The round monolith silo once prevalent throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest, has over time become the defining symbol of American dairy farming. Silos in the form of lined pits in the ground had been used around the world for centuries, but the invention of above-ground silos and the widespread trend for small-scale dairy farmers to build them, helped make Wisconsin the centre of dairy production for the whole United States.

Before the first above-ground silo was built in 1880, farmers struggled to take a herd of cows through the brutal winter that would hit the Midwest with certainty every year.  Storing enough animal feed to last through the coldest, longest season was challenging and often impossible. In the late 1800’s, it became routine for farmers to sell their cows in the autumn and buy again in the spring.  Building the silo as a round tower changed everything. It enabled winter feeding allowing farmers to produce milk all year-round and facilitated continuous production of cheese and butter. They were initially built as square wooden towers but farmers soon realised that corners created air pockets which led to spoilage. By the early 1900’s, round monolith structures were being built in greater numbers using more robust materials such as shuttered concrete, brick and clay tile.

I was always fascinated by these lone structures standing sentinel in a vast agricultural landscape. Over time my curiosity intensified and I began to draw parallels with the photographic work I had made years earlier - a study of British WWII field defences. I began to contemplate these silos as defensive structures, built in preparation for the impending snow and hardship of winter.  Like Britain’s pillboxes, they now stand redundant and vulnerable as each winter takes its toll. Although a great number have been demolished many remain, existing as informal historical markers in the landscape pointing to where a family had once lived, worked and played out their part in the story of America’s Midwest.