Can you build a barn with shipping containers?

Yes. The usual design sets two 40ft containers parallel, several metres apart, and spans a roof between them. The containers act as lockable side walls and the covered bay shelters machinery, hay or animals. MG-Atlantic supplies the containers; the roof comes from a roof-kit supplier or a local builder, who should check span, anchoring and snow load.

Which container size is best for farm storage?

A 20ft unit suits a feed store, a tool lock-up or a small workshop close to where it is used. A 40ft high cube gives the most volume and height and is the standard unit for container barns and bulk storage.

Do shipping containers keep feed and grain dry?

A sound container is wind and watertight, so rain stays out. The risk is condensation: steel sweats when temperatures swing between day and night. Store goods on pallets, keep them off the walls, and add vents or desiccant.

Does a container need a foundation on a farm?

It needs level, firm ground that drains. Compacted gravel, concrete pads or sleepers under the four corners are common. A container barn with a roof needs proper anchoring, designed with the roof supplier.

Which grade should a farm buy?

Cargo-worthy or wind-and-watertight units are the economical choice for storage and barn walls. New one-trip units make sense when the container will be converted or will stand on a visible site for many years.

Agriculture, Farms & Ranches

Farms and ranches use shipping containers as a steel building delivered ready to use: lockable storage for feed, seed and tools, the two walls of a container barn, and workshops that move when the operation does. MG-Atlantic supplies the containers. Roofs, doors and fit-out are done by the farm or a local builder.

Rodent-proof, lockable steel storage
Two 40HC units as the walls of a covered barn
Relocatable when fields or leases change

Challenges

A farm needs covered, secure space in more places than it has buildings. Feed and seed sit in open sheds where rodents and damp get to them. Tools, parts and fuel are left in the yard between seasons. Machinery that costs more than the house waits outside for a pole barn that takes months to permit, price and build.

A shipping container answers the storage part of that problem. It is a sealed steel box built to cross oceans, delivered by truck and set down on level ground. It locks, it keeps out rodents and rain, and it can be moved when a lease ends or a field changes use. Two of them, set apart with a roof between, become the walls of a barn.

Rodents and moisture — Grain, feed and seed stored in open or timber buildings are exposed to rodents, birds and damp. A steel container with closed doors removes the entry points; ventilation and pallets deal with condensation.
Theft on remote sites — Tools, batteries, fuel and small equipment are easy targets on farms far from the road. A container with a lock box and a padlock is a secure store where a shed is not.
Wind, hail and snow — Open plains weather is hard on light buildings. A container's steel frame and corrugated walls resist wind and hail; a roof built between two containers needs its span and snow load checked locally.
Land that is leased, not owned — Many operations farm rented land where a permanent building makes no sense. A container stays movable: it goes back on a truck when the lease ends.
Time to a usable building — A conventional barn is a permit, a contractor and a season. A container is usable the day it is set down, and the barn built around two of them goes up faster than one framed from scratch.

Solutions

Feed, seed and chemical storage — Cargo-worthy containers keep feed, seed, fertiliser and tools dry and locked. Stored goods go on pallets, and vents or desiccant manage the condensation that any steel box produces with day-night temperature swings. Farm chemicals must be stored as their labels and local rules require, which usually means ventilation and separation from feed.
The container barn — Two 40ft high cube containers set parallel, several metres apart, form the side walls of a covered bay. A roof kit or engineered trusses fixed to the containers' top rails spans the gap, and the space underneath shelters tractors, trailers, hay or livestock. The containers themselves remain lockable stores for tools and parts. Span, anchoring and snow load should be checked by a local engineer or roof supplier.
Workshops and tack rooms — A 20ft or 40ft container becomes a workshop, a tack room or a spray-equipment store once shelving, lighting and a personnel door are added. Farms fit them out themselves or through a local converter; MG-Atlantic supplies the shell in the grade the project needs.
Machinery parts and seasonal equipment — Spare parts, belts, filters and seasonal implements stay out of the weather and in one place. A high cube's extra height takes racking two pallets high, and a unit can be moved to the field where it is needed at harvest.

Container types

20DC

Typical uses

Feed and seed store beside a barn or corral
Tool, fuel and battery lock-up
Compact workshop or tack room

Advantages

Fits tight farmyard access and small trucks
Easy to place near the point of use
Lowest cost per unit for secure storage

20ft Containers (20DC) · Container Size Guide

40HC

Typical uses

Side walls of a container barn
Machinery parts and seasonal equipment store
Large feed, seed and packaging stock

Advantages

Extra height for racking and taller implements
Length that frames a full barn bay
Best cost per cubic metre for bulk storage

40ft High Cube (40HC) · Container Size Guide

Scenarios

Container barn on open farmland

Two 40ft high cube containers set about twelve metres apart carry a pitched steel roof between them. The covered bay shelters a tractor and a hay trailer; the containers on either side hold tools, parts and fuel under lock. The structure stands on a gravel pad, and the containers can be recovered and moved if the operation relocates.

Ranch feed and hay store

A 40ft high cube beside the corral holds bagged feed, mineral supplement and small bales on pallets, out of reach of rodents and weather. Roof vents and a gap between pallets and walls keep condensation off the stock. A second unit nearby stores tack, fencing supplies and veterinary equipment.

Farm workshop

A 20ft container with a personnel door, a workbench, shelving and lighting serves as the maintenance workshop for a mixed farm. Parts and consumables are kept in one locked place instead of spread across outbuildings, and the unit sits next to the machinery yard where the work is done.

FAQ

Can you build a barn with shipping containers?: Yes. The usual design sets two 40ft containers parallel, several metres apart, and spans a roof between them. The containers act as lockable side walls and the covered bay shelters machinery, hay or animals. MG-Atlantic supplies the containers; the roof comes from a roof-kit supplier or a local builder, who should check span, anchoring and snow load.
Which container size is best for farm storage?: A 20ft unit suits a feed store, a tool lock-up or a small workshop close to where it is used. A 40ft high cube gives the most volume and height and is the standard unit for container barns and bulk storage.
Do shipping containers keep feed and grain dry?: A sound container is wind and watertight, so rain stays out. The risk is condensation: steel sweats when temperatures swing between day and night. Store goods on pallets, keep them off the walls, and add vents or desiccant.
Does a container need a foundation on a farm?: It needs level, firm ground that drains. Compacted gravel, concrete pads or sleepers under the four corners are common. A container barn with a roof needs proper anchoring, designed with the roof supplier.
Which grade should a farm buy?: Cargo-worthy or wind-and-watertight units are the economical choice for storage and barn walls. New one-trip units make sense when the container will be converted or will stand on a visible site for many years.