The journey to the producer of the largest grain silos in the world BROCK!

Our company PAWLICA s.r.o., the largest general supplier of post-harvest lines in the Czech and Slovak Republic, regularly organizes for its business partners foreign visits to the supplier's production plants and reference farms, where they can see their work in post-harvest treatment and exchange experiences in the farm operation and soil block management. This was also the case in March 2023, when our company invited leading Czech and Moravian companies to visit the production plant of the producer of the giant grain silos in the world - BROCK. Representatives and representatives of Czech agricultural enterprises could see not only the production facilities and the production process of BROCK grain silos but also visit local farmers and the BROCK grain silo with the largest mass-produced diameter in the world (47.5 m) with a one-time capacity of 33,500 tons of corn! Our entire expedition trip was conducted in the traditional American style of travel, ending in the largest city of Illinois - Chicago City, where an experiential program was prepared for the participants with a city tour and visits to the most exciting places.

Visit of reference BROCK to the American farmer Tom-Farms in the state of Indiana

The visit to America started in the state of Indiana in the town of Milford, where BROCK's headquarters and main production plant are located. BROCK representatives guided the visitors through the entire production process of the Everest flat-bottomed storage silos, including the patented bending of roof panels, the shaping of perimeter sheets, and the actual firing of individual components on laser benches. Always of particular note is the forming line for the production of the all-grid floor panels, which have a patented design and are made directly to the required silo diameter. The BROCK manufacturing plant is also involved in the development and production of aeration systems for flat-bottomed and conical grain silos, including feed silos for the subsidiary Chore-Time. With a history dating back to 1957, BROCK prides itself on a high level of manufacturing precision and quality in the production of individual components. All of this, over the previous few decades, has succeeded in elevating this largest American brand of grain silos to a world leader in its field.

"Our company's goal is to maintain the consistently high quality of the products we offer, and to develop new force accessories based on new insights and operating experience from our customers, with an emphasis on workplace safety when operating our BROCK grain silos" - Jack Stambaugh CEO and Vice President BROCK"

The rail car will be out of storage in 4 minutes

The reference tours were initially directed to Cargill, the largest local commodity trader, where two BROCK silos with a capacity of 2x 25,000 tonnes, including a concrete grain silo, are installed. One of the strengths of this site is undeniably the overall logistics, with a rail loop built around the warehouse that can accommodate an entire train of up to 100 wagons. The car and rail intake baskets, which operate at a capacity of 600 tonnes/hour, ensure the smooth movement of vehicles within the site. The operator has set a standard for emptying one car by central bottom dump for 4 minutes. Unloading an imported complete train of corn with a capacity of 10,000 tons can be accommodated by this warehouse with its robust receiving lanes in two 8-hour shifts! Another interesting feature of this facility is the outdoor temporary storage on a circular open area with perimeter aeration, which is used for a one-off increase in storage during a short harvest.

BROCK - 65 years of tradition, experience and innovation

Our journey in Indiana continued through local family farms that traced their roots back to the 18th century and featured some unique post-harvest solutions. Still, for the truly BIGGEST experience, we had to make our way to another American state. Our reference tours ended in Illinois, where we couldn't miss a landmark of the local landscape - the BROCK grain storage silo with the largest mass-produced diameter in the world! At one time it was the largest silo in the world, still in the M-Series (Million Bushel Silo. It is a silo with a one-time capacity of 42,500 tonnes of corn, which is concentrated in one cell with a diameter of 47.5 meters and a height of 40 meters. The structural interest is the double-shell design with internal integrated legs that securely fix the entire stored volume. The stored maize is aerated at any one time by six large-volume BROCK aeration fans, which provide the climate inside the silo necessary for long-term storage. The M-Series has been surpassed by the current Everest series, which, thanks to design optimizations, has managed to increase the capacity of the largest silo to an incredible 49,200 tonnes of maize at a diameter of 47.5 m and a height of 45.6 m!

Chicago - the windy city

The whole expedition culminated in the largest city in the state of Illinois - Chicago City, which is known for its windy environment. For our customers, we had prepared a visit to all the landmarks of this third-largest American city. The tallest building WILLIS TOWER and its view from the raised glass balconies located on the 103rd floor, we also visited the hockey stadium, and together with American beer and local fans cheered at the NHL hockey game Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars 😊. We sampled local traditional cuisine, took photos at the start of the famous Route 66, or enjoyed the views of the city from a boat while cruising down the Chicago River.

"Thank you for the super organization of a very interesting and beautiful trip by PAWLICA ... it went as well as their project implementation in our country" Ing. Milada Rašková Měsícová - Chairman of the Board of ZD Unčovice

"A beautiful and informative trip, very pleasant company. Thank you to PAWLICA for the perfect organization."
Ferdinand Večeřa - Director of RenoFarma Troubky a.s.