Rochester Silo was established in 1941 and manufactured dry tamp stoves for silo construction. In 1959 Chris and Martha Price purchased the company. The company's growth continued, its product line expanded to include wet cast staves, and the Prices' two sons, Ray and Jerry, joined the firm. In 1968 a new plant was constructed just north of Rochester, which produced a unique new stave of solid construction called the Rochester "Module." Development of the company's product line continued, including bottom unloading systems and slurry-vats for liquid manure. New plants were built in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin (1973) and Thorp, Wisconsin (1978), and a division office opened in Peru, Indiana (1979).
Between 1959 and 1979 Rochester Silo became one of the nation's leading silo manufacturers, with sales reaching $22 million. The company was the first silo manufacturer to penetrate the Soviet market in the early 1970s and created the first mobile silo plant in the United States. Sales sunk in 1986 to $1 million and the company declared bankruptcy and reorganized in 1989. Presently called Great Lakes Silos, the company was still privately held by the Price family in 1991.
From the guide to the Rochester Silo records., 1968, 1973-1982., (Minnesota Historical Society)
