this is the case with your grain shed build:
- Choose a central site location with room for safe turning circles and future expansion.
- Prepare your site well to ensure your shed is accessible even in wet weather. Concrete aprons can also be a smart addition for this reason and help keep the site tidy.
- Consider how you will load and unload the shed. Will you tip inside the shed? If so, pay attention to the shed height and roof pitch. Will you unload and drive through? If so, consider how the sliding doors may impact capacity. Or will you require room for a truck to turn inside the shed? If so, you will require a minimum span of 27 metres.
So, take the time now to plan grain handling and logistics. This improves efficiency, helps you get the most out of your shed and sets you up for better returns in the future.
And as you can see from the discussion points above, shed dimensions can directly impact the functionality and efficiency of your grain shed.
Shed size can also determine your ability to play the market and increase the grain shed ROI.
This leads us to our next point: paying attention to the shed capacity and configuration.
2
Pay Attention To Shed Capacity & Configuration
A lack of storage space isn’t just frustrating; it can also directly impact your grain shed ROI.
Firstly, without enough capacity to store grain on-farm, you may be forced to sell at harvest, missing the opportunity to hold for better market conditions.
Secondly, shed capacity – along with configuration – influences your storage cost-per-tonne. And lowering the cost-per-tonne is a proven way to improve overall grain shed ROI.
What to keep in mind when it comes to capacity:
- The bulk density and angle of repose of the grain being stored
- The bigger the shed, the lower the cost-per-tonne
- Future expansion plans and storage requirements
What to keep in mind when it comes to configuration:
- A longer shed is more cost-effective than a wider shed (but be sure to allow adequate width if you are turning inside the shed!)
- Large sliding doors can reduce usable storage space
- Permanent segregation will reduce the overall shed capacity
Remember, lower cost per tonne = opportunity for better grain shed ROI.
Not sure what grain shed size or configuration would work for you? Need advice on sliding door sizes? Or looking for examples of low-cost-per-tonne designs?
Our building consultants are available to provide advice and pricing on different grain shed sizes and configurations, to help you find the sweet spot of cost-effectiveness and functionality. Call us on 1800 687 888.
You might also like to try out our Grain Shed Calculator here.
3
Design For Versatility
We often say it; a versatile shed provides greater value for money.
A grain shed is no different.
Designing your grain shed for versatility will ensure the shed delivers value beyond harvest and provides more opportunities to improve ROI
Versatile grain shed ideas you could consider:
- Installing canopies for machinery storage and shelter. While this will increase the overall project cost without increasing capacity (therefore increasing the cost-per-tonne), it provides easily accessible shelter for headers and trucks at harvest and allows the shed to be used year-round. It may even make more sense than building a separate machinery shed for seasonal storage.
- Choosing movable L-walls for segregation rather than permanent concrete walls. A bulk storage area is always a great starting point for a versatile shed, and L-walls can provide you with more flexibility in how you use the space.
- Using your (empty) grain shed for fertiliser storage. Take advantage of your shed infrastructure to buy and store fertiliser early, saving money and avoiding delays at cropping. Given the volatility in fertiliser prices, this is certainly one way to maximise grain shed ROI!
- Setting your shed up for fumigation, now or in the future. This provides you with more options of what grain you can store on-farm, how long you can store it on-farm and the markets you have access to.
Next, we discuss a few points to keep in mind when planning your grain storage mix.
4
Understand Your Storage Mix
When you understand how your grain shed fits into your storage mix, you can make better decisions about when and what to store in your shed – and that directly impacts grain shed ROI.
This involves knowing how much storage space you need and understanding the limitations of each storage option.
Weighing up a grain shed versus silos?
It is important to match your storage to your grain type and volume. For example, silo storage is not suitable for pulses and silos typically offer smaller capacity (<3,000 tonnes).
So, plan your shed and silo capacity together to avoid being caught short. For example, you may choose to store small volumes of grain in silos and reserve your shed for your main crop.
Remember:
- Sheds help relieve time pressure at harvest by providing faster and easier loading than silos – and providing a larger bulk storage area.
- Sheds are the recommended storage option for fertiliser (keep this in mind if you want a versatile asset)
By holding more grain on-farm, you reduce your reliance on receival sites and put yourself in a better position to capitalise on market opportunities, which we discuss next.
5
Spread Risk, Manage Cash Flow & Take Advantage Of Market Opportunities
One of the main advantages of a new grain shed is that it provides options.
These options can be used to increase profitability and therefore maximise grain shed ROI.
For example, you could lock in forward contracts for part of your grain to spread risk, sell part of your grain at harvest for cash flow and store the bulk of your grain on-farm until prices peak post-harvest.
Or, if you decide to fumigate your shed, this could provide access to new markets,
Or, a grain shed could simply allow you to buy grain in when prices are lower and hold onto it until prices rise.
In other words, a grain shed will provide you with more control over storage and timing, and access to more market opportunities.
So, those are five points to keep in mind if you are looking to maximise the return on your grain shed:
- Improve efficiencies
- Pay attention to the shed capacity and configuration
- Design for versatility
- Understand your storage mix
- Take advantage of market opportunities.
Planning a new grain shed build? Does your shed design address efficiency, capacity, versatility and allow marketing flexibility?
Book a project consultation to put you in the box seat to increase your grain shed ROI and ensure your shed delivers maximum return.
