Old Corn Crib on farm in the Mendota Hills of Illinois near the Mendota Hills Wind Plant. This structure was used to store corn (in an un-shelled state) over the winter and spring seasons allowing a natural drying process. The crib style construction allows wind to flow through the structure and dry the corn. After adequate drying, the corn would be used by the farmer for feed or shelled and shipped to a grain elevator at some point when the market was favorable. Today corn is dried in large, natural gas-fired grain driers where shelled corn is batch feed or continuously flowed through the drier and then stored in a grain bin. Today the wind is used to power the Mendota Hills Wind Plant.

Source: Michael Stavy’s Photo Collection An anonymous visitor provided the facts about the corn crib