Agriculture
& growers.
Tell us the product — water, fertiliser, sap, nutrient solution — and we will pull a prior content that suits it.
Agriculture is our largest sector by unit count, and almost all of it is technical and Grade A. Irrigation reservoirs, liquid fertiliser, nutrient dosing, stock water and compost tea do not need food-grade documentation — they need a sound bottle at 40 to 55 cents per gallon of storage. The exceptions are maple sap, honey and anything a person eventually eats, which are food grade or rebottled without argument.
Cost per gallon of storage
This is the number that matters on a farm and almost nobody calculates it. A technical-grade 275 gallon tote at $120 is 45 cents per gallon of storage capacity. A new poly tank of the same volume is $2.10 to $3.40 per gallon. A 55 gallon drum is about 65 cents. A bulk polyethylene tank at 1,500 gallons is around 90 cents and cannot be moved once sited.
So reclaimed IBCs are the cheapest movable liquid storage available to agriculture by a factor of four to seven, and they come with forklift pockets. That is why a surprising number of operations end up with twenty of them.
What grade for what job
| Use | Grade |
|---|---|
| Irrigation and drip reservoir | Technical |
| Rain catchment | Technical |
| Liquid fertiliser, 28-0-0 / UAN | Grade A |
| Nutrient dosing and fertigation | Grade A |
| Stock and poultry water | Grade A with food or benign history |
| Compost tea brewing | Grade A |
| Maple sap, sorghum, honey | Food grade or rebottled |
| Pesticide and herbicide mixing | Dedicated unit, never re-purposed |
| Raised beds and planters | Cage only |
The pesticide rule
A tote used for pesticide or herbicide mixing is a dedicated unit for life. Label it, keep it separate, and never repurpose it for anything — not irrigation, not stock water, not even dust control near a crop. We also cannot take it back: unrinsed pesticide containers are outside what we are permitted to handle. Buy a cheap technical unit, use it until it dies, and dispose of it through your state's agricultural container programme.
Winter, UV and the two things that kill farm totes
UV. Two uncovered Midwest summers will chalk the HDPE and embrittle the shoulders. A fitted sleeve is $38 and roughly triples outdoor life. Or site them against a north wall.
Overfilling before a freeze. Water expands about 9% on freezing. A tote filled to the shoulder will bulge against the cage and stay bulged. Leave at least 10% headspace going into winter, or drain and invert.
Freight to rural addresses
Farm deliveries almost always attract a limited-access charge ($75–$110) and often a liftgate ($95–$140) unless you have a tractor with forks. Tell us what equipment you have and those appear in the quote rather than on the invoice. Twenty or more units on a dedicated truck removes both charges and roughly halves per-unit freight — see the freight guide.
Cost per gallon
- Technical IBC
- ≈$0.45 / gal
- Grade A IBC
- ≈$0.69 / gal
- 55 gal drum
- ≈$0.65 / gal
- 1,500 gal poly tank
- ≈$0.90 / gal, not movable
- New IBC
- ≈$2.20 / gal
Farm add-ons worth buying
- UV sleeve
- $38 — triples outdoor life
- 2" → garden hose adapter
- $9 — you will need it
- External sight tube
- $29 — level without climbing
- Tote stand, 24 in
- $180 — gravity feed
- Cage-only frames
- $35 — raised beds
Agricultural questions
Can I store liquid fertiliser in a used IBC tote?
Yes, and it is one of the highest-volume uses we serve. Grade A is the right tier: you want a pressure-tested bottle because a 28-0-0 leak kills grass and costs real money, but you do not need food-grade documentation. Check compatibility for anything acidic or with a high chloride load, and never store an oxidiser without asking us first.
Are used totes safe for livestock water?
If the prior contents were food grade or benign, yes — and plenty of our technical and Grade A stock has only ever held syrup or brine. What matters is the prior content, not the grade label. Tell us it is for stock water and we will pull units with an appropriate history rather than whatever is cheapest.
What do I need for maple sap?
Food grade, washed, with the prior-contents record — or rebottled if you want zero history. Sap is a food product with a short shelf life and a high sugar load; a tote that previously held a surfactant will both contaminate and foam. This is not a place to save sixty dollars.
Will a tote survive a winter outside in the Midwest?
The water in it will freeze and the bottle will survive if you left headspace; if you filled it to the shoulder, the expansion will bulge the bottle against the cage and permanently deform it. Service temperature is nominally −10 °F to 140 °F. UV is the real enemy, not cold — two summers uncovered will chalk and embrittle the shoulders. Buy a fitted UV sleeve for $38 or keep them under cover.
Twenty units halves your freight
If you can consolidate with a neighbour or wait for the season, the delivered cost drops sharply. We will tell you when it is worth waiting.