Farming in the 20th Century is an ever more complicated affair. Things are always changing and new techniques, materials and technologies are in constant development which keeps those in the industry on their toes. Whether that is a new piece of harvesting machinery, a new cultivar of valuable crop plants, or a new level of automation and efficiency within an existing system type, it can be challenging for the UK’s farmers to keep up.

With all that being said, some things about the agricultural sector seem to be highly resistant to change. The truth is, many of the older ways still work for a lot of farmers and agriculturalists and it would be unnecessary to waste time, effort and money on switching them up. The specifics might change and technologies might change, but general ideas remain largely the same.

Nowhere is this more evident on the average farm as it is in the buildings that are on the property. There are many different types of buildings that are strongly linked to the agricultural sector, so much so that you are extremely unlikely to ever see these building types outside of the agricultural setting. That’s not to say that it never happens; for example, barns are often converted into other types of buildings such as residential properties and event venues. Here is a rundown of all the most common types of buildings found at agricultural sites.

Barns

The original reason for farms to have a barn on the premises was to store harvested crops, namely corn. Due to the value of every square foot on the farm, it is not unusual for barns to have more than one purpose. For example, they can be used to store harvested or threshed crops, storing agricultural equipment such as tractors and trailers, and for housing livestock. Up until more recent decades it was common for a barn to be the only building on site aside from a farmhouse. There are several different types of barns and some are synonymous with certain places, such as traditional Dutch barns.

Cattle housing and cowsheds

From the early 19th Century it became more common for farms to have some kind of cattle housing, or cowshed if cattle were being raised on the property. They are designed to give shelter to the animals in extremely poor weather conditions, or to keep the animals more confined for fattening. They are sometimes also used during calving season. The first were made from stone, though steel frame buildings for housing cattle are common today.

A similar variation on the regular cowshed will contain stalls and a hay loft, making it the ideal place to store animals comfortably for a long period of time which may be necessary in special circumstances. It is not uncommon to see something called a ‘loose box’ built as a lean-to on cattle housing, and these are a single secure stall designed to house a single bull though they can also be used to isolate a sick or injured animal while they recover.

Milking parlours, dairies and cheese rooms

The milking parlour is integral to farms that raise dairy cows. This is where the milking happens, so it is extremely busy at peak times with cows coming in and out to be milked. There are lots of hygienic standards that need to be followed when collecting milk because this is where the end product begins its journey to the consumer.

The dairy is a cool room that is used to safely and cleanly store milk, and it is where milk undergoes further processing to create milk based products like cheese, curds, whey, cream and butter. These days it is less common for milk products to be made on the same farm that raises the cows and instead the milk is usually transported off-site for processing elsewhere.

A cheese room is a room that is designed in a way that means the temperature and humidity can be controlled. This is where cheeses are placed for storage and this is where aged cheeses will be kept for long periods of time in order to develop their flavours. Like working dairies, cheese rooms are less common on working farms today unless cheese is one of the few products they specialise in.

Resources:

Different Types of Agricultural Buildings Explained